Apple is having trouble verifying my carrier (AT&T)'s account, so I can't buy the phone. I'm paying full price. Why do they need to verify my carrier? I bought an AT&T phone last year when I had T-Mobile.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why do I need to verify carrier if I'm paying full price?
- Thread starter techiegirl
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
For USA, the only time you don't have to verify right now is if buying T-Mobile. It's incredibly dumb. I wanted to order a VZW model full price but couldn't because of the having to provide VZW account info thing. It's just another way of carriers annoying us.
Can I buy a T-Mobile phone and use it on AT&T? They're all unlocked if paying full price.
As long as you are ordering from Apple. Buying direct from T-Mobile often ends up with it being locked although they will unlock it for you.
Yes, the T-Mobile phone will work on AT&T. It will NOT work on Verizon or Sprint though. The Verizon model will work on all 4 carriers, which is why I wanted it.
Do you think we will be able to get a Verizon phone in store without a Verizon account? I've never had this problem before.
Nope, not online at least. But, the fully unlocked version was available like 3 or 4 weeks after launch last year, if you can wait that long. It is not tied to a carrier at all. If you only plan on using it on AT&T the T-Mobile version should be fine, it's just not the greatest one available in terms of resale or ability to use on other networks.
Last edited:
It's backordered for that long anyway, so I might as well wait for the fully unlocked one.
Presumably, Apple is trying to limit the amount of people who are buying multiple iPhones for resale overseas. If they require you to have an active plan with the Big 4 carriers, they are limiting iPhone purchases to those who will actually be using them within the US.
That's interesting. As a test, I tried to check-out on the Apple site with an iPhone marked for AT&T and they want phone #, zip code, and last 4 of SSN. If I mark it as for T-Mobile, it lets me get to the final checkout page without asking for such info.
I wanted the VZW version but was forced to stay with AT&T despite not having a contract. Really pathetic but maybe it's their way of preventing bulk purchases.