"Locked" iPhone 6

[superfriezen]

Hello,

I am originally from the Netherlands and have come to attend university in America. I currently have an iPhone 5 and its freezing almost everyday so what I am planning on doing is buying an iPhone 6. I don't have money to pay 800 dollars for a 64GB one in the apple store, but then I saw this link: http://www.walmart.com/search/?quer...30513405450373736967&affillinktype=10&veh=aff

They have the 64GB version for 548 dollars. If i sell my iPhone 5 for 200 bucks or so I would have enough money. I know there is a place at the local mall here that unlocks iPhones for 30 dollars. Seems to me that if I do that its a lot cheaper than buying an iPhone from Apple.

I am wondering if anybody has any experience with this. I'm afraid im missing something here.

 

[paperwastage]

what provider are you planning to use it on?

In the USA, we have CDMA providers (Verizon, Sprint), they are particularly picky on what phone you use

The Sprint version (iPHone 6) is supposed to be unlockable, but you may run into issues attempting to unlock it

(Sprint only recently allow unlocking for their phones... before Feb 2015, you cannot unlock it to use on another USA provider. A lot of their customer service reps do not know how to execute this new policy. )

-> https://www.google.com/webhp?source...1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=sprint+DSU+unlock+problem

 

[superfriezen]

Well I was going to use T-mobile's prepaid plan where you pay 50 dollars a month for unlimited text,call and data. I cant start a plan anywhere because I dont have a social security number.

 

[paperwastage]

Well I was going to use T-mobile's prepaid plan where you pay 50 dollars a month for unlimited text,call and data. I cant start a plan anywhere because I dont have a social security number.

might want to look at this $30 100-minute 5GB plan, T-mobile prepaid.

https://www.reddit.com/r/oneplus/comments/2muvo4/heres_how_to_get_that_30_tmobile_plan_us/

depending on where your university is located, T-mobile might not be the right choice for you. Look up the coverage, compare T-mobile with AT&T

http://opensignal.com/
http://sensorly.com/






anyways, back to your original question:

It might be a huge PITA to get the Sprint version unlocked. (In the google search I pointed out above, you can see how regular Sprint customers have problems getting Sprint to do it. Good luck getting them to help you if you aren't their customer. I don't know if "unofficial" methods at your local mall work for unlocking Sprint phones)

The Verizon iPhone 6 16GB ($548) is the next best bet. It comes by default unlocked, you can immediately pop in a T-mobile/AT&T(or their prepaid version) sim and get the full features (as though you were using a T-mobile iPHone 6 - VoLTE, WiFi Calling etc)

 

[superfriezen]

might want to look at this $30 100-minute 5GB plan, T-mobile prepaid.

https://www.reddit.com/r/oneplus/comments/2muvo4/heres_how_to_get_that_30_tmobile_plan_us/

depending on where your university is located, T-mobile might not be the right choice for you. Look up the coverage, compare T-mobile with AT&T

http://opensignal.com/
http://sensorly.com/






anyways, back to your original question:

It might be a huge PITA to get the Sprint version unlocked. (In the google search I pointed out above, you can see how regular Sprint customers have problems getting Sprint to do it. Good luck getting them to help you if you aren't their customer. I don't know if "unofficial" methods at your local mall work for unlocking Sprint phones)

The Verizon iPhone 6 16GB ($548) is the next best bet. It comes by default unlocked, you can immediately pop in a T-mobile/AT&T(or their prepaid version) sim and get the full features (as though you were using a T-mobile iPHone 6 - VoLTE, WiFi Calling etc)

Thanks so much for the response. But I don't understand one thing; why is the phone locked to Verizon on the walmart site if its not really locked at all? Isnt it an unlocked phone then?

 

[soccerballtux]

make sure you check the frequency bands needed for coverage with your carrier

 

[superfriezen]

make sure you check the frequency bands needed for coverage with your carrier

What is this and how can I do this?

 

[stlc8tr]

Thanks so much for the response. But I don't understand one thing; why is the phone locked to Verizon on the walmart site if its not really locked at all? Isnt it an unlocked phone then?

It's locked to Verizon for CDMA. You can't use it on Sprint. The GSM portion is unlocked so you can use it on AT&T and TMobile.

Apple sells a truly unlocked version that you can use on all four big carriers.

 

[stlc8tr]

What is this and how can I do this?

Depending on the model, the iPhone 6 supports slightly different LTE bands.

https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

The main difference between the Verizon (A1549) and Sprint (A1586) models being bands 38, 39, 40, 41.

Wikipedia has a list of LTE bands used in different countries and carriers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks

 

[paperwastage]

Thanks so much for the response. But I don't understand one thing; why is the phone locked to Verizon on the walmart site if its not really locked at all? Isnt it an unlocked phone then?

Verizon is not allowed to sim-lock their LTE phones, because they agreed to this provision when they won LTE band 13 in the 700mhz auction

https://www.verizonwireless.com/aboutus/commitment/safety-security/device-unlocking-policy.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_2008_wireless_spectrum_auction#Google_involvement

Walmart just doesn't have the right information. (well, as stlc8tr said, only the GSM/2G/3G/LTE part is unlocked, the CDMA version isn't "unlocked")

As other people said, check the LTE band compatibility.

I know for a fact, that the Verizon LTE iPhone 6/6+ A1549 model is exactly the same as the AT&T and T-mobile version (same LTE band compatibility, same features...). You can use the Verizon/ATT/T-mobile version on Verizon/ATT/T-mobile

This fact/feature DOES NOT APPLY to older iPhones (or other android phones, except for the Nexus 6). That's why I asked you which carrier you plan to use the phone on....

The Netherlands use the Sprint/Apple-unlocked A1586 version of the iPhone 6/6+. You might find it better to pay for that version, if Netherlands uses those extra LTE bands thaht the A1586 has?

 

[Artdeco]

Several things

Swappa is a great site for buying used iPhones, I'd buy one there, for the $, I'd recommend a used 64GB iPhone 6 from Swappa.

http://swappa.com/buy/apple-iphone-6-tmobile

Also, Wal Mart has refurbished iPhone 6's from Verizon, they say "locked" but they are unlocked, and will work on TMobile

http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=iphone 6 refurbished

Buy a SIM card from TMobile, and get the $30 plan from Wal Mart/TMobile if you can live with the 100 voice minutes, remember, you can use many voice over internet protocol options for free, like google Hangouts, Facebook etc...