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iPhone XR No carrier free version, which iPhone XR to order?
- Thread starter wcnngt
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I'm not sure about worldwide sim free, but in the states, all carriers are supported when paid in full.
You wont be able to activate the Verizon model without a Verizon account. Once its activated with Verizon you can take it else where. But you can't just open it and stick in a non-verizon sim.
Once the phone has been activated, you can use any sim you want and it will be no different than an unlocked carrier-free phone.
Once I activate it with Verizon account, does it become unlocked? In other words, if I reset it later I don't need a verizon sim to activate it again.
I am currently with Tmo and don't have verzion account. I plan later to switch to Verizon or Sprint though. So shall I order Tmo version instead? Thanks.
I heard that Verizon and Sprint whitelist phones so phones from other carrier cannot be used on their network even if they are unlocked. I am not sure if this is true but apple certainly created some headaches with these carrier barriers in 2018!
Once its activated with Verizon, you can do whatever you please with it. You will never have to "re-activate" with Verizon. The initial activation is just to get the phone up and running. In recent years Apple has changed how it has worked. Before you could just buy a phone at full cost and stick whatever sim you wanted in it, now if its a carrier phone, even at full priced it needs to be activated before swapping sims. I dealt with this first-hand with the XS launch.
I'm not too familiar with the XR, not sure if it has two models, such as CDMA and GSM. I am not sure if the TMO version works like the Verizon one. So I cannot answer that question.
Be careful Verizon is now locking their phones. So the nightmare scenario is you activate with a Verizon sim and then you cannot switch to another carrier.
CC
That just depends on where OP gets the phone. If purchased full price directly from Apple.com or Apple Store then it comes unlocked.
Even at full price? I wasn't aware of that. Not sure how they can get away with that.
I thought that there is an option to choose the activation at check out later, and doesn't require carrier info? And by selecting this option, it doesn't ask for the carrier info and you can simply just remove the sim card it comes with and insert any sim card.
IF you ordered through Apple.com and paid full price for the Verizon Model, and you selected Activate Later, it is unlocked and should work with the China Mobile Sim.
I did this for the XS this year and 8Plus last year. Upon booting up the phone, it required carrier information, SSN, Zip, Passcode. Sticking in another sim would come back with a "failed to activate" error.
I think that if you do the first one (activate now) and you do the in-store pick up and then choose activate later at the time you pick it up that would be the case. However, if you choose activate later on the apple.com, it won't ask you any of your carrier info and you can simply take it out the sim card and insert the other. I've done this for my wife's XS where i chose activate later on apple.com, didn't even ask me to enter my carrier info, upon receiving it, we just inserted her sim card from the 7 Plus and worked fine. Didn't ask me to enter any of my verizon account info.
Edit to add: and it was a in-store pick up as well.
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Did you insert a Verizon sim to a Verizon version of the phone? My question is that I want to order Verizon version to ensure the broadest capability but I don't have Verizon account or sim.
I believe that's the iOS 12 thing. Which it no longer requires a sim to go through the set up page and you can simply activate the phone on wifi.
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No, I inserted my pre-paid AT&T sim card and activated just fine.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ee-at-initial-preorder.2146987/#post-26649323
Another post confirming a Verizon XS Max purchased from Apple was able to be activated on a different carrier.
I ordered the Verizon XR full price from apple.com, selected activate later, and plan on activating with my Cricket sim. Not too worried. If I have to exchange it or contact Apple, I’ll just deal with it then.
Another post confirming a Verizon XS Max purchased from Apple was able to be activated on a different carrier.
I ordered the Verizon XR full price from apple.com, selected activate later, and plan on activating with my Cricket sim. Not too worried. If I have to exchange it or contact Apple, I’ll just deal with it then.
That makes literally no sense. Two years in a row I have had nothing but problems doing exactly what you are describing.
It actually does make sense. If you go to Apple.com and you choose the "Activate Later" it doesn't ask you to input any of your carrier info and when you select in-store pick up, you simply go and pick up. I did this last year on my other X using this method when it was available and worked just fine. It's as if you are buying a sim-free model.
Edit: The Activate Later in this scenerio is as if you walk into the Apple store and buying it outright and bypassing the carrier info and inserting your own sim card.
Now if you choose the "Activate Now" this will prompt you to enter your carrier info on apple.com and when you select in-store pick up. And when you actually go pick it up, the POS device will detect it and when you tell the sales you want to activate later, then you have to activate with the sim card it came in.
I believe when you purchase the Verizon model phone, it will activate with your carriers sim card. just check the bands it supports. also, this is from verizon.com
- We do not lock most phones or tablets that are activated with our postpay service either during or after the term of your service contract or Device Payment Plan installment sales agreement.
- We do not lock our 4G LTE devices, and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier.
All US iPhones this year are the exact same model. So doesn't matter which carrier you get from when it comes to network compatibility. It's not like previous years.
Thing is, there have been some recent changes w/ carriers, US carriers are notoriously sneaky, especially Verizon & AT&T, it's the first time Apple is offering Dual SIM, Apple seems to have made some changes on their side but most people are just upgrading their phones here, etc etc. Too many variables and experiences to give you the exact answer you are looking for or finding someone who has the exact same experience.
Honestly, you really should buy a phone for your region. Or wait. You can't blame anyone here should this not work out the way you want. And that's an expensive mistake.