Rumor or Fact: iPad Air comes with all GSM & CDMA bands UNLOCKED ?

The limitations of iPads available four years ago in 2013, when this thread started, do not apply to current models. Current models will work with any carrier provided you have the correct SIM from that carrier. Out of the box, current cellular iPads will work with AT&T using the Apple SIM included. To use Verizon, you would need a Verizon SIM since Verizon does not participate in the Apple SIM program.

Goon2016 wrote:

Did u ever figure out the difference with cdma and GSM lol I mean can unlock a cdma/GSM Verizon iPad and have it work on AT&T

As I explained in my initial response, use, you can use an iPad purchased for use on Verizon on AT&T. That is true now and was true 4 years ago.

iPads have never, in the U.S. been sold locked. However, it's important to note that the concept of "locked" only applies to GSM. CDMA is neither locked nor unlocked. In order for a device to work on a CDMA network, it has to be sold by that CDMA carrier. The carrier has to have certain information about the device preloaded into its database.

What this means is that, if you buy an iPad from Verizon, it will work on any GSM carrier (I take my Verizon iPad to Canada and use a Canadian SIM). However, an AT&T iPad will not work on Verizon (or Sprint or any other CDMA carrier). Nor will a Verizon iPad work on Sprint.

If the iPads were not backwards compatible to 3G and 1XRTT, the situation would be different as everyone would just be using LTE.

Sadly, the world is not perfect.

Because CDMA carriers do not accept bring your own devices unless it is one previously on their CDMA network.

Yes.

Meg St._Clair wrote:

However, an AT&T iPad will not work on Verizon (or Sprint or any other CDMA carrier).

Are you certain that is still true? Previous iPad models came in two versions with different electronics for either CDMA or GSM. The iPads that were announced this month appear from the specs to come in just a single model, which includes both a CDMA and a GSM radio.

Yes, but to work on a CDMA network a device needs two things:

1. the CDMA network settings in firmware.. They do not get any connection settings from any external device like a SIM so must have those settings for the specific network flashed in firmware.

2. That device must be provisioned by the CDMA service provider in their database of devices allowed to connect to their network.

So a device purchased from AT&T or from Apple for use on the AT&T network will not be in any CDMA carriers database and no carrier will add it - they simply do not do that for devices purchased elsewhere. Nor will any carrier flash the firmware for you to install their connection settings.

A CDMA iPad or iPhone needs to be purchased pre-provisioned for use on the specific CDMA network you wish to use, and it will never work on any other CDMA network anywhere.

This is completely unlike a GSM device, which gets all the information it needs to connect to a new network simply by swapping in a SIM card for that network.

Spryfly wrote:

So do CDMA devices not need sim cards and actually work from the device themselves? Otherwise, why couldn't I call up Verizon and give them the info needed for an AT&T device that has a CDMA network built into it? (Just trying to understand.)

Most phones sold by CDMA carriers need 4G LTE SIMS for a data connection. The Verizon iPads use a 4G LTE SIM. However, where there is no 4G coverage, they drop back to CDMA 3G.

(Replying to Michael Black.) Ah, I see. Thank you. So if I bought the Verizon model of the new iPad Air and later wanted to use it on AT&T or T-Mobile in the U.S. or with another carrier overseas, I could do that, right, just by getting a sim card? If that is correct, would I have access to the GSM carrier's LTE bands as well?

George Johnson wrote:

(Replying to Michael Black.) Ah, I see. Thank you. So if I bought the Verizon model of the new iPad Air and later wanted to use it on AT&T or T-Mobile in the U.S. or with another carrier overseas, I could do that, right, just by getting a sim card? If that is correct, would I have access to the GSM carrier's LTE bands as well?

As long as the carrier used a supported LTE band, yes.

Thank you both for the clear answers. If I went from Verizon to AT&T and then later wanted to switch back to Verizon, I wonder if that would present a problem (if my number in the Verizon database had expired from being unused.) It's unfortunate that the carrier with the best coverage is locked into the archaic limitations of CDMA.

No, it would not be a problem. It's not the "mobile number" assigned to the device that makes it possible to activate it. What needs to be in the database is the MEID. That will stay there. I have a Verizon iPad that I take back and forth to Canada. In Canada, I use a Bell Aliant SIM, in the U.S., Verizon.

For what it's worth, from what I can determine, GSM is older technology than CDMA. But, both are old and are being superceded by LTE.