I want to buy the new phone, but i am afraid that the model sold contract free will be blocked and not work in my country. I saw that the unlocked version has a tag of T-Mobile. That means that the phone will come blocked in T-Mobile network directly from the apple store?
contract free is not sim unlocked
so it will only work with the a American t-mobile sim in your country and then it would be roaming on the local carriers network and your bill would be huuugee
If you buy iPhone for T-Mobile, it will arrive with a nano-SIM card already installed that you can activate by visiting an Apple Retail Store or a T-Mobile store or by calling T-Mobile. When you travel internationally, you can use a nano-SIM card for iPhone 5s from a local GSM carrier. The unlocked iPhone 5s model is A1533 (GSM)
That is why i am confused. From that point of view, i can easily just put my own carrier sim and activate the phone from there.
But will it work? 🙂
The "tmobile" phone sold in the US Apple store is unlocked. They merely provide a tmobile SIM for "convinience". You can throw the tmobile SIM away and use your own, or activate the tmobile SIM if you wish.
Apart from having no warranty in the EU (or anywhere else, except the US), LTE service might not work and Apple has a disclaimer that it is not guaranteed to work outside of the country the phone was sold in.
About the unlocked iphone 5s:
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. If you choose T-Mobile, your iPhone comes with a T-Mobile SIM card already installed. You will need to contact T-Mobile or visit an Apple Retail Store to activate your iPhone.
Can the A1533 iPhone 5S be used in Europe/Romania?
