Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
milesophalli
Newbie

I spend a lot of time in Canada, but I live in the USA. If I buy an unlocked iPhone 4S in Canada, will i be able to activate and use it on Verizon while in the US?

 

I prefer to use unlocked phones when I can, but I don't know how it works with Verizon. Obviously it's not as simple as popping in a SIM card. I don't know if factory unlocked iPhones will even be allowed on Verizon, based on their ESN.

Labels (2)
0 Likes
Re: Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
kaebfly
Champion - Level 3

To the best of my knowledge, VZW does not allow you to use unlocked phones on their network. I might be wrong...and you might be better off calling and talking to a CS rep directly to get a more accurate answer.

0 Likes
Re: Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
Spiral
Master - Level 1

milesophalli wrote:

I spend a lot of time in Canada, but I live in the USA. If I buy an unlocked iPhone 4S in Canada, will i be able to activate and use it on Verizon while in the US?

 

I prefer to use unlocked phones when I can, but I don't know how it works with Verizon. Obviously it's not as simple as popping in a SIM card. I don't know if factory unlocked iPhones will even be allowed on Verizon, based on their ESN.


Assuming the iPhone Global on Verizon will be similar to my Blackberry, the answer to your question is no.  You will not be able to use an unlocked iPhone purchased in Canada on the Verizon CDMA network.

What you could do is purchase the Verizon iPhone 4s Global and have that unlocked.  Then you could use the GSM side of the phone when in Canada (with the appropriate SIM card) and the CDMA side (Verizon) while you are in the USA.

0 Likes
Re: Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
milesophalli
Newbie

Spiral wrote:
What you could do is purchase the Verizon iPhone 4s Global and have that unlocked.  Then you could use the GSM side of the phone when in Canada (with the appropriate SIM card) and the CDMA side (Verizon) while you are in the USA.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think that's in the cards. No previous iPhones have been unlockable via entering an unlock code. The only way (so far) to get an unlocked iPhone is to buy it that way, or hack it. I think Apple is as much to blame as the carriers on this one.

 

So, it seems like the "world phone" aspect is technically true, but not financially feasible for many people.

0 Likes
Re: Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
gina7289
Contributor - Level 2
No its says on Apple web site only on atat u can buy that.
0 Likes
Re: Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
scipio
Newbie

I'd like to hear if anyone has gotten Verizon's official take on this - I'd like to use the unlocked phone in the same way the author described. There seems to be quite a bit of confusion (conflicting stories on Arstechnica and Engadget today) regarding what is possible with an unlocked device on Verizon's network.

0 Likes
Re: Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
PJNC284
Master - Level 2

The "unlocking" only applies to the GSM side so if you want to use an iPhone 4S on Verizon, you'll need to purchase it from Verizon.  The stories from today are about going the other way.  Verizon allows their world phones to be unlocked after 60days which allows you to use a foreign sim card rather than being locked into Verizon's GSM roaming agreements in the country you're visiting.  Everything seems to be pointing to nothing being different with the 4S requirements.

0 Likes
Re: Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
SGMD1
Enthusiast - Level 3

milesophalli wrote:

 

No previous iPhones have been unlockable via entering an unlock code. The only way (so far) to get an unlocked iPhone is to buy it that way, or hack it.


That's not true. Carriers have the ability to send your iPhone's IMEI to a whitelist on Apple's server, which allows your iPhone to be permanently unlocked via an iTunes update. Here's a screenshot.


scipio wrote:

I'd like to hear if anyone has gotten Verizon's official take on this - I'd like to use the unlocked phone in the same way the author described. There seems to be quite a bit of confusion (conflicting stories on Arstechnica and Engadget today) regarding what is possible with an unlocked device on Verizon's network.


You will not be able to use a factory unlocked iPhone on Verizon. Here's the official word directly from Apple's website regarding the unlocked iPhone:

 

"The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint."

0 Likes
Re: Factory unlocked iPhone 4S, supported on VZW?
kevinpy
Enthusiast - Level 3

Also, since Verizon doesn't use SIM cards, they pre-register valid phones into their databases. Only CDMA carriers like Cricket will help you get around this by "flashing" the phone and adding it to their network, but many often find that they can't use MMS or other features. Verizon offers some competetive talk and data plans that include Canada, if you travel back and forth that much, it may be worth it to just get one of those.

0 Likes