One iPhone for the price of two. That’s the price it can cost you when you leave your iPhone at a bar. I am still waiting for that honest guy/gal who found it to return it to me.
Now iPhone-less and having the need to buy a replacement device at full cost, I decided to buy an unlocked device as I travel to the UK occasionally and have a prepaid Vodafone UK SIM card.
Buying an unlocked iPhone was easier said than done. Here in New York City they disappear almost the day they arrive as all the tourists snap them up to take home. Ordering online also wasn’t possible as the delivery date was after I would have crossed the pond already for the Christmas holidays.
With it being a Sunday, a day when Apple Stores do not receive new stock and not wanting to wait, I consulted an in-store employee. She said that I should buy the Verizon model. After further discussion and a brief in-store Google search, I did just that. I now have an iPhone A1533/CDMA (ME344LL/A) model (i.e. designed for the Verizon network) connected to AT&T with LTE reception:
In layman's terms I bought a full priced iPhone 5S Verizon model, went home and simply swapped out the SIM card. No unlocking required.
Essentially there are two reasons why this is possible: The first is that the A1533/CDMA model supports both CDMA and GSM networks as well as the required AT&T LTE bands:
The second is that the device is unlocked out of the box. This is due to the FCC mandating all LTE devices for a specific band that Verizon are now licenced, have to be unlocked:
LTE reception on AT&T: As long as you are in an LTE area, the iPhone Verizon model supports the required AT&T LTE bands. Your AT&T account only needs to be provisioned for an iPhone 5S (or actually maybe just an LTE capable device).
My AT&T account wasn’t as a few days earlier I had reported my phone as stolen and provided them with the IMEI of a replacement phone I was using at the time (a Nokia Lumia 520, a non-LTE capable device).
With my Verizon iPhone showing 4G in the corner and not LTE, I called AT&T and provided them with the IMEI number. Several moments passed while he searched for the correct data plan for my iPhone. He then asked if it was a Verizon model to which I reluctantly replied with yes. I presume they could tell from the IMEI number (my new Verizon iPhone starts with 35 whereas my old AT&T iPhone started with 01). He said that he wasn’t sure if I would be able to receive LTE reception as my phone wasn’t designed for the AT&T network however just as he said that my iPhone switched from showing 4G in the corner to LTE. I didn’t even have to power cycle.
LTE abroad: If you’re thinking of buying the same Verizon A1533/CDMA model here in the US for use abroad and wanting to get LTE reception, you should first review http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ together with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks. I plan on using it on Vodafone in the UK in a few weeks and it seems that it may be compatible. Hopefully I can soon report positively on this.
More information: There's plenty of this kind of stuff on the web however I personally found these two links pretty helpful:
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/104166/can-a-verizon-iphone-5s-use-t-mobile-lte
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1637205
Now iPhone-less and having the need to buy a replacement device at full cost, I decided to buy an unlocked device as I travel to the UK occasionally and have a prepaid Vodafone UK SIM card.
Buying an unlocked iPhone was easier said than done. Here in New York City they disappear almost the day they arrive as all the tourists snap them up to take home. Ordering online also wasn’t possible as the delivery date was after I would have crossed the pond already for the Christmas holidays.
With it being a Sunday, a day when Apple Stores do not receive new stock and not wanting to wait, I consulted an in-store employee. She said that I should buy the Verizon model. After further discussion and a brief in-store Google search, I did just that. I now have an iPhone A1533/CDMA (ME344LL/A) model (i.e. designed for the Verizon network) connected to AT&T with LTE reception:
 |
| iPhone A1533/CDMA (ME344LL/A) model on AT&T LTE |
Essentially there are two reasons why this is possible: The first is that the A1533/CDMA model supports both CDMA and GSM networks as well as the required AT&T LTE bands:
Model A1533 (CDMA)*: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25)
Source: http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/specs/
The second is that the device is unlocked out of the box. This is due to the FCC mandating all LTE devices for a specific band that Verizon are now licenced, have to be unlocked:
No licensee may disable features on handsets it provides to customers, to the extent such features are compliant with the licensee's standards pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, nor configure handsets it provides to prohibit use of such handsets on other providers' networks.
Source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/27.16
LTE reception on AT&T: As long as you are in an LTE area, the iPhone Verizon model supports the required AT&T LTE bands. Your AT&T account only needs to be provisioned for an iPhone 5S (or actually maybe just an LTE capable device).
My AT&T account wasn’t as a few days earlier I had reported my phone as stolen and provided them with the IMEI of a replacement phone I was using at the time (a Nokia Lumia 520, a non-LTE capable device).
With my Verizon iPhone showing 4G in the corner and not LTE, I called AT&T and provided them with the IMEI number. Several moments passed while he searched for the correct data plan for my iPhone. He then asked if it was a Verizon model to which I reluctantly replied with yes. I presume they could tell from the IMEI number (my new Verizon iPhone starts with 35 whereas my old AT&T iPhone started with 01). He said that he wasn’t sure if I would be able to receive LTE reception as my phone wasn’t designed for the AT&T network however just as he said that my iPhone switched from showing 4G in the corner to LTE. I didn’t even have to power cycle.
LTE abroad: If you’re thinking of buying the same Verizon A1533/CDMA model here in the US for use abroad and wanting to get LTE reception, you should first review http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ together with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks. I plan on using it on Vodafone in the UK in a few weeks and it seems that it may be compatible. Hopefully I can soon report positively on this.
More information: There's plenty of this kind of stuff on the web however I personally found these two links pretty helpful:
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/104166/can-a-verizon-iphone-5s-use-t-mobile-lte
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1637205