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Level 1

11 points

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

After reviewing the details of the cellular networks for iPad Air, I noticed that Apple no longer gives two different stats for the Verizon (CDMA) and AT&T (GSM) networks.

I called Applecare and they spoke with their tech services regarding whether ALL bands were unlocked no matter which version (Verizon or AT&T) was purchased. (I was thinking of getting a Verizon iPad and using it with my AT&T sim card because in the past, Verizon allowed their GSM bands unlocked, while AT&T seemed to have the CDMA bands locked up with possible firmware and not able to be unlocked...)

Applecare stated the following: The AT&T iPad Air had the CDMA bands unlocked and the Verizon iPad Air had the GSM bands unlocked.

Has anyone (ie: some of the press who got iPad Airs to play with,) read or seen this in person?

In a perfect world, I would LIKE Apple to just release a cellular version of the iPad and then let the user pop in any sim card they wanted. Could this possibly be it? And maybe the network designations (AT&T, Verizon, etc.) simply refer to the sim card that is with the device? And not the device's limitations for network access?

I have read all the iPad Air review articles (about 12,) and don't see this addressed - has anyone?

Thank you!

iPad (3rd gen) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Oct 30, 2013 1:24 PM

64 replies

Sep 13, 2014 7:59 AM in response to deggie

deggie wrote:

Clear up what? As long as you don't buy a subsidized iPad the GSM side is unlocked.

The term "unlocked" doesn't mean anything on the CDMA side. CDMA carriers will not accept walk in devices, if you buy a Verizon iPad Air you will not be able to use it with Sprint. Or vice versa.

To add one bit of clarification, if you buy a Verizon iPad Air, you can use it with AT&T or TMobile or, as I do, with Bell Aliant when I travel to Canada.

Oct 17, 2014 6:35 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

I think on pre-Air iPads it might have as much to do with what generation the device is as who the carrier is. I have an iPad 3, originally set up by Apple with Verizon. About a year ago, I switched it over to AT&T because it was cheaper to share data with my family plan. We also set my husband's iPad 2 up on that account (his was originally AT&T, individual device month-to-month pay). This week we decided to move from AT&T to Sprint to improve both coverage and pricing. The Sprint salesperson (in a 3rd party store) at first said that neither of the devices would work because of the CDMA v GSM. I asked her if she'd be willing to try and she looked up my device numbers on her system and said it looked like maybe mine would. She sent me to Apple to get Sprint device specific SIM cards (no charge). I returned to the store and she set mine up. Voila! It worked. However, when she tried to do the same for my husband's iPad 2--no glory. Our choices came down to either trying to jailbreak his and then see if it would work on Sprint -or- get a new iPad Air and just trade his in. Decided to go with the latter...

Oct 17, 2014 7:37 AM in response to TheReverendMother

What matters is if it is capable of 4G LTE which the iPad 3 is and the iPad 2 is not. If it's 4G LTE capable, any iPad should be useable on Sprint. If it's not, you'd need one sold specifically for Sprint. Ones sold for Sprint (or Verizon), though, should be useable on any GSM network.

Goon2016

Level 1

4 points

Aug 19, 2017 7:28 AM in response to Spryfly

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

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