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Will an unlock iPhone 6 CDMA support all carriers?

I noticed on the cellular specs for the iPhone 6/6+ (copied below) that CDMA versions support all of the standards including those of the GSM phone but the opposite is not true. So it's seems that an unlocked CDMA version would support all the US carriers including AT&T and T-Mobile which are considered GSM carriers? Is this true?


Model A1549 (GSM)*

Model A1522 (GSM)*

UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)

GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26,
28, 29)


Model A1549 (CDMA)*

Model A1522 (CDMA)*

CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)

UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)

GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26,
28, 29)

Posted on Sep 13, 2014 7:30 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 13, 2014 11:38 AM

Not exactly. The GSM side of Verizon phones are unlocked and will work on domestic carriers but there is no guarantee all features will work. It is not the same for Sprint, the GSM side of that phone is unlocked and unlocking it will only allow it to work with non-domestic GSM carriers.

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 13, 2014 11:38 AM in response to mikef22

Not exactly. The GSM side of Verizon phones are unlocked and will work on domestic carriers but there is no guarantee all features will work. It is not the same for Sprint, the GSM side of that phone is unlocked and unlocking it will only allow it to work with non-domestic GSM carriers.

Sep 13, 2014 9:08 PM in response to deggie

That's good information. Do you know this for sure with the 6 or was this based on how the 5S CDMA iPhone worked with GSM carriers?


I noticed that the 5S GSM is offered as sim-free but I'm not sure why Apple didn't offer the CDMA as like the 6 it should have supported all carriers? Apple does some weird stuff with there marketing!


What features are you thinking may not work? It looks like the specs for all iPhone 6 models were the same other than the Carrier support? I guess one way to know for sure is to wait to order my iPhone 6 until people have tried using the CDMA phone on AT&T and T-Mobile?

Sep 13, 2014 9:14 PM in response to mikef22

Contract free means when you buy it there is no contract attached.

SIM free means it doesn't come with a nanoSIM.

Unlocked means the phone is not locked to any particular carrier.


Even though the GSM side of the Verizon phone is unlocked they do not advertise that fact and it always comes with their LTE nanoSIM. You can remove it and use a nanoSIM from another carrier.

Will an unlock iPhone 6 CDMA support all carriers?

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