Android, iOS & Mobile Phones

[arolive83]

I need to have this done as well for the iPhones I preordered
Where do we ask?

[Alef_Meem]

Just a quick notice, all iPhones sold outside of Apple Stores/Apple.com are subject to the US Reseller Flex Policy. More info can be found here:

So if you want your phone to be fully unlocked (assuming you bought the Sprint or Verizon version), you must initially insert a Verizon SIM for the activation, and then insert any other SIM you want afterwards.

More info here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/best-buy-sells-iphones-subject-to-the-us-reseller-flex-policy.2...

Just worth noting. Sorry for double post.

[tom5858]

@Alef_Meem - Gotcha, thanks for the clarification. Yeah my order receipt email has 3:07 on it so I'm assuming I'm one of the earlier ones. 

[monisriz]

I skimmed through the link provided. Very informative.

So last night I ordered "Model: MQA82LL/A" which is Space Gray 256GB. I chose AT&T instead of Verizon or Sprint. As I understand, my phone will be shipped with AT&T sim card inside of it.

Since you seem much well versed on the subject, please confirm a few things if you don't mind.

1. So if I understand correctly, I should NOT activate my phone with the AT&T sim on initial activation and instead get a Verizon sim card instead for the initial activation. And once that is done I can switch over to the AT&T sim?

2. After using the Verizon sim card for initial activation, the phone will be unlocked - but whether it will be unlocked for use with US-based carriers or it will be unlocked globally i.e. for all GSM/CDMA carriers worldwide?

3. Lastly, since I bought the phone outright (and I believe you did too), can we not simply ask our carrier (AT&T in my case/T-mobile in yours) to unlock the phone? I did this with my iPhone 6 from AT&T website a couple of months ago and it took like a few minutes to receive the confirmation email about the unlock. What would be the difference in the "unlock" going through Verizon-sim route or just getting it unlocked through the carrier?

Sorry for the long post

[Alef_Meem]

---

@monisriz wrote:
I skimmed through the link provided. Very informative.

So last night I ordered "Model: MQA82LL/A" which is Space Gray 256GB. I chose AT&T instead of Verizon or Sprint. As I understand, my phone will be shipped with AT&T sim card inside of it.

Since you seem much well versed on the subject, please confirm a few things if you don't mind.

1. So if I understand correctly, I should NOT activate my phone with the AT&T sim on initial activation and instead get a Verizon sim card instead for the initial activation. And once that is done I can switch over to the AT&T sim?

2. After using the Verizon sim card for initial activation, the phone will be unlocked - but whether it will be unlocked for use with US-based carriers or it will be unlocked globally i.e. for all GSM/CDMA carriers worldwide?

3. Lastly, since I bought the phone outright (and I believe you did too), can we not simply ask our carrier (AT&T in my case/T-mobile in yours) to unlock the phone? I did this with my iPhone 6 from AT&T website a couple of months ago and it took like a few minutes to receive the confirmation email about the unlock. What would be the difference in the "unlock" going through Verizon-sim route or just getting it unlocked through the carrier?

Sorry for the long post

---

1. Correct. In fact, from what I understand from other MacRumors forum users, the version Best Buy sells is the universal version (A1865) compatible with all four major U.S. carriers. However, it is subject to that policy, so it will lock to the SIM initially inserted. You must insert a Verizon SIM card if you wish to have it be "fully unlocked", since all Verizon iPhones are initially unlocked from the get-go.

2. It will be unlocked for all US-based and international carriers. Most of the world, I believe, uses GSM networks. AT&T and T-Mobile are the major GSM carriers in the United States.

3. Certainly. I believe T-Mobile's policy is 45 days after buying it. However, the reason I wanted to buy from Best Buy is to get the CDMA+GSM version (A1865) which has the theoretically-faster and better signal Qualcomm modem. The AT&T/T-Mobile version (A1901) has the Intel modem built-in.

Hope I helped!

[arolive83]

What’s this garbage I’m hearing when I call to get a price match about Best Buy not wanting to match the price of the iPhone X with anyone when you buy it full price. Every other place only charged 1149 for the X 256gb outright but bestbuy is charging 1249 and say they will not price match because they only give discounts when you purchase the phone on installments. That is a lie right out of the gate because the phone is not discounted any by getting it in installments as you are paying full price over the course of the 18 or 24 month period. Pretty upset with Best Buy trying to scam people out of extra money on this release and they shouldn’t be able to do that.

[Alef_Meem]

I misread your last question. The difference would be to prevent having to go through your own carrier's unlock policy, since it is simply so much easier to install a Verizon SIM initilaly and having it unlocked. Otherwise, there is no difference.

[monisriz]

Whoa okay. I was totally unaware of the modem difference you mentioned in #3.
So this 'Model: MQA82LL/A' being sold at Best Buy should have the better modem since it's essentially the same phone regardless of whether you chose AT&T or Verizon - right?

Oh and you definitely helped. Thanks.

[Alef_Meem]

I do not know about Best Buy's internal model names, but it has to be the A1865 version (CDMA+GSM) since it cannot be the other one (A1901 - GSM only) or else it would not work on Verizon and Sprint.

Thanks mods for merging my thread. Didn't ask, but okay. 

[tom5858]

Does Bestbuy only sell the A1865 version or is that only if you choose the Sprint or Verizon variant? It seems that monisriz purchased the AT&T version, which if ordered through Apple, then it would be the GSM only A1901.