Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Jack Tripper

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 9, 2011
50
0
Is it possible to change carriers with a SIM or are you locked in to a carrier when you buy the iPad?
 

Jack Tripper

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 9, 2011
50
0
If they are all interchangeable, why do you have to specify the carrier when you order the iPad?
 

darkknight11

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2011
67
0
So you get a carrier specific SIM card with your purchase and also for your convenience. Some carriers will charge you $5-10 for a branded SIM card.
 

JustCrusin

macrumors regular
Mar 13, 2011
137
61
So..just making sure I understand this correctly I can buy any iPad air (WiFi & Cellular) on Friday and change to a different carrier (AT&T or Verizon or Sprint) later?
 

Sounds Good

macrumors 68000
Jul 8, 2007
1,692
57
I'm confused. If cellphones are either GSM or CDMA for their cellular service, why aren't iPads?
 

takeshi74

macrumors 601
Feb 9, 2011
4,974
68
Is it possible to change carriers with a SIM or are you locked in to a carrier when you buy the iPad?
Depends on the specific model of iPad. Some are CDMA only models (e.g. Verizon iPad 2) and a SIM isn't relevant. iPad Air appears to be one model for all. Specs are available for you to refer to online.

I'm confused. If cellphones are either GSM or CDMA for their cellular service, why aren't iPads?
You can't make broad generalizations like that. Again, depends on the specific model. Some are GSM or CDMA. Some are both. Check the specs.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,563
12,676
Curious about this, too. Now that there's only one hardware model for the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina, theoretically, these can be used with any carrier as long as the device is unlocked. Question here is if Verizon and Sprint implement some sort of IMEI/MEID whitelisting.

Does anyone here have a Sprint or European iPad mini or iPad 4? Can you just check if your device gets recognized here:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/nso/enterDeviceId.do

I think this check would more or less give us an idea whether we can use non-Verizon devices on Verizon's LTE network. There's a report of someone using a Nexus 7 LTE with an already activated SIM card with Verizon. No way to use the Nexus 7 to activate a new SIM, though. Would be interesting if we can, for example, get the T-Mobile iPad with 0% financing and 200MB free data and be able to pop in a Verizon SIM card in areas where there's no TMo coverage.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.