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Jigga

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 11, 2009
471
74
Being that the AT&T and Verizon 5s is the same model, will the AT&T model be unlocked to use on Verizon?

Someone may be willing to give me their AT&T upgrade to use on Verizon.
 

Diseal3

macrumors 65816
Jun 29, 2008
1,072
95
Being that the AT&T and Verizon 5s is the same model, will the AT&T model be unlocked to use on Verizon?

Someone may be willing to give me their AT&T upgrade to use on Verizon.

Verizon for use on att will work. Att for use on Verizon will not.
 

Diseal3

macrumors 65816
Jun 29, 2008
1,072
95
They should but they do not.
Good luck trying to convince them though to add the esn to their database and then activate it on their network.
Hope they listen to you and change their policy.
Sprint is the same exact way too.

Expanding on what Applejuiced has already said, It will not work on Verizon's voice side. Although a swap of an LTE sim will act as a usim for the CDMA side of things, the phone's ESN/IMEI number must be in Verizon's system to work.

Interesting example is the Nexus 7. The cellular model will work with Verizon and ATT. You will get ATT LTE and HSPA+ fallback. On Verizon you will get LTE but NO 3G EVDO REv. A fallback.
 

iSaxon

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
709
19
Pittsburgh, PA
They should but they do not.
Good luck trying to convince them though to add the esn to their database and then activate it on their network.
Hope they listen to you and change their policy.
Sprint is the same exact way too.

AT&T will unlock up to 5 devices on your account per year. I just unlocked my iPhone 5 by sending them an e-mail, and it was unlocked within 24 hours.

Edit:
Oh wait, you're saying Verizon won't activate an AT&T unlocked iPhone onto their network?
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
Edit:
Oh wait, you're saying Verizon won't activate an AT&T unlocked iPhone onto their network?
Right. On Verizon and Sprint, voice and SMS still use CDMA.

Verizon and Sprint both have "policies" where they will not activate another carrier's device on their CDMA network.

The opposite is not true. AT&T will allow any carrier's device on their GSM/LTE networks.
 

apple_iBoy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2003
734
495
Philadelphia, PA
AT&T will unlock up to 5 devices on your account per year. I just unlocked my iPhone 5 by sending them an e-mail, and it was unlocked within 24 hours.

Edit:
Oh wait, you're saying Verizon won't activate an AT&T unlocked iPhone onto their network?

I have an unlocked iPhone 4 but had to wait until the 2 year contract was done. I use it with foreign SIM card when I travel overseas.

Are you saying that you were able to unlock your iPhone 5 already. Was it not on a contract?
 

iSaxon

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2010
709
19
Pittsburgh, PA
I have an unlocked iPhone 4 but had to wait until the 2 year contract was done. I use it with foreign SIM card when I travel overseas.

Are you saying that you were able to unlock your iPhone 5 already. Was it not on a contract?

It was on contract... As long as your account is in good standing and you make all of your payments on time they will unlock it
 

Satnam1989

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2011
1,200
0
Illinois
Yes.
Verizon will not activate another carriers iPhone on their network.

The issue isn't only that they will not activate it....the T-Mobile and AT&T 5S lack CDMA support (CDMA = Permanently Disabled), if u guys think your right then please flash a AT&T 5C or 5S onto Cricket or another CDMA carrier....it should work right? but it wont because the "GSM" model lacks CDMA, Only Verizon (Factory Unlocked GSM) and Sprint (Locked GSM Portion & Can get Unlocked for International Use).

The reason Verizon LTE SIM works on AT&T/T-Mobile/GSM 5S is because it supports Verizon's LTE band (LTE is like GSM/3G/4G - more convenient as you can simply swap SIM's), but lack of CDMA makes doing such things pointless....

Much like the A1429 iPhone 5....Model # was one but there were 2 devices...one with and one without CDMA enabled.

Why apple does this? I have no idea

Verizon & Sprint like one of the members said above, use CDMA for Voice & Text etc, and this is probably the reason why they don't want people trying to add devices that aren't sold by them as it would be a headache for their customer service reps to explain to people continuously the lack of CDMA tech/incompatibility of the device with their network(as we see it happening here on the forum...people asking same questions over and over).....with AT&T and T-Mobile, a device from any network will work on something be it 2G/EDGE, 3G, 4G, LTE etc
 
Last edited:

Col Ronson

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2008
619
2
They should if AT&T unlocks it.

they should but they dont. this has been covered 100 times. Verizon will only activate phones on their network that were sold specifically for their network, unlocked or not. CDMA phones require the IMEI to be preregistered with the network, and Verizon isn't going to have any ATT IMEIs in their database nor would they care to add any.

Verizon iPhone 5s: unlocked SIM will work on any GSM carrier - will not work on sprint
Sprint 5s: locked to sprint only
TMobile 5S: GSM unlocked (if bought from apple store - paid full price)
ATT 5S: locked to ATT. Will become GSM unlocked if you buy at full price, do not tie it to an account, and restore it on iTunes.
 

Truefan31

macrumors 68040
Aug 25, 2012
3,587
835
So if I wanted an unlocked 5s, the verizon one would be the best because it'll use all the bands on verizon, AT&T, and tmobile?
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
The issue isn't only that they will not activate it....the T-Mobile and AT&T 5S lack CDMA support (CDMA = Permanently Disabled), if u guys think your right then please flash a AT&T 5C or 5S onto Cricket or another CDMA carrier....it should work right? but it wont because the "GSM" model lacks CDMA, Only Verizon (Factory Unlocked GSM) and Sprint (Locked GSM Portion & Can get Unlocked for International Use).

The reason Verizon LTE SIM works on AT&T/T-Mobile/GSM 5S is because it supports Verizon's LTE band (LTE is like GSM/3G/4G - more convenient as you can simply swap SIM's), but lack of CDMA makes doing such things pointless....

Much like the A1429 iPhone 5....Model # was one but there were 2 devices...one with and one without CDMA enabled.

Why apple does this? I have no idea

Verizon & Sprint like one of the members said above, use CDMA for Voice & Text etc, and this is probably the reason why they don't want people trying to add devices that aren't sold by them as it would be a headache for their customer service reps to explain to people continuously the lack of CDMA tech/incompatibility of the device with their network(as we see it happening here on the forum...people asking same questions over and over).....with AT&T and T-Mobile, a device from any network will work on something be it 2G/EDGE, 3G, 4G, LTE etc

Very well said and explained.
Even if they would allow it to activate still wouldn't work.
 

cnotes2019

Suspended
Aug 17, 2013
1,516
57
He/she didn't misspoke. He/she is saying that Verizon (Verizon sim) won't allow for their service to be used on another carriers iphone ie AT&T and mobile iPhone 5s
 
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