My carrier is Verizon (still on CDMA technology, I think) and I’m considering upgrading my family to IPhone XRs as our 6’s are getting long in the tooth.
Will those new phones work if we bring them on year-long sabbatical in New Zealand where they only use GSM networks?
Is the “dual sim” a possible work-around?
I’m trying to avoid buying phones for only one year away from the US.
Any help appreciated.
iPhone XR
Thanks!
Yes, they will work, so long as they are unlocked. At one time, all LTE devices sold by Verizon or other retailers for use on their network were GSM unlocked. That is no longer true. You can have them unlocked by Verizon, but there is a minimum time period you must use them on the V network before they will do that. (not sure, but I think it's 30 days... Ask Verizon to be sure).
If you buy the phone from Apple either paying full price or on the Apple iPhone upgrade program, it will be unlocked.
Here is Verizon'z FAQ regarding ESIMs. It's a little unclear as to whether you can use V service on the eSIM and a foreign SIM in the SIM slot. Contact them for more information: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/dual-sim-with-esim-faqs/
You need the Xr CDMA model, which also supports GSM. It will work on CDMA, GSM and LTE. Verizon has mostly switched to LTE, but there are still parts of its network that are CDMA.
Both GSM and CDMA?
