Yay! AT&T is raising upgrade/activation fees for NEXT, BYOD, & 2-yr contract customers on Aug 1st!

[AndrewR23]

The Verizon iPhone, although unlocked, is intended for Verizon's network. So Apple didn't put all the bands in it that they did in the SIM free model.

The SIM free model, by design, is intended to work on all four domestic carriers. Thus it HAS to have most of the bands that ALL the carriers use.

The fact that the SIM free model just happens to be the unlocked Sprint model is just coincidence.

Weird, my verizon 6 says LTE isn't supported in China but LTE worked fine..

 

[eyoungren]

Weird, my verizon 6 says LTE isn't supported in China but LTE worked fine..

Don't quote me on this. But I believe there is one carrier in China that is CDMA based. I don't know which carrier you used in China though.

 

[garirry]

Not much better elsewhere. Sprint reps will lie to your face and the online reps will tell you one thing while the store reps tell you another.

Contract renewals without your permission. Plan changes without your permission. Insurance added when you did not ask for it. Little things like that which makes Sprint one of the most hated carriers among the four.

Yeah, I'm not only targeting AT&T. Pretty much targeting any greedy bastards or monopolists in US and Canada.

 

[rui no onna]

Don't quote me on this. But I believe there is one carrier in China that is CDMA based. I don't know which carrier you used in China though.

Nah, not really anything to do with CDMA. Rather, one of the Chinese carriers use one of the TDD LTE bands (38-41) present in the Sprint/SIM-free/world version but not in the AT&T/T-Mobile/Verizon version.

To summarize:

SIM-free: Works on all four major US carriers without issue (whitelisted on both Verizon and Sprint; AT&T and T-Mobile have open networks)

Verizon: Comes unlocked from factory and works hassle-free on Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. Doesn't have the necessary LTE bands for Sprint and likely isn't whitelisted anyway.

Sprint: Locked to Sprint but can be unlocked once contractual obligations are fulfilled. Works on AT&T and T-Mobile once unlocked. Can also be used on Verizon if unlocked but since it's not on Verizon's whitelist, cannot be used to activate new service/SIM and some discounts (e.g. contract-free/EDGE $25 line discount) may not apply.

AT&T: Locked to AT&T but can be unlocked once contractual obligations are fulfilled. Works on T-Mobile once unlocked. Can also be used on Verizon if unlocked but since it's not on Verizon's whitelist, cannot be used to activate new service/SIM and some discounts (e.g. contract-free/EDGE $25 line discount) may not apply. Doesn't have the necessary LTE bands for Sprint and likely isn't whitelisted anyway.

T-Mobile (full price from Apple Store): Comes unlocked from factory and works hassle-free on AT&T and T-Mobile. Can also be used on Verizon if unlocked but since it's not on Verizon's whitelist, cannot be used to activate new service/SIM and some discounts (e.g. contract-free/EDGE $25 line discount) may not apply. Doesn't have the necessary LTE bands for Sprint and likely isn't whitelisted anyway.

T-Mobile (bought from T-Mobile or authorized dealer): Locked to T-Mobile but can be unlocked once contractual obligations are fulfilled. Works on AT&T once unlocked. Can also be used on Verizon if unlocked but since it's not on Verizon's whitelist, cannot be used to activate new service/SIM and some discounts (e.g. contract-free/EDGE $25 line discount) may not apply. Doesn't have the necessary LTE bands for Sprint and likely isn't whitelisted anyway.