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T-Mobile Contract Free is not unlocked!

K

kalebnate

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 11, 2014
341
1
I keep seeing people stating that the iPhone 6 with T Mobile Contract Free is indeed unlocked, with no proof whatsoever ... People just say yes and try to reason about it without proper proof.

Please tell me why I shouldn't believe the following :

xpupTip.png
 
My iPhone 5 worked fine with a Three sim in London and Wales...
 
This has been discussed a million times already and yes it is unlocked if you buy it direct from Apple. The rep is wrong.

I ordered my T-Mobile iPhone 5s direct from the Apple Online Store last year on 9/20 and I can assure you that it was unlocked from the day that it arrived and it still is unlocked today. The same will be true this time around as well. As others have mentioned elsewhere, only the phones purchased from T-Mobile (the carrier themselves and their own retail stores) are carrier locked until they are paid in full and/or the 40~ day period ends.
 
Lancetx said:
This has been discussed a million times already and yes it is unlocked if you buy it direct from Apple. The rep is wrong.

I ordered my T-Mobile iPhone 5s direct from the Apple Online Store last year on 9/20 and I can assure you that it was unlocked from the day that it arrived and it still is unlocked today. The same will be true this time around as well. As others have mentioned elsewhere, only the phones purchased from T-Mobile (the carrier themselves and their own retail stores) are carrier locked until they are paid in full and/or the 40~ day period ends.
Click to expand...

Exactly

There were tons of threads on this last year and yet people still don't get it. Guess we'll have to listen to it all over again this year.
 
If you buy it from Apple it always has been unlocked, and reps almost always have been clueless about it. There is no evidence to show that it actually is unlocked other than a few clueless Customer service reps who usually have been wrong about that in the past...
 
kalebnate said:
The chat log posted from an official apple representative constitutes as proof.
Click to expand...

Then just wait until the Apple Store has the "official" unlocked phone in a month or so if you're inclined to believe the (conflicting) support reps and not people's past experiences.
 
It seems as if all the Apple reps are now giving the same answer - T-mobile contract free version is LOCKED.
 
supersalo said:
Then just wait until the Apple Store has the "official" unlocked phone in a month or so if you're inclined to believe the (conflicting) support reps and not people's past experiences.
Click to expand...

Apple released the unlocked models around November 22 of last year for the 5S. Not sure about the 5C. But I think this year; it will be maybe longer time before it is release due to demand and carrier pressures. I will wait for the unlocked version - last model the 5S which I tried to buy all through 2013 and finally got it online in January 7th and delivered sometime around the 11th, 2014! The iPhone 6; I feel will be a month longer to get for me. I will start try to get it in 2015 and I think I will be lucky to order it in February sometime 2015! It going be fun trying to buy one from Thanksgiving to the new year that for sure! I will wait till after the new year since demand slackens off a bit! February and after should be idea for buying an unlocked version. You probably could get one at the Apple store if you wait for it to open at 9:00 A.M. But get there about 8:00 A.M. since resellers are getting there about the same time. You don't want to miss out on getting it because you were tardy and they ran out of stock!
 
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supersalo said:
Then just wait until the Apple Store has the "official" unlocked phone in a month or so if you're inclined to believe the (conflicting) support reps and not people's past experiences.
Click to expand...

Please understand that since I'm planning to ship the phone overseas, I cannot return it or ask for a refund. So the risk is huge, especially that I'm paying that amount for an iPhone 6 ! I only want to be careful, did my research and got conflicting results, hence spoke to a representative, then came here for more info. It's not like I am trying to prove something, I'm just being too careful before paying.

So yeah, as you suggested, I might just wait to be safe or look for an alternate solution.
 
kalebnate said:
The chat log posted from an official apple representative constitutes as proof.
Click to expand...
It's poor proof because EVEN IF THEY KNEW THE FACTS they are required to tell you it is locked to T-Mo.

When I bought my 5S from the Apple Store last year (for AT&T) I told them I wanted the T-Mobile model. The sales-drone insisted it wouldn't work.

Well, I paid for the phone, took my iPhone 5 out of my pocked, put the AT&T SIM into it and it worked fine. He was not surprised at all. He just smiled at me.

That is not to say it won't change this year but the point is, whatever Apple sales dummies say isn't necessarily true. They sometimes just don't know and sometime just can't say because their jobs are at stake if they are being monitored. Especially the CHAT folks. They are the most clueless of the bunch especially now when they hire thousands of newbies to prepare for the onslaught. They just regurgitate what they are told or are reading from their scripts.
 
kalebnate said:
Please understand that since I'm planning to ship the phone overseas, I cannot return it or ask for a refund. So the risk is huge, especially that I'm paying that amount for an iPhone 6 ! I only want to be careful, did my research and got conflicting results, hence spoke to a representative, then came here for more info. It's not like I am trying to prove something, I'm just being too careful before paying.

So yeah, as you suggested, I might just wait to be safe or look for an alternate solution.
Click to expand...

If you want to be extra sure get a Verizon one off contract. The FCC requires those ones to be unlocked. But the T-Mobile one is unlocked as well.
 
HarryWild said:
Apple released the unlocked models in November 22 of last year for the 5S. Not sure about the 5C. But I think this year; it will be maybe longer time before it is release due to demand and carrier pressures. I will wait for the unlocked version - which I try to buy all through 2013 and finally got it online in January 7th and delivered sometime around the 11t,h 2014! The iPhone 6; I feel will be a month longer to get for me. I will start try to get it in 2015 and I think I will be lucky to order it in February sometime 2015!
Click to expand...

This comes up every time there is a new phone. Have you ever taken a look at the lines outside Apple store on Fifth avenue in New York on Launch day. Ninety percent of the people in line are foreign and buying to export. Do you think they are buying locked phones.

When you buy a phone in an Apple store and it is checked out at full price it is added to the white list data base and is unlocked. This is part of the purchase process. Remember the unlock is not a physical thing it is only a matter of adding the Imei to the whitelist database.
 
Last year, T-Mobile locked it for 40 days. It required a 40 day service with T-Mobile before they would unlock it. I wasn't too confident with this so I waited for the official unlocked version which came out the week of Thanksgiving, Friday, in November.
 
nebo1ss said:
When you buy a phone in an Apple store and it is checked out at full price it is added to the white list data base and is unlocked. This is part of the purchase process. Remember the unlock is not a physical thing it is only a matter of adding the Imei to the whitelist database.
Click to expand...

Is this the same for the US Online Apple Store ?

----------
ET iPhone Home said:
Last year, T-Mobile locked it for 40 days. It required a 40 day service with T-Mobile before they would unlock it. I wasn't too confident with this so I waited for the official unlocked version which came out the week of Thanksgiving, Friday, in November.
Click to expand...

Did you experience the locked out phase personally or heard about it somewhere ?
 
kalebnate said:
Please understand that since I'm planning to ship the phone overseas, I cannot return it or ask for a refund. So the risk is huge...
Click to expand...

There's no risk. It's not locked. The rep is wrong.

For your reference: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1645920/

----------
ET iPhone Home said:
Last year, T-Mobile locked it for 40 days. It required a 40 day service with T-Mobile before they would unlock it. I wasn't too confident with this so I waited for the official unlocked version which came out the week of Thanksgiving, Friday, in November.
Click to expand...

Because you bought it from T-Mobile.
 
Last edited:
ET iPhone Home said:
Last year, T-Mobile locked it for 40 days. It required a 40 day service with T-Mobile before they would unlock it. I wasn't too confident with this so I waited for the official unlocked version which came out the week of Thanksgiving, Friday, in November.
Click to expand...

That's what happens when you buy directly from T-Mobile, if you get it from Apple then it's always been unlocked.
 
To those that don't really care about it being officially "unlocked" to use overseas but want to use it on AT&T and just buy full price, the rep confirms it'll work right? She says this version would work with AT&T. Good news.:)
 
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