That's great to hear! Good luck with the 5s. I'm testing out a T-Mobile locked version right now (I bought it through T-Mobile) and really like the fingerprint scanner. I just need to figure out whether T-Mobile works for me as a network.
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Carrier (T-Mobile iPhone 5s is LOCKED- Unlocked iPhone 5s Discussion)
- Thread starter MicroMacTosh
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That's great to hear! Good luck with the 5s. I'm testing out a T-Mobile locked version right now (I bought it through T-Mobile) and really like the fingerprint scanner. I just need to figure out whether T-Mobile works for me as a network.
Yup. I love apple store employees, but they generally do not know a lot of things. I told them that full price device only purchases for ATT iPhones would be unlocked when you restore, but they look at me like im crazy.
Two different ones told me "Tmobile iPhone is locked to Tmobile" and yet everybody who has bought one says its unlocked. LOL whatever.
Do you have to connect the phone to iTunes and do a "factory restore" before it's unlocked?
I'm planning on picking up a 5s when I get to the States in a few months, but might not have computer access there for a bit. I'm hoping to use a prepay sim in the states, and my foreign sim when I'm back overseas.
I'm planning on picking up a 5s when I get to the States in a few months, but might not have computer access there for a bit. I'm hoping to use a prepay sim in the states, and my foreign sim when I'm back overseas.
No. Hardware-wise it should work, but for CDMA networks like Verizon, your phone has to be in their computer and they won't add one purchased from another carrier.
No, as soon as you connect to iTunes, the phone is unlocked. I bought three and all of them unlocked as soon as I connected.
Signed and hoping for change.
The U.S. is the only country where paying full price for an unlocked phone is a pain in the ass. I'm a recent American transplant to Canada and all I can say is that buying unlocked phones is normal(contract subsidies are still available) up here.
Went to the Apple store launch day, and told them I'm buying a 5s. Immediately the Apple guy asks if I'm looking for contract or unlocked. Told him unlocked, and he gave me a card and told me to stand in the unlock purchase line. One line for unlocked and another for contract. Can u believe that ever happening in the U.S.????
The U.S. is the only country where paying full price for an unlocked phone is a pain in the ass. I'm a recent American transplant to Canada and all I can say is that buying unlocked phones is normal(contract subsidies are still available) up here.
Went to the Apple store launch day, and told them I'm buying a 5s. Immediately the Apple guy asks if I'm looking for contract or unlocked. Told him unlocked, and he gave me a card and told me to stand in the unlock purchase line. One line for unlocked and another for contract. Can u believe that ever happening in the U.S.????
Thanks for the info.
I might not have access to a computer while there-would they let me connect to iTunes at the apple store, or do you think I can just pop in my foreign and local sims and be good to go?
Apple Store employees only know and will say what they have been trained/told to say by managers and corporate.
Someone else in this forum or another (I will try to find his post) confirmed he was able to get Verizon lte (not voice and text) on his AT&T or tmobile iPhone 5s. Has anyone tried this ?
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I don't know for sure but its seems that only the At&t and t-mobiles versions sold at the apple store can be purchased "device only".
Man! i wish i would of known earlier!!!!!! so next time apple has anyone of them i just going to pick them up (besides sprint)
So this is only apple store, the actual retail stores, verizon at&t etc this does not work correct?
I purchased a 32GB Verizon iPhone 5s "device only" from a store in Chicago today and it works perfectly with my AT&T SIM card. I don't even have a Verizon account so I can confirm that it activates properly with another SIM.
iphones sold at any verizon store will still be sim unlocked. Its a govt requirement/mandate for Verizon to sell their LTE phones SIM unlocked.
You could buy a full price iPhone at an AT&T store, but they might give u trouble for not activating service. And obviously Tmobile wont unlock your phone unless you have service for so and so days.
So yes, best bet is apple retail store.
Yes you should be able to, my question is though could you activate the T-Mobile phone with their sim and would it still be unlocked for all other carriers?
Generally the Apple employees try to follow policy. It's the customers that try to evade policies and cut corners and that's what gets them into a pickle.
Apple doesn't have any genuine unlocked 5s phones for sale at this time.
Don't worry about it several people have already confirmed the phone is unlocked. I'm from Europe too and bought the T-Mobile version. If you bought it straight from Apple it should be fine, there is not one user that has claimed the phone is locked
You can just walk in and purchase a Verizon phone full price without having to sign up for service? I was wanting to do this in case I decide in the future to switch providers, but didn't think they'd allow it.
I did yesterday at an Apple Store in Chicago. Some stores or associates might balk at it but they were fine with it where I was. I took a card for an AT&T 64GB just in case they wouldn't sell me the 32GB Verizon device only, but they did and so I handed back the AT&T card so that someone else could buy it. I doubt a Verizon Wireless store or reseller would, though. They have a vested interest in signing people to contracts. Apple couldn't care less, though. The fewer people on contract, the more available to buy the iPhone 6 next year.
It isn't totally farfetched, since you can go to Verizon and have it linked to an existing account later. It's the only way to keep a grandfathered unlimited data plan with them.
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They don't have a separate "unlocked" SKU. However, there's nothing evasive about making a device-only phone purchase. By virtue of its agreement with the FCC, all Verizon LTE phones are unlocked. AT&T's own policies state that you can buy a full-priced device and request an unlock if it isn't unlocked already.
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True. There are three SKUs in the US
A1533 GSM - AT&T & T-Mobile
A1533 CDMA - Verizon
A1453 CDMA - Sprint
It wouldn't surprise me if there is a single A1533 model just marketed under two SKUs (and with the CDMA radio disabled on the GSM models). It would make it a lot easier on the production line.
The 1533 models support all the same bands except only the CDMA version supports Verizon. The 1453 model trades some of the LTE bands for additional bands that only Sprint uses in the US.
European phones support fewer LTE bands, and Asian phones support TD-LTE used in China.
The first three are the US models (AT&T/T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint), the 4th is the European model, and the last is sold in China.