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Surprise: CDMA iPhone 4S Comes With An Unlocked SIM Slot

GoGoGadget1 said:
I used my IPad2 AT&T sim and got the invalid sim message.
Click to expand...

Is it possible that you got that message because an iPad micro-SIM won't work in an iPhone and vice-versa? Regardless of whether it's locked or not, they're programmed differently.

I used to be able to pop my iPhone 4 micro-SIM into my iPad 1 running iOS 3, change a setting, and use my phone's data plan and surf the web on 3G. With iOS 4, Apple disabled that. I'm not sure what message pops up when you pop it in, but I know it won't work.
 
drvelocity said:
I'm in Taiwan and already nabbed a Sprint 4s off of Ebay, and please correct me if I'm wrong: It looks like I'll be able to use my micro-SIM I've already got through the local provider and the phone will be completely unlocked (at first). In the US the phone will still be locked to Sprint's CDMA towers, however.

Sprint claims that they will push an update to lock these at a later date - this happens via an Itunes software update now, as opposed to separate carrier updates before iOS4, correct? So if I don't ever update the phone I should be "safe"? In the same line of thinking, if I do update, I run the risk of having the baseband relocked internationally?

So far are there any solid reports of people having full 3G connection speeds outside of the states using Sprint phones?

Thanks for the help, I'm hoping to avoid unnecessarily paying to ship this here!
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When I spoke with Sprint, they told me that the update to lock the SIM card would automatically happen--meaning that you have no control when Sprint pushes this update. However since you are in Taiwan, I don't know if and how that will affect you. Worst case scenario, your iPhone will not work and you could just re sell it on ebay.
 
From what I read only the Verizon iphone 4S will be able to be unlocked. Not the Sprint 4S. This is completely up to the carrier as we all know AT&T has managed to keep all their iPhones locked no matter what. Even is you have the phone swapped in country, they register the new phone to match the imei from the old one so it reverts to the original carrier.
 
straight talk GSM SIM Card

any one tried straight talk GSM SIM Card?

some one else posted in the thread, it uses ATT as their backbone network, may be 3G might work with iPhone 4S and Straight talk GSM
 
hope they do not re-lock them again.

but looks like not many buying Sprint iPhone 4S.

there will be flood of these devices when the iPhone 5 released,

Veriozn/Sprint iPhone 4S Value > ATT iPhone 4S that is when iPhone 5 released next fall 2012.
 
I can confirm that the Verizon iPhone 4S is locally sim locked (will not work with an ATT or TMobile USA Sim-Card) but internationally unlocked (will work with any international sim, and even roam on ATT with said sim)

I know it's confusing, but the 4S is the first all-band iPhone of it's kind.

Locally sim locked, Internationally sim unlocked.

Apple's website states a iPhone 4S that is locally sim unlocked will be released in November.
 
johnnyboyvzw said:
I can confirm that the Verizon iPhone 4S is locally sim locked (will not work with an ATT or TMobile USA Sim-Card) but internationally unlocked (will work with any international sim, and even roam on ATT with said sim)

I know it's confusing, but the 4S is the first all-band iPhone of it's kind.

Locally sim locked, Internationally sim unlocked.

Apple's website states a iPhone 4S that is locally sim unlocked will be released in November.
Click to expand...

yes but remember while that phone will work on any GSM carrier, Verizon or Sprint will not activate it on their network.
 
jent said:
Is it possible that you got that message because an iPad micro-SIM won't work in an iPhone and vice-versa? Regardless of whether it's locked or not, they're programmed differently.

I used to be able to pop my iPhone 4 micro-SIM into my iPad 1 running iOS 3, change a setting, and use my phone's data plan and surf the web on 3G. With iOS 4, Apple disabled that. I'm not sure what message pops up when you pop it in, but I know it won't work.
Click to expand...

Sure, however this same error is what Sprint 4s users are getting when they insert an iPhone 4s AT&T SIM as well.
 
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CerealKillers said:
When I spoke with Sprint, they told me that the update to lock the SIM card would automatically happen--meaning that you have no control when Sprint pushes this update. However since you are in Taiwan, I don't know if and how that will affect you. Worst case scenario, your iPhone will not work and you could just re sell it on ebay.
Click to expand...

IMHO this is complete BS. Why would Sprint push an update to relock when they were unlocked for international use straight out of the box? I tested this myself using 2 different SIMs from different countries. Having been a Sprint customer for the past 10+ years, I've only purchased world phones from them (Blackberries, HP Touch Pro 2, etc) due to my frequent travel abroad.

Not once have they pushed any updates to re-lock any world phone I've had with them. I think the threat to "push an update to re-lock" is nothing more than a bluff so that users will not go out and buy an unlocked phone directly from Apple. We already know those won't work with Sprint or Verizon, right?
I just don't think Sprint is willing to lose even more customers to AT&T, it just doesn't make any sense.

I'd suggest not listening to the clueless reps over at Sprint. The latest is that worldwide support is telling customers that an unlock code for the 4s is not available but should be by the end of November. Is it coincidental that this coincides with the timing of Apple's plan to sell the 4s unlocked? Sure seems that way to me.
 
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

I signed up with Sprint and bought a 4S a couple days ago. Just popped in a T-Mobile prepaid SIM (inactive) and the phone rebooted. Tried to activate but could not connect, phone asked me to plug into iTunes to activate as there is no open wifi nearby. Haven't plugged into the computer but I will update. The T-Mobile "E" appeared in the status bar but "T-Mobile" did not. Interesting. I wonder if Sprint is just bluffing.
 
Verizon iPhone 4s international unlock confirmed in China

Hey All,

I can now confirm that the iPhone 4s can be unlocked and used successfully overseas. I purchased a 4s 3 days ago right before my trip to China. I called Verizon global service and had it unlocked (Been a customer for 10+ years). After arriving in China, I went to China mobile and had my regular sim card cut to the 4s size (different from iphone 4 which I wasn't aware of) and put in the sim card.

I had to sync it to iTunes and voila, I'm successfully on China Mobile :)

Feel free to reply if you have questions on my experience.

Cheers.
 
Confirmations?

so has anyone confirmed if you can unlock a sprint iPhone4S for use with AT&T? :confused:

Thanks!
 
freewarren said:
Hey All,

I can now confirm that the iPhone 4s can be unlocked and used successfully overseas. I purchased a 4s 3 days ago right before my trip to China. I called Verizon global service and had it unlocked (Been a customer for 10+ years). After arriving in China, I went to China mobile and had my regular sim card cut to the 4s size (different from iphone 4 which I wasn't aware of) and put in the sim card.

I had to sync it to iTunes and voila, I'm successfully on China Mobile :)

Feel free to reply if you have questions on my experience.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Again "I had to sync it to iTunes" Guess I will need to carry my laptop with me on my trips overseas in order to get the sim card to work - bummer
 
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