How to buy a fully unlocked iPhone 6/6+ Model 1586/1524 in the U.S.?

Following is the answer for people interested in buying iPhone 6 and 6 Plus outside China for use in China and other parts of the world:

There are several models of iPhone 6, models A1586 (3 Carriers Version for China), A1586 (GSM version, Hong Kong), A1586 (Japan version), A1589 (China Mobile version), and A1549 (GSM version) from USA. A1586 (3 carriers version for China) and A1586 (Japan version) are universal for 4G, 3G and 2G on all carriers globally. A1586 (GSM HK) will ONLY work China Mobile and China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G. It does not work with China Telecom, period. A1549 (GSM version, USA) will work on China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G; it only works on China Mobile 2G and China Telecom 4G. A1589 (China Mobile version) does not work on China Telecom 3G and 2G.

There are several models of iPhone 6 Plus, models A1524 (3 carriers version for China), A1524 (GSM version, Hong Kong), A1524 (Japan version), A1593 (China Mobile version) and A1522 (GSM) from USA. A1524 (3 carriers version for China) and A1524 (Japan version) are universal for 4G, 3G and 2G on all carriers globally. A1524 (GSM HK) will ONLY work China Mobile and China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G. It does not work with China Telecom, period. A1522 (GSM version, USA) will work on China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G; it only works on China Mobile 2G and China Telecom 4G. A1593 (China Mobile version) does not work on China Telecom 3G and 2G.

So, when you buy an unlocked iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, do not presume you can use it globally. Make sure you have models A1586 (3 carriers version, China OR A1586 (Japan) for iPhone 6 and A1524 (3 carriers version, China) OR A1524 (Japan) for iPhone 6 Plus.

Good Luck!

Following is the answer for people interested in buying iPhone 6 and 6 Plus outside China for use in China and other parts of the world:

There are several models of iPhone 6, models A1586 (3 Carriers Version for China), A1586 (GSM version, Hong Kong), A1586 (Japan version), A1589 (China Mobile version), and A1549 (GSM version) from USA. A1586 (3 carriers version for China) and A1586 (Japan version) are universal for 4G, 3G and 2G on all carriers globally. A1586 (GSM HK) will ONLY work China Mobile and China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G. It does not work with China Telecom, period. A1549 (GSM version, USA) will work on China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G; it only works on China Mobile 2G and China Telecom 4G. A1589 (China Mobile version) does not work on China Telecom 3G and 2G.

There are several models of iPhone 6 Plus, models A1524 (3 carriers version for China), A1524 (GSM version, Hong Kong), A1524 (Japan version), A1593 (China Mobile version) and A1522 (GSM) from USA. A1524 (3 carriers version for China) and A1524 (Japan version) are universal for 4G, 3G and 2G on all carriers globally. A1524 (GSM HK) will ONLY work China Mobile and China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G. It does not work with China Telecom, period. A1522 (GSM version, USA) will work on China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G; it only works on China Mobile 2G and China Telecom 4G. A1593 (China Mobile version) does not work on China Telecom 3G and 2G.

So, when you buy an unlocked iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, do not presume you can use it globally. Make sure you have models A1586 (3 carriers version, China OR A1586 (Japan) for iPhone 6 and A1524 (3 carriers version, China) OR A1524 (Japan) for iPhone 6 Plus.

Good Luck!

Bought an A1586 64GB from an Apple UK store. Yes, a £90 more than the US when you factor in exchange rate and sales tax. On the other hand, it's in my hand, it works in my home country and I have negligible intention to live in China. Factor in the reality I'm no longer ******* around on these forums and I'm a happy Apple fanboy. Add in a Three sim only deal of unlimited 4g data at £18 a month and well... what's all the fuss. Pull yourselves togehther

The thread will be closed now. Any further questions relating to differences between iPhone 6 models, please refer to this comment.

Thanks

Kevin Quincey wrote:

TrueDichotomy -

I'm trying to do the exact same thing and I think I've found the way. I called Apple at 1-800-275-2273 and got almost the same answer as you. The initial call taker just kept repeating a canned line that Apple doesn't sell unlocked phones and can't guarantee mobile providers would either. When I mentioned the model number (A1524) and part number (MGD12LL/A) I wanted and that I wanted to pay full price, she eventually let me talk to someone in sales there who could tell me specifically what I needed to know. By the way, the chart at http://www.techwalls.com/differences-between-iphone-6-6-plus-models/ for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus (or for iPhone 5s see: http://www.techwalls.com/iphone-5s-a1533-a1453-a1457-a1530-differences/) is extremely helpful in understanding the technical differences in the various iPhone models. I travel a lot too and want the truly "World Phone" - the A1524 (that's for the 6 Plus - the equivalent for the iPhone 6 is the A1586).

What I learned from the Sales rep there was that when the chart says you won't be able to get the A1586 or A1524 unlocked, what it means is that you won't be able to get the CDMA portion of it unlocked (and even that is not completely necessarily true - but more on that later). You will not need to unlock the rest of the channels on the phone because they come already unlocked. The GSM and all the other bands (TD-SCDMA?, GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA, FDD-LTE, and TD-LTE) are already ready to be used in other countries. The good news is that only the US uses CDMA so locking your CDMA portion simply means that if you buy it from Sprint, you'll only be able to use the CDMA portion of the phone on Sprint when you're in the US (the only other 2 providers that Apple knew of who sold this in the US and did this were US Cellular and C-Spire - so that simply means, this locking will only cut out the other two networks from that list that you don't choose to buy it from - it's truly a world phone otherwise and you'll be able to use it pretty much anywhere else including in the US on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, Europe, Australia or wherever). Or you could buy it from Singapore or Japan and technically be able to use it on all three of them (but getting Pay-As-You-Go deals or any reasonable short-term deal in the US has always seemed to be another hurdle that has nothing to do with the technical challenge).

2 more notes: I was reassured enough by the information I received to decide to buy mine from a Sprint store in the US (even though I now live in the UK) for full retail price with no Sprint contract. Because of the bill Pres Obama just signed into law, mobile providers are mandated to unlock phones when you've paid off any contract requirements for subsidies to the phone maker (which I will have done by buying the phone for full price)...so.... I guess I might be testing that new law out (but it's not really too big a deal for me because where I travel to in the US, sprint has always had better coverage than US Cellular anyway and I've never even seen C-Spire yet so I'm not put out with the small link to Sprint anyway). I have an address and brothers in the US and get there often so I don't need to try geex4's re-routing service but it's nice to know that kind of thing exists. If you want AppleCare, you have 60 days from the purchase date to add it at Apple for $99 (which actually seems like a good deal to me since their service extends to all the countries I'm in for a full 2 years).

In the UK, 3 (three - the network provider) is offering "Feel At Home" service for FREE on their £20/month OnePlan customers - I've been to Sweden, France, and the US now and gotten Free unlimited Data there for my first time ever! No strings. Amazing. I can't tell you how many times I tried in France and the US and been completely ripped off by Orange or AT&T and other networks who promised they could get me data, so I was completely floored when they gave me this for free! So now when I travel almost anywhere, I just keep my home 3 sim in and can also make and receive calls and texts from/to the UK for free too!

Are you sure about those models. It seems contrary to what I read here: http://www.techwalls.com/differences-between-iphone-6-6-plus-models/

yeh168 wrote:

Following is the answer for people interested in buying iPhone 6 and 6 Plus outside China for use in China and other parts of the world:

There are several models of iPhone 6, models A1586 (3 Carriers Version for China), A1586 (GSM version, Hong Kong), A1586 (Japan version), A1589 (China Mobile version), and A1549 (GSM version) from USA. A1586 (3 carriers version for China) and A1586 (Japan version) are universal for 4G, 3G and 2G on all carriers globally. A1586 (GSM HK) will ONLY work China Mobile and China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G. It does not work with China Telecom, period. A1549 (GSM version, USA) will work on China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G; it only works on China Mobile 2G and China Telecom 4G. A1589 (China Mobile version) does not work on China Telecom 3G and 2G.

There are several models of iPhone 6 Plus, models A1524 (3 carriers version for China), A1524 (GSM version, Hong Kong), A1524 (Japan version), A1593 (China Mobile version) and A1522 (GSM) from USA. A1524 (3 carriers version for China) and A1524 (Japan version) are universal for 4G, 3G and 2G on all carriers globally. A1524 (GSM HK) will ONLY work China Mobile and China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G. It does not work with China Telecom, period. A1522 (GSM version, USA) will work on China Unicom 4G, 3G and 2G; it only works on China Mobile 2G and China Telecom 4G. A1593 (China Mobile version) does not work on China Telecom 3G and 2G.

So, when you buy an unlocked iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, do not presume you can use it globally. Make sure you have models A1586 (3 carriers version, China OR A1586 (Japan) for iPhone 6 and A1524 (3 carriers version, China) OR A1524 (Japan) for iPhone 6 Plus.

Good Luck!

hi guy i have the same problem iam from mexico i want to buy the iphone 6 unlocked or contrat free to use only in mexico i ll be traveling to LA the next week i will pay full price, wich model should i buy? or jus the T mobile i hear the it is contrat free an unlicked it is true? please help me

I'm currently on working on a project in Qatar. The iPhone went on sale officially last week. But some shops have been selling imported versions from the US here. I brought an iphone 6 64gb. When I opened the box the first thing I notice there was no sim tray remover which as far as i know only us versions come without out one.

When I popped out the sim tray, there was a verizon sim card in there. I'm assuming this shop ordered full priced iphones from them because i paid 4,000qr (roughly over $1,000) for it at the shop.

It works fine with my Qatar sim card. No issues. i think it is safe to assume that full priced verizon iphones can be used internationally. This is great since i travel back and forth between the states and qatar a lot.

Hi!

I don't have a solution but I have related queries and would be grateful if you could please provide me with some answers! The reason why I'm specifically posting here is because you seem to have good knowledge about the devices/carriers.

I want to buy iPhone 6 plus (factory unlocked) since I am an international student and might return to the UAE by 2016. I should be able to use my phone in the UAE as well with my local SIM card.

My options are:

T-mobile version on Apple.com (almost everyone on all the Apple forums has confirmed that it is unlocked). However, I stumbled upon the following article and got confused:

http://m.imore.com/iphone-6s-lte-support-isnt-quite-good-enough-t-mobile

Since I'm not a techie, I wanted to know does this mean there is some defect in the device itself or it is carrier related? If it's carrier related, then I will make the purchase right now because I can use another SIM card in the US. However, if there are some device related issues, then I will not purchase the phone.

My second option is paying the full price upfront and getting the phone from Verizon:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/vzw/smartphones/iphone-6-plus/

One of the Verizon representatives confirmed that the phone will be locked for a year to Verizon (ALLSET plan is the one I want to go ahead with and they said I can) and then I can request for it to be unlocked. I will definitely be here in the US for at least another year. So even if I return to Dubai after that, the device should be unlocked so that I can use it there with my local SIM card. I have confirmed with them that it is a GSM device. However, when I spoke to another representative, he told me that it is factory unlocked and I got confused because two different representatives from the same company are giving me two different answers.

I can wait for iPhone to release the unlocked version of the phone but their representatives are not too optimistic about the date so I am very confused at this point and would appreciate any help.

If you guys are gonna wait for two more months for the official fully unlocked iPhone 6/6+ Model A1586/A1524, bad news... Just talked with someone worked for Apple, if the unlocked version is similar to iPhone 5S, it would be the GSM only model just like the AT&T/T-Mobile ones, which would be A1549 and A1522.

Hi, thanks for your sharing!🙂

What do you mean by "uncloking CDMA"?Is it a painful process? In my opinion, if you buy iPhone 6/6+ Model A1586 or A1524 from a carrier or apple and you ask to get it unlocked, it will unlock both CDMA and GSM since this model supports both CDMA and GSM, right? And after the unlocking it can be used in both CDMA and GSM 3G netwwork (like att tmobile in usa, also td-scdma in china), for 4G, it can support all the current iphone lte bands including 4 TD bands. Yes, this model is truly international model, just make sure it can get unlocked.

But the truth is unlocked iphone 6 can not bought online now, online has t mobile non-contract iphones, but it still get locked to tmobile. I knew for sure in apple store they have full price unlocked non-contract iPhones: sprint, verizon, att, tmobile. However, I just checked in my local store, they sold out.

There is one question in my mind: if it is a so called "unlocked phone", i think i should be able to take it to any carrier as long as that model support the bands of certain carrier, but then why do we call it"ATT unlocked iphone?" or "Sprint Unlocked iphone"? Literally misleading

In my opinion, they are just the purely unlocked iPhone for that specific model.

For example, since att use Model A1522(GSM) for 6 plus, if i get a unlcoked A1522(GSM) 6 plus in apple store, i should be able to use it in other USA GSM carrier like tmobile an china unicome since they use GSM and the cellular bands are among those for A1522(GSM). Of course, this model can not be used in verizon and sprint because both will use cdma for 3G and A1522(GSM) does not support CDMA.

I was thinking the expression "ATT unlocked iphone" or "sprint unlocked iphone" is kind of misleading because after it is unlocked it is not bind to those carriers.

Another example is from iphone 5s, my friend bought a unlocked verizon iphone 5s Model A1533 (CDMA) in apple store and since it supports CDMA and also GSM (CDMA version always cover GSM, GSM version is poor in bands coverage, personal summary), he used in att and it works. On the ther hand, Att unlocked 5s is A1533(GSM) and can't be used in verizon. So you can use both model to be able to use in ATT.

In summary, when it comes to buying a unlocked Iphone in USA and plan to use internationally, we should:

1st Get the information for different iphone models available in USA and all the cellular bands each model support

2nd Choose the model based on your potential cellular band needs(for example. you need to use in China mobile which is td-scdma in 3G and td-lte in 4G, then you should select the model which covers the China mobile those bands which is iPhone 6/6+ Model A1586 or A1524 (one more model is also coming); if you want to use in china telecom which is a cdma in 3G and FDD-lte in 4G, you can actually choose both iPhone 6/6+ Model A1586 or A1524 and iPhone 6/6+ Model A1549(CDMA) or A1522(CDMA)

3rd, based on the model you need to buy, check where you can get that model. Maybe a carrier in USA sell that model and then you buy it and ask to get unlocked. Or apple store have that model in unlocked state, you buy it. That is it. Done

Correct me if I am wrong, thanks a lot!

One thing to note is that despite Apple's claims, the ATT and t-mobile versions do have CDMA enabled. I have a t mobile 6 plus and an ATT 6; both work on Verizon just fine, even the non-LTE modes. These models report a MEID in settings, which is an indicator that CDMA is enabled

Hi. I'm also in Qatar and I was planning buy the iPhone from the US. Could you please tell me which one should I go for so that it works with Ooredoo 4G network. The T mobile contract free from Apple store or the Verizon contract free full priced model for Verizon store?

Also I would like to know if you bought form Lulu or Carrefour. Are you using it on Vodafone or Ooredoo? Are you getting 4G network on it or only 3G?

Thanks in advance.

"In any case, it is very puzzling to me why Apple would release a version of the iPhone 6 in the USA that has 4 fewer LTE bands than the international version with everything else being the same. In any case, I want that international version fully GSM unlocked in the states. "

Well that sounds easy to answer. Perhaps they want you to use the phone you purchase in the USA to stay in the USA. Make sense to me, since there are so many people coming to the states, buying phones, and then going over seas to sell them as gray market items. ***** that that happens.

but i think the sprint version in apple retail store is still locked to sprint,i asked them,you can not use tdd lte and td- scdma.Additionally,sprint uses cdma rather than gsm,so you cant use att and t mobile

Thanks so much for the great info Kevin.

I do have a further observation and question though:

What was not clear to me in your post is whether it actually works with US GSM carriers (eg. AT&T, T-Mobile). I understand that you used a UK "3" SIM and it worked. However, accessing the AT&T network using a non-US carrier SIM is not necessarily the same as using a US carrier SIM.

Have you used an AT&T (or other US carrier) SIM in the phone?