Q: Buying unlocked iPhone 7 right after release date

If you buy any iPhone outright directly from Apple paying the full retail price, it will be carrier unlocked.

If you pay full retail you have an unlocked phone with no requirement for any service. Just remove the SIM that's in it and stick in one for the carrier you wish to use.

Michael, do you know if this unlocked (pay in full) version works worldwide or only in USA? I’m from Ecuador and I’m looking forward to buy two iPhone 7 Plus but I’m really concerned about if they are going to work here or not. I have to make the purchase in store (retail) or I can do it at apple.com?

I’ve always bought the sim-free version and never had any problem with our local carriers, since iPhone 4 was released.

I’ll appreciate if you can help me with this matter.

Thanks.

When you pay full retail at an Apple Store and leave without any carrier commitment, you get an unlocked device. Unlocked is unlocked as in no carrier lock of any kind.

Make sure the model you buy will work in your country with your carrier - http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/  As always, the iPhone warranty may be restricted to the country of original purchase - it is not an international warranty.

You can only shop at the USA online Apple Store if you have an acceptable method of payment issued from a USA source, with a USA billing address associated with that method of payment. Apple will not ship internationally either.

The full US dollar retail price does not include state and/or local sales taxes but those will be charged at the time of purchase.

Misha1151 wrote:

 

I need an unlocked device now, and can I get one without waiting for the start of selling SIM Free devices. Thank you!

Here's what I know:

- There are no SIM free iPhone at this time but they are all unlocked if you pay full price

- You can not purchase an AT&T, Sprint, Verizon versions online if you are not a current customer (see snapshot)

- T-Mobile is the only version that you can buy online without going thru "account details" page

- If you want SIM free iPhone, buy one with T-Mobile carrier. Remove the SIM when you have the phone. Voila! It's SIM free

I've tried choosing AT&T, Sprint and Verizon carriers and I got stuck at the above screen because I'm not a customer of AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. That leads me to think that those 3 are for existing customers only. I don't know if they do the same thing at the store. If they do, you can only buy T-Mobile version. Keep in mind that the T-Mobile version is exactly the same as AT&T but it comes with T-Mobile nano SIM preinstalled.

Michael, perfect! I'm good then, it works just as I've been doing for the last years.

Shag! Really helpfull! Thanks.

No problem. I forgot to mention one other important thing, the T-Mobile or AT&T (GSM) models do NOT work on CDMA network. You will have no problem using it with Ecuador GSM network operators but it won't work in Ecuador CDMA provider network.

There's no problem, we have GSM and LTE networks here, at least in my carrier. Thanks again Shag.

Be careful.

1. Go into the store and buy it, and pay full price.

2. If you want a model that works on all/most U.S. carriers, you need a "Verizon" or "Sprint" model (for iPhone 7) because those work on GSM carriers like AT&T as well.  If you get an "AT&T" model, it won't work on Verizon or Sprint. So  if you want a model that gives you freedom to move and has more appeal when you want to sell it, tell them you have a Verizon or Sprint account. What I don't know is if they will verify your carrier account. I know that back when I purchased an iPhone 6S full price in store, I had to tell them I had an AT&T account, but they didn't make me log into my account, and sold me an unlocked phone. (The 6S AT&T phone works on all carriers, which is not the case for the iPhone 7. As I said, you want a "Verizon/Sprint/GSM-free" model.