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Switch out iPhone 6 model A1549 to A1586?

M

macuser9001

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 7, 2015
4
0
Hello,

I bought the T-Mobile iPhone 6 less than a fortnight ago on the reassurance that it will work internationally. I'm currently living in the US but am not sure where I'll be next year for various reasons, so this was important to me.

Now the unlocked iPhone 6 has come out, I understand it supports more bands. So am I wrong in thinking my current phone will work internationally? Are the extra bands particularly common outside of the US?

Basically, is it worth me spending my afternoon switching everything over to the new model at the Apple Store, or not really?

Thanks in advance.
 
If its over 14 days you'll not be able to swap it out.

Whether its worth it, is up to you. Buying the T-Mo at apple means it should be unlocked.
 
Funny, I was just looking at this this morning as I too have an A1549 model.

It will work internationally, but not nearly in as many places as the A1586, at least for LTE. Looks like T-mobile/ATT/Verizon customers get the A1549 and Sprint of all crappy networks gets the better A1586 model. I was disappointed to find out mine will not work with LTE in Japan.

That said, this chart is LTE only and I have no idea if our phones have a different list of countries they will work in with 4G or some other non-LTE service. Maybe the A1549 works in a lot more places, just on 4G instead of LTE, but I'm not sure.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
 
I hate going to the Apple Store and setting up my phone again, but this is rather tempting. Perhaps I might also get an MLC unit, too.

Bonus. ;)
 
puma1552 said:
Funny, I was just looking at this this morning as I too have an A1549 model.

It will work internationally, but not nearly in as many places as the A1586, at least for LTE. Looks like T-mobile/ATT/Verizon customers get the A1549 and Sprint of all crappy networks gets the better A1586 model. I was disappointed to find out mine will not work with LTE in Japan.

That said, this chart is LTE only and I have no idea if our phones have a different list of countries they will work in with 4G or some other non-LTE service. Maybe the A1549 works in a lot more places, just on 4G instead of LTE, but I'm not sure.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
Click to expand...
Thanks for this link. I was amazed at how many countries weren't compatible with the A1549 model! All switched over now, thanks for the info :)
 
puma1552 said:
Funny, I was just looking at this this morning as I too have an A1549 model.

It will work internationally, but not nearly in as many places as the A1586, at least for LTE. Looks like T-mobile/ATT/Verizon customers get the A1549 and Sprint of all crappy networks gets the better A1586 model. I was disappointed to find out mine will not work with LTE in Japan.

That said, this chart is LTE only and I have no idea if our phones have a different list of countries they will work in with 4G or some other non-LTE service. Maybe the A1549 works in a lot more places, just on 4G instead of LTE, but I'm not sure.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
Click to expand...

According to that list, my AT&T iPhone 6 doesn't work with any European carriers' LTE, but I most definitely had LTE coverage when roaming in Germany a few months ago.

Edit: I don't think that list is complete. According to Wikipedia, the German carriers use bands 3, 7 and 20 for LTE - all of which are supported by A1549.
 
yg17 said:
According to that list, my AT&T iPhone 6 doesn't work with any European carriers' LTE, but I most definitely had LTE coverage when roaming in Germany a few months ago.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this list does make it sound like you can't use AT&T, which I'm using right now. Maybe it means the models the carrier officially supports?
 
macuser9001 said:
Maybe it means the models the carrier officially supports?
Click to expand...
This pretty much.

For the most part, all you need is research which LTE bands are used in the country you're visiting (and if your iPhone or iPad has the necessary LTE bands) and if the carrier is officially supported by Apple. If yes to both, you should be fine and you will receive a notification to update carrier settings when you install a local SIM card.
 
macuser9001 said:
Hello,

I bought the T-Mobile iPhone 6 less than a fortnight ago on the reassurance that it will work internationally. I'm currently living in the US but am not sure where I'll be next year for various reasons, so this was important to me.

Now the unlocked iPhone 6 has come out, I understand it supports more bands. So am I wrong in thinking my current phone will work internationally? Are the extra bands particularly common outside of the US?

Basically, is it worth me spending my afternoon switching everything over to the new model at the Apple Store, or not really?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Depends. What is your current carrier here in the US and what countries to you plan to travel to?
 
macuser9001 said:
Hello,

I bought the T-Mobile iPhone 6 less than a fortnight ago on the reassurance that it will work internationally. I'm currently living in the US but am not sure where I'll be next year for various reasons, so this was important to me.

Now the unlocked iPhone 6 has come out, I understand it supports more bands. So am I wrong in thinking my current phone will work internationally? Are the extra bands particularly common outside of the US?

Basically, is it worth me spending my afternoon switching everything over to the new model at the Apple Store, or not really?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

What does it mean if I have A1524?

Model A1586*
Model A1524*

CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)

UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)

TD-SCDMA 1900 (F), 2000 (A)

GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29)

TD-LTE (Bands 38, 39, 40, 41)
 
yg17 said:
According to that list, my AT&T iPhone 6 doesn't work with any European carriers' LTE, but I most definitely had LTE coverage when roaming in Germany a few months ago.

Edit: I don't think that list is complete. According to Wikipedia, the German carriers use bands 3, 7 and 20 for LTE - all of which are supported by A1549.
Click to expand...

yg17 said:
Could be. Comparing the supported bands on A1549 with this list, it should work with nearly every European carrier.
Click to expand...

rui no onna said:
This pretty much.

For the most part, all you need is research which LTE bands are used in the country you're visiting (and if your iPhone or iPad has the necessary LTE bands) and if the carrier is officially supported by Apple. If yes to both, you should be fine and you will receive a notification to update carrier settings when you install a local SIM card.
Click to expand...

So based on that list on wikipedia it looks like I could use my 1549 with all Japanese carriers since they all use at least a couple bands in the 1549.

But it sounds like the 1549 phone wouldn't be officially supported by those carriers based om Apple's list, so would I have an issue getting it to work? I guess I wouldn't get the notification (or wouldn't be able to do) to update carrier settings?
 
macuser9001 said:
Hello,

I bought the T-Mobile iPhone 6 less than a fortnight ago on the reassurance that it will work internationally. I'm currently living in the US but am not sure where I'll be next year for various reasons, so this was important to me.

Now the unlocked iPhone 6 has come out, I understand it supports more bands. So am I wrong in thinking my current phone will work internationally? Are the extra bands particularly common outside of the US?

Basically, is it worth me spending my afternoon switching everything over to the new model at the Apple Store, or not really?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


I don't think the unlocked SIM-FREE version is the A1586
 
ET iPhone Home said:
My Sim-Free 6+ box states in the back - A1524. What's A1586?
Click to expand...

You bought it here in the states?

If Yes, that means Apple is basically selling the Sprint iPhone 6 / 6+ as Factory Unlocked when purchased "SIM FREE".

When compared to Verizon iPhone 6 / 6 Plus though do keep in mind that this SIM Free is mainly good for those that want to use it overseas as in USA they can only access AT&T and T-Mobile because Verizon or Sprint won't allow these on their networks (You can get LTE but you won't get 3G CDMA access...).

I say the Verizon iPhone 6 / 6+ still offers the best convenience and is the most universal for US residents, because in US you can access 3/4 major networks vs the SIM Free A1586/A1524 = only 2/4 Major networks.
 
Allthings-I said:
When compared to Verizon iPhone 6 / 6 Plus though do keep in mind that this SIM Free is mainly good for those that want to use it overseas as in USA they can only access AT&T and T-Mobile because Verizon or Sprint won't allow these on their networks (You can get LTE but you won't get 3G CDMA access...).

I say the Verizon iPhone 6 / 6+ still offers the best convenience and is the most universal for US residents, because in US you can access 3/4 major networks vs the SIM Free A1586/A1524 = only 2/4 Major networks.
Click to expand...

You sure about that? Apple states on their website that the sim free models can be activated on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/overlay/iphone/about_unlocked

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a wireless contract commitment or a carrier installment plan. You can activate and use the unlocked iPhone on the supported wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, or Sprint in the United States.
Click to expand...
 
jw6961 said:
I'm curious about whether or not Verizon would activate one of these sim free iPhone 6's on a new Verizon account. I get different answers from both Apple & Verizon.
Click to expand...
I think I'm likely to believe Apple on this one. Apple's the one who gives Verizon and Sprint a list of IMEIs for whitelisting. The warranty replacement iPhone A1549s are already carrier-agnostic and are on Verizon's whitelist. I'm guessing they're doing the same for the new unlocked iPhones for easier inventory tracking and warranty replacements.
 
Allthings-I said:
You bought it here in the states?

If Yes, that means Apple is basically selling the Sprint iPhone 6 / 6+ as Factory Unlocked when purchased "SIM FREE".

When compared to Verizon iPhone 6 / 6 Plus though do keep in mind that this SIM Free is mainly good for those that want to use it overseas as in USA they can only access AT&T and T-Mobile because Verizon or Sprint won't allow these on their networks (You can get LTE but you won't get 3G CDMA access...).

I say the Verizon iPhone 6 / 6+ still offers the best convenience and is the most universal for US residents, because in US you can access 3/4 major networks vs the SIM Free A1586/A1524 = only 2/4 Major networks.
Click to expand...

I did purchase my Sim-Free here in the USA (Southern California) at Apple. I have an ATT sim in it now. And on Sunday, I'm switching over to T-Mobile. Strange that you stated, the Sim-Free is an unlocked Sprint phone, but yet it's capable of GSM. I'm confused.
 
ET iPhone Home said:
I did purchase my Sim-Free here in the USA (Southern California) at Apple. I have an ATT sim in it now. And on Sunday, I'm switching over to T-Mobile. Strange that you stated, the Sim-Free is an unlocked Sprint phone, but yet it's capable of GSM. I'm confused.
Click to expand...

The Sprint phones, even the locked ones, are capable of GSM as well as CDMA and LTE. If you get Sprint to unlock for international use (which they will do in certain circumstances), the phone will work fine on GSM networks abroad.

The only thing locking a Sprint iPhone down is software, an internal, not-user-accessible setting which tells the iPhone not to work on other networks without permission from Sprint. Otherwise, the internals are exactly the same as the SIM free, fully unlocked version, which has both GSM and CDMA radios.

Likewise, the other iPhone models (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon) also have both GSM and CDMA radios, and will work on each other's networks if unlocked. The difference there is that different LTE bands are enabled. So even if you're in a country where LTE support (supposedly) doesn't exist for your phone, it will still work fine on 3G networks.
 
T5BRICK said:
You sure about that? Apple states on their website that the sim free models can be activated on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/overlay/iphone/about_unlocked
Click to expand...

really? I would be more likely to believe the carrier. If they say they will not activate the phone, there is nothing Apple can do....

jw6961 said:
I'm curious about whether or not Verizon would activate one of these sim free iPhone 6's on a new Verizon account. I get different answers from both Apple & Verizon.
Click to expand...

What did verizon tell you? I think everyone would like to know that :)

As someone who upgrades yearly, I want the best resell value. If verizon would activate the SIM free version that would be the one to get. If verizon stick by their currently policy and will only activate a new account with a verizon phone, the verizon model is the one to get in the US.
 
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