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Switching to Verizon with T-Mobile iPhone 7

Howyalikdemapls

Howyalikdemapls

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 2, 2013
822
873
I purchased two iPhone 7s when they were announced, but unfortunately bought the T-Mobile version. I was aware of the whole Qualcomm vs Intel modem debate, but I didn't think I would want to switch to Verizon, so unfortunately I pulled the trigger before they had the SIM-free model available. I purchased the phones for full price directly through Apple if that makes a difference.

My wife and I are sick of paying for a useless cell phone service (T-Mobile), so we want to switch to Verizon. We were planning on holding out for the iPhone 8 but we would really like to have cell coverage before then. Is there any option other than selling our iPhone 7s and purchasing Verizon iPhone 7s? Is this the type of thing Apple could help with at all?

I feel stupid for buying the inferior iPhone 7 just because it was convenient, but being as they are advertised as the same product for the same price, I'm hoping there is a solution that won't end up costing me hundreds of dollars.

Thanks!
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Nope, Apple will not replace them with a Verizon model.
You either sell them and buy new ones or see if Verizon can do something for you to switch to them.
If they can offer free new phones if you trade in your old ones or if they have any other deals.
 
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C

coolio93

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2013
304
50
Houston, TX
BasicGreatGuy said:
Contact Verizon CS either on Twitter, or over the phone, and they will work something out with you. I have seen them offer free phones to people, as well as paying ETF and porting etc.
Click to expand...


This ^^

Another option that you can do if you would like to have more peace of mind is wait for one of Verizon's free iPhone deals with trade-in. No one knows when another deal like this will be offered but it's a good alternative if you can wait
 
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T

tl01

macrumors 68020
Jun 20, 2010
2,350
649
You can likely get a large credit on your bill for turning in your phone to Verizon. That should cover most of the cost of the new one depending upon what storage size you want.
 
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Reno Raines

macrumors 65816
Jul 19, 2015
1,473
777
Would the t mobile phone still get LTE on Verizon but no 3G or less. I thought all LTE is GSM and Verizon uses cdma for everything below. If that is the case you could try that route. Not a great option but something.
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Reno Raines said:
Would the t mobile phone still get LTE on Verizon but no 3G or less. I thought all LTE is GSM and Verizon uses cdma for everything below. If that is the case you could try that route. Not a great option but something.
Click to expand...

No, it would be great to connect to Verizon just on LTE but it will not work at all.
You can't pick and choose to connect to some tech but not on other.
 
J

JuanG15

macrumors newbie
Nov 16, 2014
3
0
California
I walked into a Verizon Wireless store today with intentions to switch over from T-Mobile, with two iPhone 7's both factory unlocked from apple that i had bought on Launch day and asked if I could port them over to Verizon's network even though they were GSM and they had a CDMA network. As skeptical as it may have been, both my iPhones took in the SIM card from Verizon and it read "Verizon LTE" on the service header on both phones.

Now while my iPhones may have read Verizon's sim card, I was unable to send a text, browse the web on safari or do a speed test. So i didn't switch over just yet. I was told to contact T-Mobile and have them unlock my phones before doing so in order for this to work, even though my phones were bought unlocked.
My theory is that even though my iPhones are GSM, they are still capable of running on a different network such as Verizon, purely on the simple fact that I bought them outright on a unlocked state. Anybody have any leads on this?
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
JuanG15 said:
I walked into a Verizon Wireless store today with intentions to switch over from T-Mobile, with two iPhone 7's both factory unlocked from apple that i had bought on Launch day and asked if I could port them over to Verizon's network even though they were GSM and they had a CDMA network. As skeptical as it may have been, both my iPhones took in the SIM card from Verizon and it read "Verizon LTE" on the service header on both phones.

Now while my iPhones may have read Verizon's sim card, I was unable to send a text, browse the web on safari or do a speed test. So i didn't switch over just yet. I was told to contact T-Mobile and have them unlock my phones before doing so in order for this to work, even though my phones were bought unlocked.
My theory is that even though my iPhones are GSM, they are still capable of running on a different network such as Verizon, purely on the simple fact that I bought them outright on a unlocked state. Anybody have any leads on this?
Click to expand...

Your phones are already unlocked.
Just verizon's reps incompetence shows instead of troubleshooting the issue that is on their end they're telling you to contact Tmobile to get the unlocked phone to work on Verizon.
They need to add iphone data plans to those sim/lines to get carrier data and provision them correctly on their system.
If you dont get a good rep that knows what they're doing they will be coming up with many nonsense excuses why they cant get them to work.
 
bradbomb

bradbomb

macrumors 6502a
Jan 7, 2002
566
309
Los Angeles, CA
Applejuiced said:
No, it would be great to connect to Verizon just on LTE but it will not work at all.
You can't pick and choose to connect to some tech but not on other.
Click to expand...

Incorrect, iPhones with the Intel Modems can connect to Verizon LTE and will work if there is VoLTE in that area. The second you enter an area where LTE & VoLTE are not available, you phone will not be able to connect to CDMA.
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
bradbomb said:
Incorrect, iPhones with the Intel Modems can connect to Verizon LTE and will work if there is VoLTE in that area. The second you enter an area where LTE & VoLTE are not available, you phone will not be able to connect to CDMA.
Click to expand...

Are you assuming/guessing?
Because no Intel modem Iphone 7 functions at all on the Verizon network.
 
J

JuanG15

macrumors newbie
Nov 16, 2014
3
0
California
Applejuiced said:
Your phones are already unlocked.
Just verizon's reps incompetence shows instead of troubleshooting the issue that is on their end they're telling you to contact Tmobile to get the unlocked phone to work on Verizon.
They need to add iphone data plans to those sim/lines to get carrier data and provision them correctly on their system.
If you dont get a good rep that knows what they're doing they will be coming up with many nonsense excuses why they cant get them to work.
Click to expand...
I figured that much, I have the A1778 model with both phones and based on the apple support website these models should pick up some signals but would not work completely like the A1660 model and I quote "The iPhone A1778 has a very similar cellular connectivity as the A1660, except that there is no support for TD-SCDMA and CDMA EV-DO Rev. A bands. Therefore, the phone won’t work properly on CDMA networks like Sprint or Verizon although you still can make phone calls via Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE)"

The SIM card that the Verizon rep used yesterday was her very own sim, from her personal iPhone 7. Popped it out of hers and into ours. She said that she would not be able to make it work on our iPhones until we initiated a actual service to our phones.
I thought this was preposterous seeing as our phones are already unlocked, it should have taken her sim in with no issues. But I guess it did not because the two iPhones I currently own are GSM.
 
C

coolio93

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2013
304
50
Houston, TX
Applejuiced said:
I'll have to test it out. You connected to Verizon LTE and was able to make phone calls/texts/use data?
Is your friends AT&T iphone 7 unlocked?
Click to expand...
I can also confirm that this works. Only thing is that the phone won't connect to 3g if LTE is not available. Also the phone shows up as "unknown" in my Verizon. But yes it does work. Data and calls both
 
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