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fender4645

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 31, 2010
131
1
I've been an AT&T customer since the Cingular days but have been thinking about switching for a while. My father in-law works for Verizon which gives family members a hefty discount so we're thinking of switching to them and their unlimited plan. The problem is my wife got an AT&T iPhone 7+ in December (on the Apple installment plan) and I know that phone won't work on Verizon's CDMA network. Luckily I still have my 6S+ which, from what understand, should work fine.

My question to you good folks is what are my options here for my wife's phone? Is there any kind of trade-in program for Verizon or Apple where they'll swap her phone with a Verizon-compatible one? Do I have to just sell it on the open market and pay off Apple? If the latter, is the phone locked at all?

Thanks!
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
I've been an AT&T customer since the Cingular days but have been thinking about switching for a while. My father in-law works for Verizon which gives family members a hefty discount so we're thinking of switching to them and their unlimited plan. The problem is my wife got an AT&T iPhone 7+ in December (on the Apple installment plan) and I know that phone won't work on Verizon's CDMA network. Luckily I still have my 6S+ which, from what understand, should work fine.

My question to you good folks is what are my options here for my wife's phone? Is there any kind of trade-in program for Verizon or Apple where they'll swap her phone with a Verizon-compatible one? Do I have to just sell it on the open market and pay off Apple? If the latter, is the phone locked at all?

Thanks!
Some discussion of this kind of thing at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/switching-to-verizon-with-t-mobile-iphone-7.2034466/
 
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Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Same problem many people are having with AT&T iphones that want to go to verizon.
Its a good deal and I think people should get grandfathered in soon before they put an end to that deal.
If you're on the Apple installment plan they can help you out. Its a bit of a cumbersome process but they can help you out.
You'll have to trade in the current AT&T i7, get credit back from all your payments and get a new plan for a verizon i7.
They'll guide you and give you details.
 

fender4645

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 31, 2010
131
1
Same problem many people are having with AT&T iphones that want to go to verizon.
Its a good deal and I think people should get grandfathered in soon before they put an end to that deal.
If you're on the Apple installment plan they can help you out. Its a bit of a cumbersome process but they can help you out.
You'll have to trade in the current AT&T i7, get credit back from all your payments and get a new plan for a verizon i7.
They'll guide you and give you details.
Thanks guys!!
 

CoriG

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2011
626
199
Did that work (having Apple switch your device, if you're on the Apple installment plan)?

Yes - I did it and it was pretty easy. it took about 2 weeks before I got my past payments refunded back to me.
 

fender4645

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 31, 2010
131
1
Yes - I did it and it was pretty easy. it took about 2 weeks before I got my past payments refunded back to me.

So I ended up doing the switch (I'm the OP) and the folks at the Apple Store never said anything about getting past payments refunded. We bought the 7+ in the beginning of Janurary so we've made 3 payments on it. When I brought it in to the store, they told me that they would basically just end my current agreement and start a new one. Should I go back to the store??
 
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Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
So I ended up doing the switch (I'm the OP) and the folks at the Apple Store never said anything about getting past payments refunded. We bought the 7+ in the beginning of Janurary so we've made 3 payments on it. When I brought it in to the store, they told me that they would basically just end my current agreement and start a new one. Should I go back to the store??

Yes, you'd be giving up that money if you dont do anything so why not go back and correct their mistake.
 
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fender4645

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 31, 2010
131
1
Yes, you'd be giving up that money if you dont do anything so why not go back and correct their mistake.
I'm not clear as to why you would get your payments back? Isn't that essentially the same as giving you a free phone for 2+ months? Also, I just noticed on my credit card (the one that's used for the monthly payments) I was charged $100 on the day I got the "new" iphone (last week). Anyone know what that's all about???
 

CoriG

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2011
626
199
So I ended up doing the switch (I'm the OP) and the folks at the Apple Store never said anything about getting past payments refunded. We bought the 7+ in the beginning of Janurary so we've made 3 payments on it. When I brought it in to the store, they told me that they would basically just end my current agreement and start a new one. Should I go back to the store??
If you swapped out the phones.. I would start by calling CitizenOne Loan and asking them. If they do not know about the swap - you need to go to the store and have them redo it
[doublepost=1489180133][/doublepost]
I'm not clear as to why you would get your payments back? Isn't that essentially the same as giving you a free phone for 2+ months? Also, I just noticed on my credit card (the one that's used for the monthly payments) I was charged $100 on the day I got the "new" iphone (last week). Anyone know what that's all about???
The reason you are getting $ back is because Apple screwed up and advertised that we could switch carriers at any point during the loan and because of the chip snafu, you cannot change carriers. The $100 might be taxes?!?
 

erea

macrumors newbie
May 16, 2012
20
0
If you swapped out the phones.. I would start by calling CitizenOne Loan and asking them. If they do not know about the swap - you need to go to the store and have them redo it
[doublepost=1489180133][/doublepost]
The reason you are getting $ back is because Apple screwed up and advertised that we could switch carriers at any point during the loan and because of the chip snafu, you cannot change carriers. The $100 might be taxes?!?

Can someone else confirm this? I am about to head to the Apple store to switch from att to verizon, but want to make sure they will swap it.
 

AttilaTheHun

macrumors 65816
Feb 18, 2010
1,229
201
USA
I've been an AT&T customer since the Cingular days but have been thinking about switching for a while. My father in-law works for Verizon which gives family members a hefty discount so we're thinking of switching to them and their unlimited plan. The problem is my wife got an AT&T iPhone 7+ in December (on the Apple installment plan) and I know that phone won't work on Verizon's CDMA network. Luckily I still have my 6S+ which, from what understand, should work fine.

My question to you good folks is what are my options here for my wife's phone? Is there any kind of trade-in program for Verizon or Apple where they'll swap her phone with a Verizon-compatible one? Do I have to just sell it on the open market and pay off Apple? If the latter, is the phone locked at all?

Thanks!
iPhone 7+ had all the antennas CDMA too call Verizon they can use the iPhone also call Citizen one (thats the bank Apple made the agreement of the monthly payment , yes I am thinking to move to verizon too sick with the ATT policies
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
iPhone 7+ had all the antennas CDMA too call Verizon they can use the iPhone also call Citizen one (thats the bank Apple made the agreement of the monthly payment , yes I am thinking to move to verizon too sick with the ATT policies

The AT&T and T mobile iPhone 7 and 7 Plus do not have a cdma baseband chip inside.
They are GSM only so they will never work on Verizon, Sprint or any CDMA carrier ever.
He needs to get a new iPhone 7 that has CDMA capabilities.
 
Last edited:

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
16,144
17,056
The AT&T and T mobile iPhone 7 and 7 Plus do not have a cdma baseband chip inside.
They are GSM only so they will never work on Verizon, Sprint or any CDMA carrier ever.
He needs to get a new iPhone 7 that has CDMA capabilities.

Yeah they made it not fun this go round.

Luckily not ever going big red so non issue with my intel gsm only radio but ..

Good lesson to be more aware exactly what Im buying

Then again my SE is a Samsung a9 not tsmc the supposed inferior processor type and it's been more than fine

Won't give up these screens! Ive seen ugly
Ones
 
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bbensten

macrumors newbie
May 25, 2016
7
1
Can someone else confirm this? I am about to head to the Apple store to switch from att to verizon, but want to make sure they will swap it.

erea, did it work for you? I am going to try this same thing today with my ATT Iphone 7. I called Apple and they said there was nothing they could do. I have heard reports that going to the store works but I am skeptical. If it worked, can you tell me how you approached the rep at the Apple Store?
 

terraphantm

macrumors 68040
Jun 27, 2009
3,816
670
Pennsylvania
The AT&T and T mobile iPhone 7 and 7 Plus do not have a cdma baseband chip inside.
They are GSM only so they will never work on Verizon, Sprint or any CDMA carrier ever.
He needs to get a new iPhone 7 that has CDMA capabilities.
In theory it should at least be able to work As an LTE only device (various non-CDMA Android phones are able to use Verizon), but in practice it doesn't work. This seems to be largely because Apple doesn't allow the GSM version of the phone to load a Verizon carrier settings file (it will constantly prompt you that a new carrier settings file is available, but it never works).
 
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Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
In theory it should at least be able to work As an LTE only device (various non-CDMA Android phones are able to use Verizon), but in practice it doesn't work. This seems to be largely because Apple doesn't allow the GSM version of the phone to load a Verizon carrier settings file (it will constantly prompt you that a new carrier settings file is available, but it never works).

Correct.
It would be nice to partially work but in reality it does not work at all :(
 
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