Will the Verizon 5S be GSM unlocked like the iPhone 5? Will it only work with internarional GSM carriers or with AT&T and T-Mobile as well?
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Verizon iPhone 5S: GSM Unlocked
- Thread starter rumorman69
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Only international GSM carriers outside the U.S. unless you buy the unlocked version when it becomes available.
This was true with the 5. But - and I may be way off here - the at&t and vzw iPhones seem like the same model. A1533. The Verizon phone firmware allows the CDMA side to be active but the GSM side seems identical. At least according to these specs from the Apple store. That would indicate to me that if they have the same GSM LTE bands, wouldn't the Verizon 5s be able to use an at&t SIM for GSM LTE? Maybe it is limited by firmware/software? Maybe I am missing something? I am just hoping that you can pop an at&t sim into a vzw 5s and have LTE on at&t if you have an account with them.
From Apple website:
Model A1533 (GSM)*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz);GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 Mhz); LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25)
Model A1533 (CDMA)*: 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); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25)
From Wiki - seems like at&t currently uses band 17, which is available on the Verizon 5s. Not sure if 17 was available on the 5.
From Apple website:
Model A1533 (GSM)*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz);GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 Mhz); LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25)
Model A1533 (CDMA)*: 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); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25)
From Wiki - seems like at&t currently uses band 17, which is available on the Verizon 5s. Not sure if 17 was available on the 5.
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Very true. But while the 5 was unlocked on at&t GSM, the fastest data speed was 4g HSPA+. It did not have the at&t LTE band. It seems that the 5s may, in fact, be capable of LTE on at&t
This is going to suck for Verizon customers who can literally buy just ONE model of phone that will work on their network, but all the people who are just going to stick another SIM in it and use it on another carrier will eat up the supply of that phone.
I think you still have to walk out with a Verizon contract, though. I bought a Verizon iPhone 5 at full price last year on launch day and was just going to take it home and activate it myself and save others' time, but they insisted it had to be activated on Verizon's network in the store before I left.
I think you still have to walk out with a Verizon contract, though. I bought a Verizon iPhone 5 at full price last year on launch day and was just going to take it home and activate it myself and save others' time, but they insisted it had to be activated on Verizon's network in the store before I left.
the iPhone 5 was unlocked irregardless of contract status, unlike the iPhone4S which would only internationally unlock the sim after 6 months.
the one caveat is that you must activate the iPhone first on a verizon line prior to swapping out the sim to at&t or tmobile.
I can confirm firsthand that the Verizon iPhone 5S is unlocked and will accept an AT&T sim. It appears to work exactly the same otherwise - LTE works (FAST - I tested at 35Mbps), as does "talk and surf." When I first put the SIM in, it said "Invalid SIM" or something similar, but after about 60 seconds it came to life.
I found this post on the forumns today, yes, the 5S is unlocked when sold by Verizon regardless of contract status.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1637205/
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SWEET!! Thank you for posting back and confirming!
Yep, even on contract Verizon 5S/5C is unlocked. I picked up mines with my friend, she got a 5C for her brother and a 5S for herself. Put my sim in both, they were unlocked. Both on active Verizon lines and are on contract.
I know some people had trouble getting a GSM sim to work on the Verizon phone, I believe the phone has to activate with a Verizon sim, active or not.
Ok tomorrow i will begin my hunt at verizon stores.
Man it sucks t-mobile had nothing but 16gb and i want a 32 or higher.