Buying one through Apple online at the moment, but it’s roughly $1300 with taxes. So I have myself a little nervous at the cost. Thanks in advance for answering. 👍
Generally speaking, yes. Verify that your current provider supports it.
Having said that, your provider may offer you a deal. Of course ymmv
Make sure the phone is sim unlocked too.
It should be, the phone is an old iPhone 11.
You can verify by going to Settings->General->About.
Towards the bottom there should be “Carrier Lock” and it should say/list “No SIM Restrictions”.
If it doesn’t, you’ll need to call your provider to have them unlock the phone.
Thanks, it says no sim restrictions.
I don’t have the phone yet, so I can’t check that. I just know this is what the purchase screen showed.
Sorry, I meant to say for your current phone. Otherwise you’ll have some sort of road block if the carrier sees your current phone as locked. I had that issue with Sprint years ago.
Yikes, well it shouldn’t be locked.
Don’t get it from your carrier unless you’re ok with it being locked down in weird ways. For instance: hot spotting works great on my iPhone that I got straight from Apple, and my mobile isp is Verizon. I know someone who’s in the same boat, but got their phone from Verizon, and hot spotting does not work.
How the fuck is this a thing? How are they allowed to control how I use my data?
How the fuck is this a thing?
Money
How are they allowed to control how I use my data?
You gave them permission when you signed the deal. Pretty simple.
It’s pretty common to buy phones from electronics stores in Denmark, without a carrier attached. So locking down the phone isn’t as common here, but that doesn’t mean that ISPs aren’t still up to no good. I heard about one company that would look at the IP header and if your packets came with a TTL of 63 or less, then the ISP would know that you had a tethered connection and would count the traffic differently.
I share your bafflement; it is nonetheless very much a real thing.
The phone pulls carrier specific settings based on SIM card carrier data. Apple allows the carrier to set a hotspot block
I currently have T-Mobile and I’m due and upgrade. I just don’t want the shenanigans of buying through them or paying extra monthly. So I would imagine they won’t throw a fit? 🤔
They’ll usually let you bring you own hardware. As long as you buy one that is not carrier locked it will work (if you’re buying it in a store, ask the staff to be sure it’s unlocked)
If your old SIM card doesn’t fit you might have to ask your carrier to send a new one, or you can ask for eSIM setup (log into your carrier account, scan a Qr code)
They won’t care if you bring your own device unlocked. If you’re buying from Apple’s website or another 3rd party, it should give the option to select the version between unlocked or carrier specific options like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile.
You can buy the locked version from T-Mobile outright if it’s cheaper. If you ever want to change carriers you can get it unlocked after a certain amount of time around 90 days.
Edit: Based on your other comments, you’re buying from Apple directly. The last question relates to if the device is carrier locked. Choose “Connect to any carrier later”.
Thanks, done.
I’ve been using unlocked Android phones with Tmobile for 6 or 7 years now without issue.
Yeah, should tell you it’s unlocked at checkout. Just don’t select a provider. Then, contact yours and ask for instructions to set it up.
If you are in Canada they have to sell them unlocked. Not sure your location.
I remember when I bought my iPhone 3GS back in the day.
The only option was to buy it carrier locked on a one or two year plan in my country. Of course it was exclusive to a carrier that wasn’t my choice of carrier.
I signed up, put it in a drawer and waited for the imminent jailbreak and unlocked modem firmware. It dropped two weeks later. After that one year of payments they unlocked it through official means.
It works fine. I’ve bought a couple iPhone pros from Apple to use with different carriers. One with Verizon and the other with cricket and later mint. The main difference used to be that Verizon/sprint phones supported fewer GSM bands than AT&T and T-Mobile phones, which could be relevant in Europe or Asia, but now Apple only sells one model. This time I got my phone from Verizon for “free” by trading in an obsolete iPhone with a broken screen. They claim they automatically unlock the phone after 90 days. It was about $120 out of pocket for a 16 pro.
Yep, if it’s unlocked you can just hook it up to any carrier in the US. Can’t speak for the rest of the world.
