iPhone 5 bought in the USA does not send text messages in Russian networks

Same problem in Italy, Sprint iPhone 5 16gb. Same sim works well on Verizon iPhone 5 32gb.

bad news ...

"Same In Israel... BUT Verizon dose work. Text (in and out)

The problem is with sprint only... With 4 different curriers....

By the way called apple today again and thay say that maybe it's because I have an Microsim that I cut to be nano sim.... Did anyone try to text out of US from a sprint iphone 5 with an original Uncut 🙂 nano sim?"

I'm using a "real" nano sim, the problem is not the sim, it does work with a Verizon phone.

they messed up when coding restrictions in the Sprint iphone firmware or what ??? 😁😠

Same problem in South Africa with Sprint iPhone 5. Everything working fine except for SMS (outbound).

same here in France; Sprint iPhone bought in the US, with a french nanosim card, and everything works except SMS; iMessage and Facetime activations made impossible. This really looks like a world issue....

The Verizon phone is sold fully unlocked because of an FCC regulation that applied to certain cellular bands that Verizon purchased. The Sprint phone is NOT unlocked until you call Sprint customer service after 3 months of continuous service. The fact that you are able to use voice and data, just not SMS proably means it isn't as locked as they thought it would be, but the only way you will be able to unlock the SMS features is to have the phone registered on the Sprint Network and then apply for an unlock after 3 months. Since that isn't practical, rather sell the Sprint phone on Ebay and get a Verizon model which IS fully unlocked.

This is what I started to wonder. Seems Sprint's locking feature had issues and only locked the SMS feature, giving an initial perception it was unlocked.

The issue here is Apple Store employees are, intentionally or not, pushing those devices as "unlocked" to people that asks for an "unlocked" device, misleading the customer and causing all the mess we're seeing here. If Apple to help provide a solution for this situation is because ITS employees are causing this situation.

Hilton, are you aware of any confirmation about the fact that SMS sending feature is not working due to a lock, or it is just your guess when you say "proably means it isn't as locked as they thought it would be".

The main problem is the absence of any confirmation about what is causing phones to not being able to send text messages. Right now there are two possible explanations:

1. Sprint has a very particular lock strategy which prevents to use almost all the phone features except SMS (which also prevent the use of Facetime)

2. There is a problem with Spring phones (which may be a software problem, but I don't see why a restore would not solve it, is a lock something stored in an ROM? Something tied to the phone IMEI?)

None of them have yet a solution.

I read posts of people saying that since the phone works (calls and receives text messages), it should not be locked. Is it that true? Can a lock be specific to some features only?

For many people living abroad, sell an iphone 5 (spring) and in particular buy a new one (verizon) is currently not a simple option.

I don't have specific information other than Sprint spokespeople saying their phone is sold locked and Verizon saying their is sold unlocked. Here is an article that explains this further: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/story/2012/09/24/verizon-says-iphone-5-wont- be-relocked/57836744/1

The point is that all of us have been told by Apple store sellers that the phone is LOCKED in US with Sprint BUT fully functional on local GSM SIM card ... How can Apple stores all over US make this huge mistake with hundred and hundred of people ? Is it a really a mistake ? Why do they sell this phone as usable overseas if it was never planed to be ? At least they need to explain quickly what happen because this is unfair, we've asked if we can buy in US an iPhone which works in our country and Apple said YES ... I didn't asked specifically a sprint one ... But the seller got this one for me ... So now???

There are two different models of iphone 5. One cdma and one gsm. Nobody is reporting that problem on that thread with gsm phone. That tells me that bandwidth that used in some countries for sms is different from bandwidth that sprint/verizon iphone is capable off. No submission to apple is going to fix that, but for the links to contact apple here

Apple.com/feedback

developer.apple.com

Good luck to you guys!

• GSM model A1428*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 4 and 17)
• CDMA model A1429*: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)
• GSM model A1429*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5)

Look at those MHz numbers.

The question is not locked/unlocked ... Sprint iPhone are locked ( checked your IMEI lock status ) ... Apple Star is true, it's a mistake from Apple store US who sells the sprint as fully functional outside US even it was never planed by sprint or whatever and we are lucky to be able to use a little the phone due to their technology failure ... I can't believe it's a mistake but something else ... Anyway it's really a bad joke from Apple playing with the iPhone BUZZ ... Sprint won't care about our case ...

Verizon iPhone works with the same sim so you can forget the bandwidth thing ...