Anybody know if it will be offered GSM unlocked (at a premium) or will be have to wait 8+ months like with the 4? There is no mention of this on the Apple Store website...
TIA
If there is no mention of it on Apple's web site, then no-one here can give a definitive answer. I see no reason to delay availability of it, though.
It will almost certainly depend on the country you're in. We won't know for any given country until the iPhone 4S is opened for orders in that country.
Regards.
Thanks Dave:
I would assume that in most countries that the 4 was initially offered unlocked at the launch..this would continue to be the case with the 4S. My question pertained to the US since there is no incentive to offer one here (unlike many foreign countries). The US "unlocking" seemed to coincide with ATTs loss of exclusivity earlier this year.
Since exclusivity is a thing of the past, and now SPRINT in the fold, I would assume that an unlocked 4S is a possibility. I guess we will have to wait until they start taking orders on Friday.
Found this on the Apple Store website..abter looking around for 10 mins or so. Hopefully this is not standard "boilerplate" that applies to ALL worldwide stores but also applies to the US store:
The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 oriPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.
If you don’t want a multiyear service contract or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone is the best choice. It arrives without a micro-SIM card, so you’ll need an active micro-SIM card from any supported GSM carrier worldwide. To start using it, simply insert the micro-SIM card into the slot on your iPhone and turn it on by pressing and holding the On/Off button for a few seconds. Then follow the onscreen instructions to set up your iPhone.
We can assume whatever we like. That doesn't mean that it will be the case, though it's quite possible and perhaps even probable. We'll have to wait and see.
Apple offering unlocked iPhones in the US didn't coincide with anything related to AT&T that we users would know about, by the way. The iPhone was available from Verizon well before that.
Regards.
i have the same question so i called Apple eariler, asking about the phone sold as unlock.
1 customer service told me you cant get the iphone4s unlocked in the us, less you go to canada.
then i called a local store in Washington and asked the same question, the guy told me that you can order on apple.com or apple store for an unlock iphone 4s, and use it with whatever provider you like.
he gave me the price from them
iphone 4: 549
iphone 4s 16gb: 649
iphone 4s 32gb: 749
iphone 4s 64 gb: 849
but again until pre-order day we well not know for sure.
P.S. question for those you bought the unlock iphone, are you guys able to use the full function of the iphone as if it was locked to a carrier?
<<P.S. question for those you bought the unlock iphone, are you guys able to use the full function of the iphone as if it was locked to a carrier?>>
Yes. I upgraded from the original iPhone 1 to the iPhone 4 (unlocked) which I got in Canada at the beginning of the year. As I travel a lot and have 5 different SIMS the locked one was no longer an option. I took the ATT SIM and cut it to microsize and it works perfectly on 3G (the original iPhone was not 3G).
On the Vodaphone (UK), TIM (Italy) and Orange (Dominican Rep) the phone works perfectly in 3G with those carriers SIMS. It also works on the US T-Moblie network but not at 3G speeds.
Felipe, on the US T-Mobile network can you use Facetime, visual voice mail and MMS Messaging? Is the speed totally terrible? Does anyone know if the new chip will help with 2G speed?
You will not be able to use Facetime, visual voice mail and MMS. The speed ranges from (in my area with people who are using an unlocked iPhone with them) from 60 kbps to 250kbps. In the same area I get 3.1Mbps on my iPhone 4 on AT&T.
Facetime has nothing to do with the phone carrier as it only works (so far) with WiFi. You cannot Facetime over ANY 3G network.
Speed is slower on T-Mobile than on ATT as T-Mobile is EDGE on in the US because t-mobile uses a frequency for 3G that is not compatible with the iPhone. I don't know about MMS becuase I have never used it. I have used SMS and it works fine.
Visual VoiceMail is carrier supported (the carrier has to do tweaks on their end to support it) and some carriers choose to implement it and some do not. Since T-Mobile does not have Apple support in the US they cannot implement VVM.
You are correct that Facetime is WiFi only, but to activate Facetime a confirming text has to be sent from the iPhone to the network. This does not work on T-Mobile in the US so even on WiFi Facetime will not work on an iPhone tied to the T-Mobile US network.
Thank you so much for the information, Felipe and deggie.
this is where im confuse i dont want to get an unlock phone and use it with T-mobile if i havve to loose some of the cool features.
I'm getting mix info on this, Apple said the Official unlocked iphone well work with T-mobile, and T-mobile said that as long as the iphone is official unlock by apple it well be able to run on thier 3g network, where as other people been telling it can only run on edge.
Who at Apple said it will work well? T-Mobile is an unsupported carrier so I don't know why Apple would say this.
T-Mobile's US 3G network is on a different frequency than AT&T's (or any other GSM provider in the world for that matter including T-Mobile in Europe). It isn't just the unlocked iPhone that won't work on T-Mobile's 3G network, any unlocked AT&T 3G phone will not work on T-Mobiles 3G network. You are limited to EDGE speeds.
And as has already been stated Visual Voice Mail, FaceTime and MMS will not work with T-Mobile USA.
I called Apple twice today! The first person told me that unlocked iphone 4s will not be sold in the USA. After I called again and they said they will sell but not before 10/14!
4S unlocked?
