Preorder unlocked and sim free possible?

[paulgordon]

Does anyone know how to preorder an iPhone 7 unlocked and sim free, or will this come later? I don't want to have any carrier contract as I work overseas, but can't seem to find a way to order on apple.com without selecting a carrier.

 

[deeddawg]

In the past you just selected a T-Mobile phone and paid in full. Sure, it had a TMO SIM in it but you threw it away and used your own SIM. Paying full price avoided it being locked.
[doublepost=1473349431][/doublepost]From Apple's iphone7 page under Frequently Asked Questions:

When I buy iPhone from apple.com, is it tied to a carrier or dies it come "unlocked"?

Nearly all iPhone models sold on apple.com are “unlocked” — which means your iPhone isn’t tied to a single carrier. Your iPhone will be locked to your carrier only if you choose carrier financing from AT&T or Sprint.

 

[paulgordon]

okay, great, that's a nice work around. i see in some forums though that there is some issue with tmobile iPhones not having all the lte bands that would allow them to access lte networks in some countries. is this still true?

 

[hirsthirst]

You don't say which country you're buying in, but this is a standard option in UK. I've bought iPhone 4, 5 & 6 unlocked and SIM free straight from Apple on launch day.

 

[paulgordon]

I am buying the iPhone in the U.S. but I will be living and working in Vietnam, so I don't want to have a U.S. carrier. It seems that for some reason Apple does not sell an unlocked phone not tied to a carrier on launch day, for some reason, but the TMobile plan seems like an easy work around. I just want to make sure the TMobile version of the iPhone will be compatible with LTE networks as I travel around Asia.

 

[deeddawg]

i see in some forums though that there is some issue with tmobile iPhones not having all the lte bands that would allow them to access lte networks in some countries. is this still true?

No idea, I've not had need to look for the iphone7. I seem to remember there was only an issue for some Chinese markets but don't remember specifics, it never had an effect anywhere I traveled.

Apple has a page with this info so you can check for yourself: http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

I believe you can now order an unlocked full price AT&T phone from Apple and do the same thing. When I bought my iphone6 that wasn't an option and thus used the TMO phone.
[doublepost=1473350312][/doublepost]

It seems that for some reason Apple does not sell an unlocked phone not tied to a carrier on launch day

You're contradicting yourself. By definition an unlocked phone is not tied to a carrier, and a phone that is tied to a carrier is not an unlocked phone.