aws unlocked iphone 5

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Level 1

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aws unlocked iphone 5

I bought a full price Unlocked iPhone 5 from Apple back in January to use on Straight Talk. I had some issues with data on Straight Talk not being reliable and I had to keep turning data off and on again to get a connection. Now that TMobile is supporting the iPhone at the same price as Straight Talk I figured i'd give them a try - after all that's what having an unlocked phone with no contrat is all about right? I'm a free agent.

So i signed up however i don't get 3G anyhere, and my 4G coverage is spotty (talking HSPA+ 4G not LTE). This is because my $599 unlocked phone doesn't have AWS support.

My question is why won't Apple release an update that will allow my identical hardware to work the way the one would if i bought it from TMobile? It's the same A1428 Model, the ony difference is the software. I really don't have to have to sell my older A1428 to buy a new A1428 from TMobile just to get it to work when it should have anyway.

Can someone respond as to what Apple plans to do about this?

Thanks,

Andrew

iPhone 5, iOS 6.0.1

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 3:18 PM

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Answer 1

KiltedTim

Level 10

195,873 points

Apr 29, 2013 3:42 PM in response to beholder95

No one told you it would work on T-Mobile when you bought it. No one told you it would work on Straight Talk either. Your assumption that it should have worked is incorrect.

Apple has not announced any plans to do anything about this.

You were the one who made the decision to use an unsupported carrier to begin with. Now that a new carrier is available for use, you have every right to sell your existing phone and buy a newer one that supports their network.

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Answer 2

beholder95 Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 29, 2013 6:50 PM in response to KiltedTim

Wow thanks for the not so helpful reply man.

Most Anyone buying the full price iphone from apple is not planning to use it in what you referred to as an "approved carrier." That notion is actually false anyway. Apple has agreements with carriers who will sell it at a subsided price. Since there are a lot of other carriers Borg domestic and internationally that ate compatible with the iPhone apple decided to sell the unlocked version to service that market - very smart.

My issue isn't that a phone I bought was replaced by a newer one a few months later, that I could understand, but with the fact that the hardware tmobile ( and apple) sell is identical to mine. The software that allows the usage of AWS frequencies is the only difference and I'm questioning if they will be the great company they claim to be and service their existing clients as well as they do potential new comers.

We are talking a software path, not a logic board replacement.

Just wondering if apple monitors their forums and would care to weigh in on this hot button issue. I can't be the only one in this boat. My brother has a 2 yr old Google Nexus and was on straighttalk like I was but also made the move to tmobile. His 2 yr old phone works just fine (and his cost 299) yet my 599 4 month old phone doesn't. Sort of frustrating so I came on here to post.

Does anyone else in my boat care to respond?

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Answer 3

diesel vdub

Level 7

22,178 points

Apr 29, 2013 7:25 PM in response to beholder95

beholder95 wrote:

My issue isn't that a phone I bought was replaced by a newer one a few months later, that I could understand, but with the fact that the hardware tmobile ( and apple) sell is identical to mine. The software that allows the usage of AWS frequencies is the only difference and I'm questioning if they will be the great company they claim to be and service their existing clients as well as they do potential new comers.

We are talking a software path, not a logic board replacement.

That simply is not correct. The hardware is not the same. Apple has stated that enabling AWS on the original A1428 is simply not possible, it is not a software update. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5720

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