Nowhere near the second to last post does it say that the coworker got the phone at the full price from APPLE.
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Sprint iPhone 6 bought at Full price is Unlocked ?
- Thread starter karan.k
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Nowhere near the second to last post does it say that the coworker got the phone at the full price from APPLE.
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
Yeah I'm kind of tempted to try it out for myself. Since Sprint is the least popular carrier, it shouldn't be too hard to find one. I imagine a 16GB Gold iPhone 6 would actually be quite easy to find
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
LOL!!!
Just don't order from Sprint itself. They are still trying to fill launch day orders! 😀
rui no onna
Contributor
That agreement's probably expiring soon. I'm thinking this was probably part of the Sprint $15.5 billion iPhone purchase agreement for 4 years. This would also partly explain why provisions of the CTIA voluntary unlock agreement doesn't take full effect until 2015. 😛
Problem is finding one from the Apple store.
Also not sure how much truth there is to this, but I was told at the Apple store that they allocate contract pricing phones and full price phones so even if their availability shows they have a sprint one in stock does not mean they have a full price one in stock. Not sure if that's true.
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
I'm interested to see just how badly this is going to hurt Sprint. A lot of pissed off Sprint customers stay because their phones (not just the iPhone) are locked to Sprint.
Once Sprint can no longer keep people on the network by strongarming their phones how bad is churn going to be? And if people know that they can leave Sprint if they don't like it then how many new customers will Sprint actually retain?
2015 is going to be very interesting to watch. I plan to observe Sprint from the customer base over at T-Mobile next year! 😀
This I think more than anything is what's driving Sprint so hard on Band 26 and 41 as well as pushing hard on triband devices. But their major problem is that most of their customers have only Band 25 devices or devices (like the 5s and 5c) that are only dual band. Hence the push to move new and current customers to new Spark enabled phones.
Frankly, I see unlocking as the one dam in the river that's still preventing the total blowout of Sprint. And I think Sprint knows it.
It definitely will blow them up to a degree, but not enough. People stay with Sprint is because it's cheaper than others. After your contract is done all these customers could've gone elsewhere, nobody is pointing a gun to their head and yet they didn't go anywhere. If a new customer isn't happy with the service they still have to pay an ETF, that is unless the phone was bought outright. If it was bought for a full price Sprint has absolutely no legal right to keep it locked to them. Only now in North America we are seeing customers realize this.
My friend works for the apple store and she told me that Sprint phones when bought from the apple store for full price are unlocked BUT! it's for international customers only. After you bought it you must turn on the phone and put an international sim card OUTSIDE the US. If you try to do it in the US the phone will lock to sprint. Also that phone will not work in the US after you turn it on outside the US, it will only work internationally. So after you take it out of the US and turn it on with an international sim card, it will only work outside the US.
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This makes sense as eyoungren has said the exact the same thing. I almost had it correct where any phone bought it full price is unlocked, well it is just not Sprint's with domestic SIM cards. Hopefully next year once the rules in February change Apple will sell them fully unlocked at full price.
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
That actually makes perfect sense and would explain a lot as to why certain people say locked or unlocked when it comes to international use on full price Sprint iPhones.
Thanks!
Yes, i think it's a good move on Apple's part to sell (almost all phones unlocked) when bought at a full price. With so many tourists visiting, imagine someone from Europe buying an iPhone for a full price and not being able to use it.
In fact, they do not consider the differrence in full price and carrier locked as I saw. I wanted a device only, and when I asked for it, they only had sprint version (Silver iP 6, 128 GB). The guy scanned the bar code with his iPhone (as they have a special accesories on it), clicked on some icons on the display and one was "device only". And it was done.
I used this great site for checking iPhone availability in the apple store - http://seaturtle.org/idevice/iphone6_grid.shtml
As you can see, sprint version are quite good available in comparison to other versions.
if you do it, purchase from apple full price device only, and remove the Sprint SIM before ever turning it on. I am curious if the lock status goes through before the phone is ever turned on, or once it's registered on the Sprint system.
If that doesn't work, i'd bet getting a white box replacement phone would. Those all seem to be unlocked for any carrier.
rui no onna
Contributor
Now if only they'd start selling all iPhone versions device-only online. Better yet, sell a single iPhone version that can be used on all carriers. All Apple needs to do is submit the IMEI/MEID for whitelisting to Verizon and Sprint. 🙂
Well the way it works with white boxes is that Apple transfers the activation policy of the original phone to the new one. So the replacement will be locked to whoever the original was locked to. This is how back in the day there were some odd situations like UK iPhones locked to AT&T. Too bad it's just about impossible to convince them to give the A1524/A1586 versions when getting a non-Sprint phone replaced. Maybe if they ran out of stock of the non-Sprint versions
I wonder what would happen if you requested an unlock from AT&T or T-mobile using the IMEI from a Sprint phone. Also back in the day, some people with AT&T phones were able to get unlocked by submitting their IMEIs to O2-UK
Sprint iPhone6 can only be used for Sprint at this point in the U.S, maybe the law will take care of the unlock early next year.
However, at least in China, Sprint phones can work with any Chinese mobile carriers, especially China Mobile, which is the biggest mobile carriers in China.
Not sure how this internationally unlocked works but it is true.
However, at least in China, Sprint phones can work with any Chinese mobile carriers, especially China Mobile, which is the biggest mobile carriers in China.
Not sure how this internationally unlocked works but it is true.
alphaod
macrumors Core
Well technically the only advantage is China Mobile. If you use China Unicom, all the models work (since they use FDD-LTE), and if you want to use China Telecom, you have to buy the Chinese domestic version (basically the China Apple Store retail A1586).
JoeG4
macrumors 68040
I wonder what person thought it was a good idea to continue this business model of locking down CDMA phones. A "hey Verizon customers, come bring your cellphone to us!" kinda deal from Sprint would be great business for them, and probably cheap too. The same goes for verizon, and if there was demand for CDMA phones that worked on both networks, the manufacturers would be pressured to make that happen (apple has)
But meh, whatever. Cellphone companies. Go figure.
I'm not paying full price for a phone that isn't unlocked, and I prefer unlocked phones so that if for some reason I decide to discontinue or drastically change my service, I can do so without drama.
If for example, I end up in a situation where I want to minimize expenses, I can ditch my expensive carrier and go with a low cost prepaid card if necessary. Shoot, I could even sell my phone without worrying about the carrier's lock or any of that silly stuff. It also serves as a handy customer service ticket when they know you can just take your business elsewhere on a whim.
But meh, whatever. Cellphone companies. Go figure.
I'm not paying full price for a phone that isn't unlocked, and I prefer unlocked phones so that if for some reason I decide to discontinue or drastically change my service, I can do so without drama.
If for example, I end up in a situation where I want to minimize expenses, I can ditch my expensive carrier and go with a low cost prepaid card if necessary. Shoot, I could even sell my phone without worrying about the carrier's lock or any of that silly stuff. It also serves as a handy customer service ticket when they know you can just take your business elsewhere on a whim.
There are two reported cases on Ducth forums where persons from the Netherlands inserted an international Vodafone SIM in the iPhone 6 IN the Apple Store in the US, and could connect to several US Networks. If it would not connect they could return the iPhone directly to the Apple Store, but in both cases it worked, and they took it home, where it worked also on the local Vodafone network.
Ya like the poster above said, it works with International SIM cards, it doesnt matter where it is being used. Vodaphone SIM in US or Netherlands is still an international SIM.
So, what about brand new Sprint phones, but never activating on the Sprint network? Does the phone take the lock before it's ever powered on when it's being built, or does it lock once it activates on the Sprint network? If it's the former, no dice, but the latter would allow anyone to purchase a full price Sprint phone from Apple, remove the SIM before ever powering it on, insert another carrier's SIM, and have an unlocked A1586.
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
It's locked to Sprint domestically period.
Post #45 from this thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by WolfSnap
How does that work? Apple's backend GSX system doesn't have a third "international" unlock -- only a locked or unlocked setting. It's binary AFAIK.
Makes no sense to me....
Apple can send an activation ticket that has every country code except the US listed as valid. The phone would probably still show up as locked in the database
https://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/WildcardTicket
Yeah i know, what i meant to say was that they both activated the iPhone 6 IN the Apple Store IN the US, and not at home abroad. And it also worked.
I would love if someone posts a video of a T-mobile or AT&T sim being used in a Sprint iPhone 6 or 6+ bought at the apple store at full price.