iPhone SE (2016) iPhone SE questions

[Lorenzo F]

I'm about to make the leap from my 2012 iPhone 5 to a 64 GB iPhone SE model A1662. As you can see, I like to hold on to my devices for a long time so I want to make sure I'm making a solid, long-term decision.

I've scoured the web and these forums for answers to these questions but am having trouble making sense of what I find. Can you advise me, please?

1. Does it matter from what carrier I buy A1662? That is, after satisfying any kind of carrier agreement, can I unlock the phone and go from, say, Verizon to AT&T?

2. Apple's LTE page doesn't specify that A1662 will work in countries around the world. Does this mean that it will still work on 4G? I plan to go to to Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark and hope it will work there.

 

[saintsfan1970]

Have you read this article? It may help answer your questions.

http://www.pcmag.com/news/343091/the-iphone-se-is-not-carrier-agnostic

 

[eyoungren]

If you aren't going to buy a SIM free phone from Apple direct, then I'd go with the traditional safe choice and get the phone from Verizon. It will come fully unlocked and should work worldwide for the most part.

PS. My primary phone is a 6s+, but I still have my iPhone 5. Sitting right in front of me at work along with my 6s+ and 4s. Currently, it has an active T-Mobile SIM in it. So, I am no stranger to your situation.

 

[Lorenzo F]

@saintsfan1970: yes I did read that article, thanks. I gathered that neither model is great for the whole world and the US in terms of LTE coverage, but wasn't really clear whether A1662 has 4G coverage in most of the world.

@eyoungren: thanks for the tip. yep, I love the form factor of iPhone 5...have to stay with what's functional.

 

[jrs22]

I was plannng to buy an unlocked iPhone SE from Apple and then take it to Verizon for activation. My long term plan is to pass it on to my son and upgrade to a spiffy new phone. He lives in Thailand so is there a way to find out if this phone will work on the LTE bands that are available there?

 

[Applejuiced]

I was plannng to buy an unlocked iPhone SE from Apple and then take it to Verizon for activation. My long term plan is to pass it on to my son and upgrade to a spiffy new phone. He lives in Thailand so is there a way to find out if this phone will work on the LTE bands that are available there?

Find out what LTE bands are used in Thailand first.
Then go from there.

 

[Lorenzo F]

I was plannng to buy an unlocked iPhone SE from Apple and then take it to Verizon for activation. My long term plan is to pass it on to my son and upgrade to a spiffy new phone. He lives in Thailand so is there a way to find out if this phone will work on the LTE bands that are available there?

According to Apple's LTE page, if you buy a phone that works on Verizon in the US, you will get model A1662. This model will not be compatible with LTE bands for these Thai cellular carriers: AIS, dtac, or TrueMove. I'm not sure, however, if there are other carriers in Thailand that use 4G that might be compatible with A1662. Or even 4G carriers that are compatible with A1723 (And fyi, I don't think A1723 is compatible with Verizon in the US). This is essentially the question I originally posted, except I'm wondering about Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

 

[nelsonammo]

Does model A1723 have support for both GSM and CDMA? Model A1662 seems to be the US-centric model and A1723 is the international model (China excluded). Usually they have a GSM model and a CDMA model but for the iPhone SE it seems like they did it differently.

 

[jrs22]

According to Apple's LTE page, if you buy a phone that works on Verizon in the US, you will get model A1662. This model will not be compatible with LTE bands for these Thai cellular carriers: AIS, dtac, or TrueMove. I'm not sure, however, if there are other carriers in Thailand that use 4G that might be compatible with A1662. Or even 4G carriers that are compatible with A1723 (And fyi, I don't think A1723 is compatible with Verizon in the US). This is essentially the question I originally posted, except I'm wondering about Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

Sorry if it seemed that I was hijacking your post. After reading the responses I went to the Thai Apple Store page and found this link. It includes information about all the countries of interest to you for all the current models. As for me, I need a Verizon Wireless phone so the SE won't work for my needs.

https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

 

[Lorenzo F]

Sorry if it seemed that I was hijacking your post. After reading the responses I went to the Thai Apple Store page and found this link. It includes information about all the countries of interest to you for all the current models. As for me, I need a Verizon Wireless phone so the SE won't work for my needs.

https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

I stumbled upon this website which may help us both out:

http://willmyphonework.net

I checked Thailand for model A1662 and it looks like you may be ok buying that model. You'll be able to have it work in both the US on Verizon and in Thailand on certain carriers.

And it looks like I will have success using the phone in Ireland and the Scandinavia countries I plan to visit.

The only catch is that we won't have access to the fastest speeds, depending on the carrier.

 

[pika2000]

Go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks
And check the LTE bands used by the carrier.
Then match it up with the bands supported by the iPhone model.

 

[jrs22]

3G will be a massive improvement over nothing, and at the hotel or my son's home I'll have wifi. Problem is I was 'resigned' to buying a 7 or a 7+, and now I'll need to find new excuses to justify the extra hundreds of dollars......