not only is the iPhone 6 unlocked, but the t-mobile phones work on verizon!

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Level 2

251 points

not only is the iPhone 6 unlocked, but the t-mobile phones work on verizon!

if someone makes a youtube video or writes a news story about my post, this time around i really would appreciate some credit. saying rigor mortis from apple discussions' is good enough.

it turns out that the iPhone 6 and 6 plus model numbers #1459 and #1522 are universal. and both have the CDMA radio enabled. However, Sprint models are still separate as far as i know. i did not test Sprint. but as far as AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, go , it is the EXACT same phone. i was playing around with my iPhone 6 on launch day. i wanted to see if "ask maggie" was right and the phone was locked to a specific carrier. i tried the T-Mobile and AT&T sims that i had. they do not have service.

however when i inserted my LIVE and ACTIVATED Verizon Sim into my iPhone 6 , my iPhone suddenly became a verizon iPhone. i was able to Place and Receive calls using CDMA, i was able to use DATA services, and i was able to send SMS messages. i assumed that VoLTE was not enabled. and it was not. i assumed

that you had to buy a Verizon model to get Volte. but i was wrong. it just took a while to activate. and i did see use VoLTE in settings, for Voice and DATA

however, since the IMEI and MEID serial numbers are not listed with Verizon, you are not able to either Sign up to verizon, or to transfer service to your new iPhone 6. your service is still tied to your SIM card. and when the iPhone 6 is running and active with your sim card, your device listed on "MY Verizon" will be shown as NON VZW device and it will only show the sim card. but a pre-activated sim card pulling from another device will work in the iPhone 6.

this is just like the iPad Air and the iPad Mini Retina. the only difference between these phones is the serial number is put in some list that tells someone which

carrier it supposed to belong to, and if it is locked or not. and which sim card came with the device. other then that. there are no technical differences between them. except for sprint of course.

whenever i inserted a new sim card into the iPhone 6, it automatically got carrier settings and changed its baseband.

Posted on Sep 22, 2014 9:25 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 9, 2017 4:49 PM in response to skfop

You have to ask Sprint that question. They are the only ones who can unlock the phone for other carriers. At one time they would not, in spite of the fact that they are legally required to for a phone as new as yours.

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Answer 2

Vahldin

Level 1

8 points

Jun 20, 2017 10:11 AM in response to rigormortis

My wife and I have iPhone 6 and 6+ through AT&T.

We'd like to move to a Sprint Unlimited plan because it's about half of what we are currently paying for a family of 5 lines right now.

Can we bring our iPhone's with us, or would we need to buy new ones?

My mom just got a Galaxy3 and I'm not sure what the in-laws have, just cheap stuff I think.

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Answer 3

Jun 20, 2017 10:13 AM in response to Vahldin

Vahldin wrote:

Can we bring our iPhone's with us, or would we need to buy new ones?.

That is an excellent question to ask Sprint. Only they can say for certain what phones they allow on their network.

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Answer 4

rigormortis Author

Level 2

251 points

Sep 22, 2014 9:45 AM in response to rigormortis

the old story about how Apple has disabled the CDMA radio in GSM models like the iPhone 5, 5s, and 5c and that you need to buy a Verizon phone are no longer true, as far as the iPhone 6 goes.

however, verizon won't like your serial number, but the phone will work as long as the sim is activated

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Answer 5

aleman13

Level 1

0 points

Sep 22, 2014 4:33 PM in response to rigormortis

This is great info. Thank you for answering this question, as there is so much conflicting information floating around out there.

When you say that you cannot "Sign up to Verizon" or transfer service to the new iPhone 6, can you elaborate on that? Is there some significant disadvantage to using a currently active SIM from Verizon in a T-Mobile iPhone 6?

I'm with Verizon (iPhone 5) but want to buy an iPhone 6 Plus off contract. Verizon won't sell them for full price yet (they force you to reset your plan), and Apple won't sell VZW iPhone 6 online without a contract.

Thanks in advance!

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Answer 6

Sep 22, 2014 4:47 PM in response to rigormortis

This great news. I also want you to clarify about what aleman13 was asking. I also have this plan on getting a verizon iphone 6 plus. Can I just start a new 2 year contract and pay $300-$500 for the phone and then terminate the contract and pay the $350 fee? Will that work? If that doesn't work, I want more confirmation on if the t-mobile version works with a verizon sim card right out of the box. I heard a lot of conflicting information. i also talked to an apple rep on the phone today and she told me if you get a verizon iphone 6, it will not work with any other sim card other than the one it is activated with when you purchased it at the store. so if i were to buy a verizon iphone 6 with or without contract, it will not work with another verizon sim card. this doesnt sound very true to me. these so called "geniuses" arent really genius

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Answer 7

rigormortis Author

Level 2

251 points

Sep 22, 2014 7:19 PM in response to aleman13

verizon will not like your t-mobile unlocked iPhone serial number. they will say you cannot sign up - you cannot start a new line of verizon service if you walk into a verizon store with the t-mobile unlocked phone. if you go to my verizon.com and you tell it to change your device from an iPhone 5 or whatever to this phone. they will not accept the serial number (imei or meid number) because the serial number is not on their list.

but if you take a live verizon sim card --- one that has a plan , service and a telephone number associated with an existing customer , and stick it into the t-mobile unlocked iPhone without telling verizon, it magically works. and even VoLTE works and CDMA voice works.

things i did not test was visual voice mail

when your sim card is in the iPhone 6, the only thing listed under "my devices" on my verizon website (where you go to pay your bills, etc or check for an upgrade) is your sim card

i don't know the downside to this. maybe the downside would be that since your imei / meid is not on their list you can't report that phone stolen to verizon????

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Answer 8

rigormortis Author

Level 2

251 points

Sep 22, 2014 7:27 PM in response to ChrisStunner

if you buy a verizon iPhone you can use it on any other network

if you buy a t-mobile iPhone you can use it on any other network

HOWEVER. you cannot do the same thing to sprint phones. sprint phones are excsluvive to sprint. if you buy a sprint iPhone you are stuck with a sprint iPhone. if you buy a verizon iPhone you cannot bring it to sprint. as long as the carrier is not sprint, boost mobile, or any of their prepaid partners, you can move between different carriers as often as you like

just make sure you don't buy a locked phone , like an iPhone on a payment plan or a contract. if the iPhone is locked, like the AT&T iPhone is on a contract you have to get it unlocked before you can use it somewhere else

my intention is to let everyone know about this unlocked tmobile iPhone and verizon and AT&T on it. a lot of people are standing in line at the apple store and stainding in line for hours just to find out that they are sold out of a particular model. in a pinch, if you want a verizon no contract iPhone and they run out and you have to wait 3 months, you can get away with a t-mobile iPhone. same if you were standing in line for an AT&T iPhone and they ran out, so instead of waiting for a few months, maybe you can get lucky and they will have unlocked full price t-mobile iPhones for you.

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Answer 9

Sep 22, 2014 9:32 PM in response to rigormortis

okay I understand if you purchase tmobile iphone 6 from T-Mobile it will be locked to t mobile. if you buy tmobile iphone 6 from apple store it comes unlocked and will work for Verizon, but what if you purchase a tmobile iphone 6 from target, radioshack or best buy? will it come unlocked and will work with Verizon?

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Answer 10

rigormortis Author

Level 2

251 points

Sep 23, 2014 5:21 AM in response to ChrisStunner

i don't know. i am just talking about the standard full price no contract t-mobile phone they sell for $649 and up. if you finance a device from t-mobile it might come locked to t-mobile, until you fulfill your obligation. if t-mobile unlocks your phone then it should work with verizon just like the no contract one. if you buy the full price one without carrier financing at any other store, then it should work with verizon. i don't think t-mobile will finance an unlocked phone.

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Answer 11

Sep 23, 2014 11:05 AM in response to rigormortis

Can you test to see if visual voicemail works? I am a bit confused by this because all apple representatives will not admit that this is possible. They say all iphone 6s at this time will only work with the sim card that it has been activated with. Putting another sim card in will not work. Is what the op is saying really possible? Anybody else tried this?

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Answer 12

Sep 23, 2014 11:50 AM in response to ChrisStunner

I'm most confused by the statement in your original post, "...i tried the T-Mobile and AT&T sims that i had. they do not have service."

This says that you bought a T-Mobile phone, which then worked with your previously-established Verizon sim, but that it wouldn't work with T-Mobile or AT&T. That makes no sense. Why would a T-Mobile phone not work with a T-Mobile sim? Please clarify...

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Answer 13

aleman13

Level 1

0 points

Sep 23, 2014 12:33 PM in response to rigormortis

Thanks for providing all this info and your replies. Very helpful!

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Answer 14

rigormortis Author

Level 2

251 points

Sep 24, 2014 9:58 PM in response to RichmondDan

i meant to say that the t-mobile and AT&T sims i have do not have a telephone number or plan associated with them they are not activated. so i was unable to see if inserting one sim locked the phone to that particular carrier. i don't think it does. when i put one of these de-activated sims in the phone. the iPhone 6 sees that is a different carrier and it downloads new carrier profiles. i wasn't able to see if activating the phone with t-mobile with a real live t-mobile sim card prevented me from using verizon. that is what i meant

i'll try visual voice mail in a bit...

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Answer 15

rigormortis Author

Level 2

251 points

Sep 24, 2014 10:11 PM in response to rigormortis

it looked like visual voice mail did not work with the verizon sim card. it called my regular voice mail box

this was very brief. like 15 seconds, it automatically tuned on visual voice mail. and that feature also works

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