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T-Mobile 6s not unlocked this time

M

micho119

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hi,

I've just had a chat with over 15 of Apple support guys.
They all confirmed that this time all the phones with carrier are locked.
The only fully unlocked phones are by iPhone upgrade program.

So seems like it's bad luck for us this year.
 
flur said:
It's possible TMo is doing the unlock-at-activation that VZ does.
Click to expand...
Verizon doesn't do unlock-at-activation. All VZW LTE phones are factory unlocked, as per FCC spec.

As for this T-Mobile thing, Apple isn't indicating it's unlocked, and T-Mobile has a general "40 day unlock policy," where you have to wait 40 days after having service with it to unlock it.

I could see it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't true.
 
Berzerker7 said:
Verizon doesn't do unlock-at-activation. All VZW LTE phones are factory unlocked, as per FCC spec.
Click to expand...

Not according to Apple and Verizon. I asked the Verizon rep the last time I got an iphone and was told that if VZ sells the phone, it's unlocked, but if Apple sells the phone, it's unlocked at activation.
 
flur said:
Not according to Apple and Verizon. I asked the Verizon rep the last time I got an iphone and was told that if VZ sells the phone, it's unlocked, but if Apple sells the phone, it's unlocked at activation.
Click to expand...
100% untrue. I purchased a Verizon phone to use on T-Mobile last year and it worked fine.

What he said would be in violation of their FCC agreement.
 
Take anything you hear from chat support with a grain of salt. I'd imagine a device only fully unlocked iPhone 6S will be released a little bit after the initial launch, just like the 6.
 
All I know Is I am Ordering a "Pay In Full" iPhone 6S Plus AT&T 64GB, And if a phone that i paid $849 is LOCKED, i will send it right back, sounds silly that a phone i paid at full price is Locked, no way.
 
micho119 said:
Hi,

I've just had a chat with over 15 of Apple support guys.
They all confirmed that this time all the phones with carrier are locked.
The only fully unlocked phones are by iPhone upgrade program.

So seems like it's bad luck for us this year.
Click to expand...
just fyi, i bought the 6plus on t-mobile last year and it worked just fine in my country even though apple support mentioned it will be locked.
 
Gr81MB said:
All I know Is I am Ordering a "Pay In Full" iPhone 6S Plus AT&T 64GB, And if a phone that i paid $849 is LOCKED, i will send it right back, sounds silly that it a phone paid at full price is Locked.
Click to expand...

You may as well purchase the Verizon iPhone instead if you're going that route.
 
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Right whats the difference because if its just more bands then I will just order the AT&T paid in full and get it unlocked through AT&T with a quick phone call before activating.
 
Gr81MB said:
What is the Difference? More Bands?
Click to expand...

The difference is that the Verizon phone will have CDMA tech, so that you can use it on more networks. The ATT phone will have LTE band 30, which will be for next-gen data once ATT builds the network (they haven't yet).
 
Gr81MB said:
All I know Is I am Ordering a "Pay In Full" iPhone 6S Plus AT&T 64GB, And if a phone that i paid $849 is LOCKED, i will send it right back, sounds silly that a phone i paid at full price is Locked, no way.
Click to expand...

I may just do that as well. Apple never had a pay in full option at preorder before, so last year I used NEXT (and the year before that I bought the T-Mobile model and used it on AT&T). If you were eligible for any kind of upgrade, you were forced to use it. It's nice that at least you have the option now.
 
duaneu said:
I may just do that as well. Apple never had a pay in full option at preorder before, so last year I used NEXT (and the year before that I bought the T-Mobile model and used it on AT&T). If you were eligible for any kind of upgrade, you were forced to use it. It's nice that at least you have the option now.
Click to expand...
5S you could pre-order online full price (I did it). 6/6+ you could buy full price but in-store only.
 
duaneu said:
I may just do that as well. Apple never had a pay in full option at preorder before, so last year I used NEXT (and the year before that I bought the T-Mobile model and used it on AT&T). If you were eligible for any kind of upgrade, you were forced to use it. It's nice that at least you have the option now.
Click to expand...
Exactly! Think this changed too because contracts are going away and more and more people have no contract plans therefor the option to sell phones unlocked are higher, either way your still paying for it somewhere along the line!
 
Berzerker7 said:
5S you could pre-order online full price (I did it). 6/6+ you could buy full price but in-store only.
Click to expand...

There were no pre-orders for the 5s. Online sales started the same day they were available in stores.

But that not withstanding, when the 5s came out, I was one year into a two year contract with my iPhone 5. The only option buying the AT&T model was for the $499 "early upgrade" price and extend the contract another two years. I didn't want to do that, so bought the T-Mobile 5s at full price and sold my 5.

And there was the same misinformation going around about T-Mobile phones being locked. It wasn't true then and I don't think it's true now. But they sow enough seeds of doubt that people hesitate to get one. There are endless discussion threads on the topic every year (and this year will probably be no different).
 
flur said:
Not according to Apple and Verizon. I asked the Verizon rep the last time I got an iphone and was told that if VZ sells the phone, it's unlocked, but if Apple sells the phone, it's unlocked at activation.
Click to expand...
Technically all iPhones are locked until they try activating. The activation server decides to send an unlocked ticket based on what that IMEI allows for. In the case of Verizon branded phones, the activation server will issue a ticket for any SIM
 
flur said:
The difference is that the Verizon phone will have CDMA tech, so that you can use it on more networks. The ATT phone will have LTE band 30, which will be for next-gen data once ATT builds the network (they haven't yet).
Click to expand...
I wouldn't count the AT&T/T-mobile phones out of having CDMA just yet. Last year the CDMA wasn't advertised either, but the phones had the bands enabled.
 
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