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Carrier Tmobile and verizon both unlocked?

T

tm0000

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 29, 2014
339
9
Hi
For the last two years, I have been buying the tmobile iphones (full price) from the apple site. The phones are unlocked and they work with sim cards from India. I think they use GSM?

I read that if I pay full price for the verizon, it will be unlocked and it will work with the GSM networks? Is this true? So, does this mean I can buy either tmobile or verizon?

I am in the US.

Thanks in advance!
 
No matter where you buy it and how much you pay for it, the Verizon version will be unlocked because of an agreement Verizon has with the FCC.

That said, this year, I do not believe the Verizon model has GSM capability - only CDMA.
 
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eyoungren said:
No matter where you buy it and how much you pay for it, the Verizon version will be unlocked because of an agreement Verizon has with the FCC.

That said, this year, I do not believe the Verizon model has GSM capability - only CDMA.
Click to expand...
Verizon's model definitely has GSM capability, along with CDMA. The AT&T and T-Mobile model on the other hand only have GSM capability and no CDMA. At least that's the case for iPhone 7 line of phones.
 
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eyoungren said:
No matter where you buy it and how much you pay for it, the Verizon version will be unlocked because of an agreement Verizon has with the FCC.

That said, this year, I do not believe the Verizon model has GSM capability - only CDMA.
Click to expand...

And that belief would be wrong. It is in fact the exact opposite - TMo and AT&T phones have no CDMA capability; the reverse, however, is true. Verizon and Sprint do in fact have GSM capabilities.
 
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C DM said:
Verizon's model definitely has GSM capability, along with CDMA. The AT&T and T-Mobile models on the other hand only have GSM capability and no CDMA. At least that's the case for iPhone 7 line of phones.
Click to expand...

phobos512 said:
And that belief would be wrong. It is in fact the exact opposite - TMo and AT&T phones have no CDMA capability; the reverse, however, is true. Verizon and Sprint do in fact have GSM capabilities.
Click to expand...

Ahh, damnit!!! Had that reversed!!!

Thanks!!!
 
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I just did it yesterday for MB 7+ and Gold 7+ (Both Verizon). Was not on-line though. I lucked out on a random check, and saw the two I wanted on iStock at one of my local Stores in Virginia Beach, VA.

I went to the IUP Reserve Site, and reserved them (one under my Apple Account, and the other under my wife's). We had a 5:00 Reservation showed up at 4:45 and we were out by 5:30.

We wanted to do the Upgrade Program, but since we were not activating on Verizon we had to buy outright (just as I expected based on everything I have read on here). We like Interest Free stuff so we are using other money (at no cost to us) than what is in our accounts. We just applied in store for the Barclay Apple Visa (this is then considered Outright Purchased by Apple), and did them at 18 month interest free. We will have them paid for next year at this time to upgrade again.

We left the store with the phones still sealed in the box, and when we got home, I popped our T-Mobile SIMs in and they are working just fine on T-Mobile.
 
vajeff said:
I just did it yesterday for MB 7+ and Gold 7+ (Both Verizon). Was not on-line though. I lucked out on a random check, and saw the two I wanted on iStock at one of my local Stores in Virginia Beach, VA.

I went to the IUP Reserve Site, and reserved them (one under my Apple Account, and the other under my wife's). We had a 5:00 Reservation showed up at 4:45 and we were out by 5:30.

We wanted to do the Upgrade Program, but since we were not activating on Verizon we had to buy outright (just as I expected based on everything I have read on here). We like Interest Free stuff so we are using other money (at no cost to us) than what is in our accounts. We just applied in store for the Barclay Apple Visa (this is then considered Outright Purchased by Apple), and did them at 18 month interest free. We will have them paid for next year at this time to upgrade again.

We left the store with the phones still sealed in the box, and when we got home, I popped our T-Mobile SIMs in and they are working just fine on T-Mobile.
Click to expand...
Did Apple ask you for your a verizon account information?
 
If you buy outright, they're all unlocked. Where they differ is that T-Mobile and AT&T only work on their GSM networks, where if you buy a Verizon or Sprint unlocked model it will work on all 4 major US carriers. So if you're planning to pay in full for it, may as well go with the Verizon or Sprint model.
 
So, do I need a verizon account to buy full price from apple.com?
 
vajeff said:
No they did not once we decided not to go IUP. We have T-Mobile, and we're just fine buying full price.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing! I've been wondering if this would work. Good to see that it does. It expands the options!!
 
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