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(( Sprint iPhone 5s "Device Only" - Locked or Unlocked ?))

M

MicroMacTosh

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 6, 2010
78
0
Can anyone confirm an iPhone 5s bought 'Device Only' FROM THE APPLE STORE ,meaning full-priced, is locked to Sprint, or unlocked, like AT&T and Verizon bought full-price.

Please give your feedback- anyone try buying a Sprint iPhone from the Apple store full-price and try using a different SIM ? Does it work ?

(Verizon is unlocked whether full-price or contract)

Haven't seen discussion on this. I know the iPhone 5 is locked to Sprint, but was it possible to buy full-priced Sprint iPhone 5 last year from the Apple store ?
 
boxermansr said:
From what I've read and heard, Sprint's are locked, meaning you can't use it on any other US carrier. Whether that applies to devices sold FROM Apple, I have no idea but, I'd venture to guess the same applies and that it remains locked.
Click to expand...

I'd like real concrete proof - everyone thought full-priced AT&T would be locked to AT&T, turned out to be wrong, if bought from Apple store.
 
I'd like to know as well please. I think it's crap that when I buy a phone off contract, it's locked ONLY to Sprint. it should be unlocked to at least Verizon, since its also CDMA. I don't expect it to be unlocked to t mo and AT&T.

why can't Sprint do that? D:
 
MicroMacTosh said:
I'd like real concrete proof - everyone thought full-priced AT&T would be locked to AT&T, turned out to be wrong, if bought from Apple store.
Click to expand...

You're a scalper, Why don't you go buy one, and if it doesn't work, return it? You spend time/money looking for inventory, pretty sure buying a phone/returning it isn't going to take too much of your much time.
 
Any and all phones that Sprint sells are locked to Sprint. You can call Sprint and have them unlock your phone, but you have to be a customer for a minimum of 90 days and pay the bill on time.

When Sprint unlocks your phone it will be an international unlock only. You cannot and Sprint will not unlock your phone for domestic US carrier use.

Note that Sprint uses UICC SIMs which are PAIRED to your device. You cannot simply insert a different SIM in to a Sprint device and expect it to work on a different network unless it's been unlocked internationally and you are using a non US carrier SIM. Remove the UICC SIM card from an LTE enabled Sprint phone and you will be unable to access LTE even if you insert a different Sprint UICC SIM card. This is because the phone is paired with that SPECIFIC UICC SIM card. Any time a Sprint LTE enabled phone accesses the Sprint network this pairing is checked to see if the SIM is legit.

Sprint UICC SIM cards do not store any personal data. You cannot put your contacts, phonebook or any other data on it. Sprint has it locked down and encrypted.

A Sprint phone bought at full price is locked to Sprint. What you are buying is a CONTRACT FREE phone.

There is NO commercial unlock whereby you can pay someone to unlock your phone. Sprint specifically prohibits it's IMEIs from being inserted into the unlock database. If someone takes money from you for this you can expect to be cheated.
 
Last edited:
Sprint phones are locked to Sprint, regardless of whether you pay full price or buy on contract. I've been with Sprint for years and this is the way it has always worked.

They will not even unlock them for domestic use for long-standing customers, they will only unlock for international use and only if it's active on a Sprint line for at least 90 days, by a customer in good standing, which also means no account spending limit.

You can get an unlocked phone to use on Sprint, if they approve it and it's a Sprint compatible phone, in certain circumstances, but you cannot purchase a Sprint branded phone unlocked.
 
verwon said:
You can get an unlocked phone to use on Sprint, if they approve it and it's a Sprint compatible phone, in certain circumstances, but you cannot purchase a Sprint branded phone unlocked.
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If that unlocked phone is anything other than an iPhone make sure it has no branding on it. Sprint is anal about accepting phones on to it's network that are branded by other carriers. Invariably Sprint will deny those phones access to the network.
 
eyoungren said:
Any and all phones that Sprint sells are locked to Sprint. You can call Sprint and have them unlock your phone, but you have to be a customer for a minimum of 90 days and pay the bill on time.

When Sprint unlocks your phone it will be an international unlock only. You cannot and Sprint will not unlock your phone for domestic US carrier use.

Note that Sprint uses UICC SIMs which are PAIRED to your device. You cannot simply insert a different SIM in to a Sprint device and expect it to work on a different network unless it's been unlocked internationally and you are using a non US carrier SIM. Remove the UICC SIM card from an LTE enabled Sprint phone and you will be unable to access LTE even if you insert a different Sprint UICC SIM card. This is because the phone is paired with that SPECIFIC UICC SIM card. Anytime a Sprint LTE enable phone accesses the Sprint network this pairing is checked to see if the SIM is legit.

Sprint UICC SIM cards do not store any personal data. You cannot put your contacts, phonebook or any other data on it. Sprint has it locked down and encrypted.

A Sprint phone bought at full price is locked to Sprint. What you are buying is a CONTRACT FREE phone.

There is NO commercial unlock whereby you can pay someone to unlock your phone. Sprint specifically prohibits it's IMEIs from being inserted into the unlock database. If someone takes money from you for this you can expect to be cheated.
Click to expand...

But what about those turbo sims you see people used/using via eBay listings and YouTube videos that say they are unlocked for domestic use ? I even spoke to one member here that said its possible but some services may not work ie mms etc ??? Those are fake ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
Informative

I did see something interesting on Apple site listing the iphone 5s variants (a1533 etc)

Somewhere hidden in there , was mention the unlocked version was the same model as Sprint

For those who say it's definitely locked to Sprint ... Did you buy it from Apple or Sprint , full priced or subsidized ?
 
eyoungren said:
If that unlocked phone is anything other than an iPhone make sure it has no branding on it. Sprint is anal about accepting phones on to it's network that are branded by other carriers. Invariably Sprint will deny those phones access to the network.
Click to expand...

Yeah…..as I said, I've been a customer for years and added the "certain circumstances" part!

And the reason they won't accept ones from other carriers is because they don't have the IMEI in their database, they keep track of all Sprint branded phones and, other than the iPhone, they won't activate any that aren't in their database.
 
verwon said:
Yeah…..as I said, I've been a customer for years and added the "certain circumstances" part!

And the reason they won't accept ones from other carriers is because they don't have the IMEI in their database, they keep track of all Sprint branded phones and, other than the iPhone, they won't activate any that aren't in their database.
Click to expand...
Didn't know that thanks!

----------
cnotes2019 said:
But what about those turbo sims you see people used/using via eBay listings and YouTube videos that say they are unlocked for domestic use ? I even spoke to one member here that said its possible but some services may not work ie mms etc ??? Those are fake ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
You can put a Gevey sim in it if that's what you mean? A SIM interposer will work.

You can also put the phone on T-Mobile and the 3G will work, but not LTE which requires the Sprint paired UICC SIM.
 
MicroMacTosh said:
Informative

I did see something interesting on Apple site listing the iphone 5s variants (a1533 etc)

Somewhere hidden in there , was mention the unlocked version was the same model as Sprint

For those who say it's definitely locked to Sprint ... Did you buy it from Apple or Sprint , full priced or subsidized ?
Click to expand...
It does not matter where you buy a Sprint phone. It will be sold locked at full price at the Apple store and locked full price at Best Buy and Radio Shack or anywhere else.

Anyone telling you that you can buy a fully unlocked Sprint iPhone is lying.
 
eyoungren said:
Didn't know that thanks!

----------


You can put a Gevey sim in it if that's what you mean? A SIM interposer will work.

You can also put the phone on T-Mobile and the 3G will work, but not LTE which requires the Sprint paired UICC SIM.
Click to expand...

Very welcome!
 
What if you never activate it on Sprint at all ...

Remove the Sprint card, add another SIM, then connect to iTunes and restore ... the method used to unlock full-priced "Device Only" AT&T iPhone 5s from the Apple store.

Would that possibly unlock it ?
 
MicroMacTosh said:
What if you never activate it on Sprint at all ...

Remove the Sprint card, add another SIM, then connect to iTunes and restore ... the method used to unlock full-priced "Device Only" AT&T iPhone 5s from the Apple store.

Would that possibly unlock it ?
Click to expand...

Nope, Sprint can only be unlocked for international use, and you can only get that if you're a customer for 90 days or willing to pay $50-$100 for unlock from the people who do cellphone unlocks. But that's just for international as well. Only reason Verizon 4G LTE phones are unlocked for domestic and international use is due to an agreement they made with the FCC when they bought all that spectrum during the AT&T /T-Mobile potential merger deal.
 
MicroMacTosh said:
What if you never activate it on Sprint at all ...

Remove the Sprint card, add another SIM, then connect to iTunes and restore ... the method used to unlock full-priced "Device Only" AT&T iPhone 5s from the Apple store.

Would that possibly unlock it ?
Click to expand...
Sprint buys the phone from Apple. Apple gives Sprint the IMEI and Sprint records the IMEI and any IMEI Sprint records is locked. Whether you activate or not Sprint has already done this by the time you get the phone.
 
Looked up the IMEI on the sprint iphone box at the Apple store and shows as invalid on iphone imei .info and locked on other imei checkers .

Threw away the sprint tickets

----------
CEmajr said:
Bottom line:

Just buy full price from Apple one of the iPhone 5S from one of the other 3 carriers and it will be unlocked.
Click to expand...

They just had gold sprint , thought there could be a chance would be unlocked
 
MicroMacTosh said:
Looked up the IMEI on the sprint iphone box at the Apple store and shows as invalid on iphone imei .info and locked on other imei checkers .

Threw away the sprint tickets

----------



They just had gold sprint , thought there could be a chance would be unlocked
Click to expand...

There's no chance. It's not unlocked. Period.
 
Back when the iPhone 5 launched I tried, Sprint, VZ and AT&T iPhone 5 and only the Sprint one was locked, paid full price for all 3 (Sold as Device Only).

VZ and AT&T were unlocked. (As you probably know)

(I was testing to see which had best coverage for me.)
 
EstaVidaLoca said:
Why do people keep making these threads?
Click to expand...
One main reason.

People are cheap. Sprint iPhones are valued less because they cannot be unlocked domestically. So they sell cheaper. People don't do their research and just see a cheaper phone.

OR, in the case of new phones people just make assumptions and don't do their research, the employee isn't familiar with Sprint policy or lies to make a sale.

So…feeling either ripped off or stupid (or both) they come here to do the research they should have done to begin with.

When they get the answer they don't want to hear they either go away in anger and disgust or they repeat the question in a different way because they want a different answer.

Some of them refuse to believe that any answer other than the one they want to hear is correct and will go to any lengths to "prove" that they are right. No one wants to admit they made a bad decision.

What really gets me is that there is trade on eBay where the seller KNOWS that there is no unlock but never bothers to mention that or leads buyers who have not researched this to believe that it's possible. The seller gets rid of a "bad" buy and the buyer gets screwed.
 
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