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

Hello Kevin,

Thank you for the informative post on the Sprint iPhone. In order to purchase A1586 model (iPhone 6) with the 4 extra TD-LTE bands, do you suggest the following steps be taken?:

1. Go to Apple store and ask for A1586 model (iphone 6),

2. Purchase the phone with full price (given colour and screen size),

3. Out of box the phone should work on the International GSM networks, TD-LTE bands (and T-mobile and ATT 3G/EDGE networks)

Please correct me if I am wrong.

P.S. I travel a lot to Asia and would like to use the local SIM cards to latch onto their LTE networks on the TD-LTE bands (39 and 40).

Peter G: I asked about the warrantee in both Wisconsin and the UK and got the same good news answer. The warranty does cover a like-for-like replacement so if Apple's repair system deems a model MGD02LL/A (the /A means I bought it in America) to be different that a model MGD02LL/x (where /x is the UK's location code), then they will get a /A model to replace mine with - even if I'm in the UK. Neither Apple employee felt they would insist on this, but if they were required to, it would only take 1-2 days for them to get one from America so they assured me I'm covered here. I bought my AppleCare while in the US but my friend whose phone I also purchased in America while I was there just added his AppleCare onto it here in the Birmingham, UK store. Either way is OK. To add it later, you need to get to a store with your phone and receipt within 60 days of purchase.

Druk75: Sorry - I don't know Qatar or those networks at all but I'd guess the full priced Sprint version purchased from the Apple store would be your best and safest bet too. The T Mobile and AT&T versions of the phone offer less bands for the same price. If you don't have a workable experience, I believe there is a 30 day full refund return policy.

nantongzds: I don't think that's quite right. The Sprint version of the phone that you buy from Apple for full price is not locked to any network - and should never become so. It would only be locked to Sprint if you pay less than full price and "subsidize" it over time by entering into a contract with Sprint. Being never locked is better then getting a locked one from Sprint and then asking to have it "unlocked" in my experience.

carl2000 and shivang.acharya: That's right - or at least my experience. I wish I could say I've tested your exact situation, but I'd be willing to bet on it if I were in your shoes. But do assure yourself that you can return it with them before you buy if there are any troubles just in case. If possible, please circle around to let us know if your trial works out as well as mine has (I talked to Carl offline and I'm glad you're trying exactly what I did - especially since your Apple and AT&T stores are just across the street from each other). My 3 Sim registers as if it's a AT&T or T Mobile Sim so if anything, I'd get slower speeds / more restrictions (depending on what sort of deal 3 and these guys arranged for) but I've been happy with it so far. I would like to know if you get 4G / LTE speeds while on AT&T or T Mobile - I didn't find any in my last stay in the US so couldn't tell if I was being kept off of them or if there were none around me (I was in mostly rural areas).

Hope that helps! I'm loving this new super Phone!

Kevin Q.

I

MPORTANT RESTRICTION FOR iPHONE AND iPAD SERVICE.

Apple may restrict warranty service for iPhone and iPad to the country where Apple or its Authorized Distributors originally sold the device.

From the Apple warranty document

That means the warranty is NOT international and therefore warranty service is NOT guaranteed as it is with MAC products for instance

I an sure if Apple want to make the warranty international then you will not find the words above

Apple may support an iPhone purchased in another country but there is no obligation

Thanks Kevin Q.

Since here in Qatart we do not have CDMA networks, I think even the contract free version of T Mobile sold by Apple would be just fine.

The LTE bands supported here are 7 and 20 which almost all iPhone models support. So I guess it shouldn't be a problem.

I have told my friend to look for the Sprint version, if not then he might take the T Mobile one.

I'll keep you posted.

Ciao.

Okay, so today was a big FAIL with the A1586 and non-Sprint domestic carriers in the USA. 😟

What I hoped:

Purchasing a full-priced A1586 directly from an Apple store would give me a fully unlocked phone which I could use anywhere (Specifically, that I could use with AT&T in the US and with the carrier of my choice in other regions.) Others on this forum have indicated that this would be true.

What I discovered:

The A1586 will not work on AT&T in the US. At least not currently. 😟 Today, I purchased a shiny new gold A1586 ("Sprint"-version iPhone 6) from the Apple Store. I took it across the mall to the AT&T store. Prior to powering up the phone, AT&T removed the Sprint SIM (yes, there really is a Sprint-labeled nanoSIM in the slot, regardless of whether it is used for anything other than verification), and inserted a new AT&T SIM. Powered it up and tried to activate the new SIM. After repeated attempts, they were unable to activate any AT&T SIMs in this phone. The phone displayed "Invalid SIM..... {blah blah} this is not a hardware problem. You must insert a SIM from a supported carrier {blah blah}". So... it is in fact domestically locked to Sprint. I took the phone back across to the Apple Store. They informed me that Apple does not sell fully unlocked phones and they would not / could not unlock this phone for me. They also gave me a lame story about "hardware compatibility issues" and one "still being developed". So I returned the phone, very disappointed. 😟

The person I spoke with at Apple was unaware of the US legislation regarding unlocking (S 517 - Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act.) or the unlocking-related section of CTIA's "Consumer Code for Wireless Service", which is supposed to be implemented by Feb 11, 2015. Not surprising.

As a side note, Sprint has committed to provide domestic unlocking for devices released after Feb 11, 2015. It is still not clear as to whether they will actually do that for the iPhone 6, since it was released in 2014. I don't think we'll have a reliable answer until Feb 12.

That does not require any cell provider to provide immediate unlocking and does not restrict Sprint from unlocking it only for foreign carriers.

Not sure where you found information here that said Sprint was unlocked on the GSM side, every one I can find says it is locked. You can have it unlocked by Sprint (not Apple) but only by the cell provider it is locked with. The Verizon version of the same model phone is unlocked on the GSM side out of the box and you could have purchased it and gone to the AT&T Store and it would have worked. That fact is repeated here a number of times.

Apple has nothing to do with locking/unlocking other than their contracts with cell providers and that agreement is with cell providers. Since Apple is not a cell service provider it is no surprise that their employees have no familiarity with it.

deggie: As far as I can tell, there is no such thing as a "Verizon version of the same model phone." Everything I have seen indicates that the Verizon phone is an A1549. Can you direct me to other reliable information? The A1549 is not the same phone as the A1586 (ie. the Sprint version). The A1586 supports bands 38, 39, 40, and 41. The A1549 does not. That is why I and many others are trying to get an unlocked A1586. As you said, the availability of unlocked A1549's is well documented. But I don't really care about that. This thread is (or at least was) about the A1586 (and A1524).

deggie: PS. Paragraphs 4 & 5 of Kevin Quincey's post in this thread on 11/22 goes into some detail about all full-price phones from the Apple Store being fully unlocked. That information is incorrect, based on my experience today.

I know people have gone to the Apple store and paid full price for a "Verizon" phone and walked out and put in a T Mobile SIM and it has worked. Now given that Verizon sells its phones unlocked - can one just ask for a "Sprint" iPhone and pay full price and change the SIM? Or do you think those are locked to Sprint even without activation?

Thanks

The GSM side of the Verizon iPhone is unlocked due to an agreement they made with the government while acquiring additional bandwidth. The GSM side of the Sprint phone is locked and they will only unlock it if you meet their requirement. You also can't use it on a GSM US carrier.

If I go to apple.com then I can choose between full-price T-Mobile (Part number: MGC62LL/A) and SIM-free Unlocked (Part number: MGAJ2LL/A) - this is 6+ Silver 64GB. I'd assume the latter has those missing 4 LTE bands, no? Unfortunately I can't find anywhere how part number related to model number (Axxx).

P.S. Googling MGAJxxx shows that this is a model sold in Europe and looks like it has ALL LTE bands, for example:

https://www.com-solutions.co.uk/products/Mobiles-GPS/Mobile-Phones/Apple/MGAJ2ZD %2FA-iPhone-6-Plus-64GB-Silver?prodid=2109183&info=2

Umm - is this incorrect?

You seem to be overlooking the fact that US Cellular does not sell unlocked phones. They are a CDMA carrier.

Then buy an unlocked phone in Asia or Europe.