Is it possible to change an iPhone 4s from Sprint to Verizon? The phone is fully paid for and allegedly Sprint is willing to unlock it. What about changing it to AT&T? (I understand this model has both GSM and CDMA, and the AT&T web site says its IME number is compatible.
Is the situation any different for the 5s?
Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7)
No, unfortunately you will not be able to use a Sprint iPhone 4s on Verizon and you certainly will not be able to use it on AT&T. The iPhone 4s does have a sim card slot in it, but this is only for use with international travel so that you can use local sim cards in your phone when you travel, but when you return to the US you would need to use it on Sprint again and you will not be able to use it on AT&T - if you want to use AT&T, then you will have to buy a new phone that is a GSM phone and not a CDMA phone.
As for switching to Verizon, then unfortunately, you would need to buy a new phone specifically for use on the Verizon CDMA network.
For either of the things that you are asking, you need to buy a new phone whether it be another CDMA phone or a new GSM phone.
The situation is no different for an iPhone 5s either.
I would like to know what your are basing your reply on. The Apple specifications list only two models of iPhone 4s, and the one with CDMA capability (which must be the one sold by both Verizon & Sprint) has all the same GSM & UMTS capabilities as the one made for AT&T. Further, Sprint is willing to unlock the 4s (which is fullly paid for) and they say it could then be used with other carriers. This is different from the unlocking they do when you want to do foreign travel with a phone still on contract. When I put the IEMI number into AT&T's website it said it was compatible with their network. Further, I found an information web site on unlocking, which said that when a carrier unlocks an iPhone it simply notifies Apple to remove the phone from the list of IEMI numbers locked to their specifications. So according to that, there is no difference between that and a "factory unlocked" phone--in fact, the article states that.
I haven't tried all this, however. It is clear that for a phone model with all the necessary hardware specification, the locking is done with software. The question is, do you know something about that process that would contradict the above?
Verizon recently unlocked their 4S's so you could use them with US networks - I wonder if Sprint has done the same? If so, you can use it on AT&T just fine.
In the past, Sprint would only unlock their phones for international use, regardless of model. I think this changed recently.
Unfortunately you cannot use a non-Verizon phone on Verizon's network. The 5 and newer would work on the LTE network but would not be able to fall back to 3G. Verizon uses the SIM for LTE but the CDMA radio for slower speeds.
~Lyssa
The Verizon problem isn't the phone. The problem with Verizon is they will not allow phones on their network that were not purchased for use on their network. This is entirely a Verizon issue.
Sprint recently changed their policy (as part of an industry-wide agreement), and they will unlock a phone that has met its commitments for use on any GSM network. Unfortunately, a lot of Sprint CSRs haven't read the memo, so you may have some difficulty getting it unlocked. But if you persevere you can probably make it happen.
For the 5S and Sprint the situation is the same. However, all Verizon 5 series and 6 series phones are unlocked out of the box, even before you meet your commitment.
Thanks, that explains why the AT&T web site said my IEMI number was compatible, but the Verizon site said it wasn't, even though according to the hardware specs it should have been.
I now understand the situation. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
changing an iPhone 4s from Sprint to Verizon
