Buying unlocked iphone from apple

Question: Q: Buying iPhone from Apple.com- unlocked or not?

Once the iPhone X is available for sale, I intend to get a relative in USA to buy it direct from apple.com and ship it to me overseas. Obviously I will require it sim free and unlocked so that i can use my overseas sim. However at present on apple website I’ve noticed the iphone X is not showing as available in unlocked and sim-free version (like iphone 8 is for example), you have to select a carrier such as AT&T. So my question is, if you purchase the iphone X at the full price($999) from the apple website but you select a carrier (as no sim free version is available) will the phone come locked to that carrier or not?

Posted on Sep 14, 2017 1:51 AM

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We will have to wait until it is released. In any case, it is not a good idea to buy a phone outside the country where you intend to use it as the warranty is not international.

Sep 14, 2017 5:56 AM

I think we have to wait until the release date of the sim free version which I am trying to find out. I am in the same boat!

Sep 14, 2017 6:00 AM

If you must buy a carrier-branded version, you might want to consider the Verizon model as all Verizon LTE devices are unlocked.

In addition, the Verizon model supports CDMA.

Sep 14, 2017 6:03 AM

If you must buy a carrier-branded version, you might want to consider the Verizon model as all Verizon LTE devices are unlocked.

In addition, the Verizon model supports CDMA.

Though this is true, you will not be able to use a Verizon phone on a GSM carrier until after you have activated it on Verizon.

Sep 14, 2017 6:16 AM

Iphone will be unlocked if it,s from Apple Store.

The problem is the Warranty will only be valid in country of purchase if you have a problem you will need to return iPhone to that country?

Sep 14, 2017 6:25 AM

I wonder if you could clarify my understanding of purchases in the US other than at the Apple Store.

This is what I have been told:

If an iPhone is purchased, except at the Apple Store, it will be subject to the US Resellers Flex Policy.

This means that the iPhone will have the activation policy associated with the first sim with which it is activated.

Thus a Verizon-branded model if first activated with a Verizon sim will remain unlocked. However, if it is first activated with a Sprint sim it will be locked to Sprint.

Sep 14, 2017 6:51 AM

I wonder if you could clarify my understanding of purchases in the US other than at the Apple Store.

This is what I have been told:

If an iPhone is purchased, except at the Apple Store, it will be subject to the US Resellers Flex Policy.

This means that the iPhone will have the activation policy associated with the first sim with which it is activated.

Thus a Verizon-branded model if first activated with a Verizon sim will remain unlocked. However, if it is first activated with a Sprint sim it will be locked to Sprint.

You understand it correctly, however. activating the device with Verizon is not as simple as putting a Verizon SIM in and going through the activation screens. Verizon is a CDMA carrier. It must be activated by them. Meaning, you will have to sign up for service with Verizon in order to activate it on their network, after which it will be unlocked.

Sep 14, 2017 7:16 AM

Though this is true, you will not be able to use a Verizon phone on a GSM carrier until after you have activated it on Verizon.

That was not my experience. We were able to put other SIMs in never before activated Verizon phones and they worked. What I do know from my experience is that Verizon will not sell you a phone unless you activate it. But that’s just company policy, not a technical limitation.

Sep 14, 2017 10:37 AM

That is also my experience.

However it can be possible to buy an unactivated Verizon phone from big box retailers without having it activated on a Verizon account.

If a Verizon sim from a different phone that is on Verizon is used to activate the purchased device, then the purchased device will remain unlocked from that point on.

I am familiar with one such case where the purchaser used a Sprint sim to activate the phone for the first time. Subsequently, the purchaser wished to switch the service to Verizon and was unable to do so even though it was a Verizon phone.

Apple declined to modify the activation policy and indicated, quite properly, that it was a carrier issue.

However, since it was on a Sprint MVNO with a BYOD only system, that MVNO was unable to unlock it and Sprint declined to do so.

In other similar cases where a Verizon sim (from a family member or friend) was used initially and the phone was then placed in service on that Sprint MNVO encountered no issues and remained unlocked.

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