won an iphone 4s in a raffle, how to use on tmobile?

[yrrej]

hi guys, a friend of mine won an iphone 4s in a raffle and she's trying to use it on tmobile in the US. is this possible? what are her options?

so far i figured she has to wait for an jailbreak/unlock.

can she trade it for a sprint/verizon iphone 4s that came factory unlocked and use it on tmobile? or is that still locked in the US?

 

[wordoflife]

is the iphone factory unlocked? considering its from a raffle, it very well may be unlocked already, thus not requiring a jailbreak.

go to a tmobile kiosk and get a microsim to see if it works on the phone.


and no ... you can't trade phones like that. you would only be able to return it and buy a factory unlocked iphone, but you might not even be able to do that without a proof of purchase.

not to mention, sprint/vzw iphones do not work on any other carriers in the US. they're unlocked for international use so it wouldn't be practical anyways.

 

[lordofthereef]

I assume it was sealed? Look on the back of the box. Is there carrier branding? If so, it is locked to that carrier. If not, it's an unlocked GSM model. If it is locked, and if she is willing to sell it as brand new on craigslist (especially unopened), she can probably toss an extra $100 at it (maybe less) and then just buy the GSM unlocked version straight from Apple.

 

[TM WAZZA]

If it was won from a raffle there is a high chance that it's already unlocked.

It would be pretty silly to have it locked with a carrier if it was for competition me thinks.

 

[Jordan921]

Tell her to get a microsim from T-Mobile and test it. If it's not unlocked she could always sell it and purchase a unlocked 4S

 

[NtotheIzoo]

I assume it was sealed? Look on the back of the box. Is there carrier branding? If so, it is locked to that carrier. If not, it's an unlocked GSM model. If it is locked, and if she is willing to sell it as brand new on craigslist (especially unopened), she can probably toss an extra $100 at it (maybe less) and then just buy the GSM unlocked version straight from Apple.

Completely recommend this. If you open the package and find out it is locked...you probably immediately lose value when trying to sale -- if you even want to go that route.

 

[yrrej]

thanks for the reply guys, she already opened it unfortunately and she cut her old tmobile sim to be a microsim and it didn't work. does she need an actual micro sim from tmobile? the back of the box had no carrier branding as far as i saw...

 

[rjohnstone]

What is the model number on the package?

This will tell you what carrier it works with.
MDxxx or MCxxx (the first three digts after the MD will tell you what carrier, if any, it works with or if it's unlocked.)

See this post for a chart that will help determine what model it is.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=14073333&postcount=11

 

[yrchern]

thanks for the reply guys, she already opened it unfortunately and she cut her old tmobile sim to be a microsim and it didn't work. does she need an actual micro sim from tmobile? the back of the box had no carrier branding as far as i saw...

It will be easier to know if it's factory unlocked if you can provide the part number which can be found on the box.

 

[BiggAW]

Get a real carrier. The iPhone is crippled on T-Mobile anyways.

 

[Jordan921]

Get a real carrier. The iPhone is crippled on T-Mobile anyways.

Exactly this. But I guess people really enjoy them edge speeds

 

[lordofthereef]

thanks for the reply guys, she already opened it unfortunately and she cut her old tmobile sim to be a microsim and it didn't work. does she need an actual micro sim from tmobile? the back of the box had no carrier branding as far as i saw...

As far as I know TMO doesn't actually have a micro sim, officially. If you are sure it has no branding (meaning unlocked) then she likely cut the sim incorrectly. You can buy professionally cut micro sims for TMO or a sim cutter tool on eBay for pretty cheap.

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Exactly this. But I guess people really enjoy them edge speeds

Hey, ATT offers a 200mb plan. As far as I am concerned that is essentially $15 a month royalty fee for owning an iPhone. You sure aren't going to take advantage of blazing speeds with a 200mb allotment. Point is, there are people that use wifi exclusively, even with AT&T. TMO is a wonderful and inexpensive options for those sorts of people.

That said, I couldn't live without data on the go (well I could, but life would be different). Heavy data users likely are not the ones opting for the TMO route.

 

[SCARY GAY DAD]

As far as I know TMO doesn't actually have a micro sim, officially. If you are sure it has no branding (meaning unlocked) then she likely cut the sim incorrectly. You can buy professionally cut micro sims for TMO or a sim cutter tool on eBay for pretty cheap.

I took my iPhone to a T-Mobile store and they offered to cut my SIM card for free. They really take care of you even if they don't sell iPhones!

 

[lordofthereef]

I took my iPhone to a T-Mobile store and they offered to cut my SIM card for free. They really take care of you even if they don't sell iPhones!

That's pretty cool, actually. I was always very happy with TMO customer service when I was with them. Unfortunately the world's bes customer service didn't help the fact that I got spotty service and no service in my house.

 

[wordoflife]

Hey, ATT offers a 200mb plan. As far as I am concerned that is essentially $15 a month royalty fee for owning an iPhone. You sure aren't going to take advantage of blazing speeds with a 200mb allotment. Point is, there are people that use wifi exclusively, even with AT&T.

Not really. My monthly cycle refreshed 18 days ago and since I've used 63.3MB.
Some people simply do not use that much data because all they do is check email. facebook, twitter, weather ... and so on. I hardly use my phone on Wifi (3G seems to be more stable than the WifI at the places i go to) and I'm guessing most of the data I've used is from the constant picture messaging I've been doing.

So no, it's not a "royalty fee" ...because it actually works.

 

[Pez555]

nice prize

 

[lordofthereef]

Not really. My monthly cycle refreshed 18 days ago and since I've used 63.3MB.
Some people simply do not use that much data because all they do is check email. facebook, twitter, weather ... and so on. I hardly use my phone on Wifi (3G seems to be more stable than the WifI at the places i go to) and I'm guessing most of the data I've used is from the constant picture messaging I've been doing.

So no, it's not a "royalty fee" ...because it actually works.

My point was, you would be able to fairly successfully do that on TMO as well. The things you are checking are not data intensive. We are comparing TMO to ATT service here, are we not? You may not fit into the category I speak of. great, that means I wasn't speaking about you, personally, but there are a TON of people that would happily pay NO data plan on ATT if they could. The only reason they pay the $15 a month is because ATT forces you to do so for any smartphone. Again, YOU, obviously not, but no single person is a fair representation of the majority.

 

[BiggAW]

My point was, you would be able to fairly successfully do that on TMO as well. The things you are checking are not data intensive. We are comparing TMO to ATT service here, are we not? You may not fit into the category I speak of. great, that means I wasn't speaking about you, personally, but there are a TON of people that would happily pay NO data plan on ATT if they could. The only reason they pay the $15 a month is because ATT forces you to do so for any smartphone. Again, YOU, obviously not, but no single person is a fair representation of the majority.

A) A smartphone is crippled without the 2GB data plan.

B) Someone has to pay for that $450 subsidy. You want to have free and free again. The world doesn't work that way.

If you don't want data, get a Tracfone and an iPod Touch. I'll keep my 5mbps rock solid data on the best network where I live, work, and play, thank you very much.