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

eric64sn said:
Does anyone know if AT&T will do the same now that Verizon and Sprint will allow customers to have GSM unlocked iPhones?
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They'll have to if they want to remain competitive, I'd imagine.

...so no, they probably won't.
 
shanmugam said:
I still got almost a year contract to go on ATT for two lines. Have to wait until then jump to sprint.

Wish sprint offers some competitive discount where i can switch to ATT.

my main reason is for the unlocked international GSM usage.

scratching to head find some way to jump now :eek:
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Call in and check, last I remembered, they were giving a $100 port over credit for new customers.
 
Can anyone confirm 100% that Sprint 4S works with AT&T SIM? Don't want to blow $700 until I have confirmation.

Kind of dumb for Apple to not sell unlocked phones on their site yet, but Sprint is selling them already...
 
Juan007 said:
Can anyone confirm 100% that Sprint 4S works with AT&T SIM? Don't want to blow $700 until I have confirmation.

Kind of dumb for Apple to not sell unlocked phones on their site yet, but Sprint is selling them already...
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No one knows anything for sure you. You'll have to wait and see along with the rest of us.
 
Juan007 said:
Can anyone confirm 100% that Sprint 4S works with AT&T SIM? Don't want to blow $700 until I have confirmation.

Kind of dumb for Apple to not sell unlocked phones on their site yet, but Sprint is selling them already...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I want to know this too. I might order one now, or pick one up at the store just to try it. You can always return it.
 
I've just called Sprint's international division and they told me that the SIM portion is unlocked. However, you can not use US GSM carriers such as T Mobile or AT&T... I don't know how that works but I'm waiting until release before I begin investing...

Or maybe I'll just switch now seeing that AT&T's rates are quite overpriced compared to Sprint's.
 
KJmoon117 said:
Or maybe I'll just switch now seeing that AT&T's rates are quite overpriced compared to Sprint's.
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I would wait until this is confirmed once devices are in hand.

I've been checking on rates and my AT&T bill including taxes comes to $89. A comparable Sprint plan is $79 w/o tax. But then I wouldn't have to spend $750 on a factory unlocked phone. Hmmm...
 
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iphone lock in JAPAN

i have been to japan and their iphone service is SOFTBANK.

SOFTBANK = ATT
DOCOMO = VERIZON

They are technically sim free outside of Japan.

But you can't put in a DOCOMO DOMESTIC SIM.

But you can can put in an ATT sim because it's internationl, not from Japan...

So there's a way to distinguish international or domestic... but i just don't know the details or this will apply ... only time will tell...
 
Maybe it would work with a US sim card, but there's some override that if there is CDMA signal, then the GSM shuts down? I suppose this could even function after you discontinue your CDMA service.....a Sprint phone could still detect Sprint service and shut off the GSM radio. Interested to see what happens to someone who lives/travels to a part of the US with no CDMA service which has ATT or Tmobile available.
 
I have about another year to go with my contract with AT&T and I can't wait to jump ship and switch to Sprint. My reasons:

- Truly unlimited wireless data WITHOUT speed caps

- This news of an unlocked iPhone out of the box.
 
Amnesia87 said:
Or just buy a sprint phone off contract o_O
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I know... I mean I don't really care for being able to use my phone on a CDMA carrier, but I do travel internationally, and it'd be nice if I didn't have to take my POS unlocked RAZR for travel. I really hope this "forces" AT&T to unlock their phones. They really have no excuse now. They no longer have exclusivity (which was their ******** excuse for unlocking every phone except the iPhone), and both of their competitors are offering unlocks.

Even though I doubt any change will happen, I'm going to hold off on selling my 4. If they start offering factory unlocks for those, my resale will go up
 
SGMD1 said:
That's a good point. VZW in the past has kept their US GSM bands locked even once you entered the unlock code, but I can't imagine that would be the case if you were to unlock the phone via the Apple servers.

I'm very curious about this now. Hopefully someone will be able to test it out soon and report back.
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Unlock code from IMEI and having an unlock by server is totally different from what I know. Since Apple use unlock thru the server we are good to go.
 
One thing I'm wondering about is if we'll be able to use Siri travelling abroad. From my understanding Siri requires an internet connection to work. Not sure how that's going to happen if I'm traveling through say, SE Asia.
 
hexproject said:
i have been to japan and their iphone service is SOFTBANK.

SOFTBANK = ATT
DOCOMO = VERIZON

They are technically sim free outside of Japan.

But you can't put in a DOCOMO DOMESTIC SIM.

But you can can put in an ATT sim because it's internationl, not from Japan...

So there's a way to distinguish international or domestic... but i just don't know the details or this will apply ... only time will tell...
Click to expand...

What is this supposed to mean?

I was just in Japan for a month, with an AT&T iPhone 4. Sometimes I was roaming on SoftBank, and other times I was roaming on NTT DOCOMO. Depending on where I happened to be at the time, it would switch between the two. This was all with my AT&T SIM installed.

And if you are just referring to Japanese SIM compatibility, the currently existing Verizon iPhone (4, not 4S, which hasn't shipped yet) doesn't take a SIM at all.
 
dljeffery said:
What is this supposed to mean?

I was just in Japan for a month, with an AT&T iPhone 4. Sometimes I was roaming on SoftBank, and other times I was roaming on NTT DOCOMO. Depending on where I happened to be at the time, it would switch between the two. This was all with my AT&T SIM installed.
Click to expand...
I think even the phone calls are routed on 3G when you are roaming in Japan, as the basic voice standard (2G) for most (all?) telcos is not GSM.
 
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