Does anyone know if Apple will replaced an unlocked Sprint phone with another?

[kgor93]

Now that it's fully legal again, there are services to unlock Sprint iPhones. I used one that is legit, in that I restored my iPhone and it said "congrats, your iPhone is now factory unlocked." I tried a T-Mobile SIM and it worked perfectly. My question is that should I need to get the phone replaced under warranty and go to the Apple store, will they give me a new unlocked phone for domestic use? Like I said, the phone seems to be completely factory unlocked... Just not through Sprint. The service said it was done through "Apple factory unlock." not Sprint.

 

For those of you that say there are no unlocked domestic Sprint phones that are sold, there are, just through Apple directly if you pay full price.

[COZisBack]

Now that it's fully legal again, there are services to unlock Sprint iPhones. I used one that is legit, in that I restored my iPhone and it said "congrats, your iPhone is now factory unlocked." I tried a T-Mobile SIM and it worked perfectly. My question is that should I need to get the phone replaced under warranty and go to the Apple store, will they give me a new unlocked phone for domestic use? Like I said, the phone seems to be completely factory unlocked... Just not through Sprint. The service said it was done through "Apple factory unlock." not Sprint.

 

For those of you that say there are no unlocked domestic Sprint phones that are sold, there are, just through Apple directly if you pay full price.

 

Hello, I'm pretty sure Apple is going to replace your device with the same as what you purchased. Any additional unlocking will have to be repeated on your end.

[MrZorbatron]

Sprint will probably do it for you, though. They are pretty nice about it.

[gnoj]

Sprint will probably do it for you, though. They are pretty nice about it.

Pretty nice about it? Sprint will lie and claim there is no "technological process" available to do a domestic unlock, even though all they would have to do is ask Apple to whitelist the MEID in their activation server so the next time you connect it to iTunes it gets unlocked.

 

They might decide to start doing it after February, but they probably won't. If you have to get a replacement from Apple, you'll likely have to again use whatever unlocking method you used last time, which probably involves some Apple employee(s) quietly accessing the server to apply the standard (full) unlock activation policy (as opposed to the custom limited one they crafted at Sprint's request) to that MEID.

[MrZorbatron]

Not sure about domestic vs foreign...  I know that my friend's and my mom's iphone 4S's were unlocked with no questions asked, though this was for travel reasons.  I didn't know it was different in the case of domestic carriers.

[milan03]

Now that it's fully legal again, there are services to unlock Sprint iPhones. I used one that is legit, in that I restored my iPhone and it said "congrats, your iPhone is now factory unlocked." I tried a T-Mobile SIM and it worked perfectly. My question is that should I need to get the phone replaced under warranty and go to the Apple store, will they give me a new unlocked phone for domestic use? Like I said, the phone seems to be completely factory unlocked... Just not through Sprint. The service said it was done through "Apple factory unlock." not Sprint.

 

For those of you that say there are no unlocked domestic Sprint phones that are sold, there are, just through Apple directly if you pay full price.

Once factory unlocked via iTunes, replacement phone that you will get at the Genius Bar will always carry that same Unlock Policy. It's iTunes servers that store that information, not Sprint, so once flagged as unlocked, the future activation chain remains unlocked.

[lou99/maximus1987]

Now that it's fully legal again, there are services to unlock Sprint iPhones. I used one that is legit, in that I restored my iPhone and it said "congrats, your iPhone is now factory unlocked." I tried a T-Mobile SIM and it worked perfectly. My question is that should I need to get the phone replaced under warranty and go to the Apple store, will they give me a new unlocked phone for domestic use? Like I said, the phone seems to be completely factory unlocked... Just not through Sprint. The service said it was done through "Apple factory unlock." not Sprint.

 

For those of you that say there are no unlocked domestic Sprint phones that are sold, there are, just through Apple directly if you pay full price.

How'd you unlock it?

[kgor93]

For what it's worth, I've unlocked iPhones via 3rd parties before and the unlock carried when I had to get it replaced. I just don't know if that's the case for Sprint since they don't unlock for domestic use.

[kgor93]

How'd you unlock it?

I used this service.

[lou99/maximus1987]

I used this service.

*kisses you on both cheeks and lips*

[milan03]

For what it's worth, I've unlocked iPhones via 3rd parties before and the unlock carried when I had to get it replaced. I just don't know if that's the case for Sprint since they don't unlock for domestic use.

If you've already verified by SIM swapping that your existing Unlock Policy allows you to attach to domestic operators other than Sprint, it confirms that desired Full Unlock Sprint policy actually exists on iTunes servers, and since it's now associated with your iPhone it will carry over to future replacement devices when replaced at the Genius Bar.

[Tajustin95]

I used this service.

Thanks been looking for one that works!

[kgor93]

Bumping this since the Sprint model is now available unlocked and contract free through Apple. So yes, it looks like the unlock does exist in Apple's system. Does this increase the chances of getting another unlocked model if it shows up in the system as unlocked?

[GoBigRed79]

Apple will replace your phone with whatever you have.  So I would think a Sprint locked model will be replaced with a Sprint locked model.  But probably won't know 100% until somebody tries it. 

[milan03]

Apple will replace your phone with whatever you have. So I would think a Sprint locked model will be replaced with a Sprint locked model. But probably won't know 100% until somebody tries it.

 

There isn't a locked and unlocked replacement iPhone model at the Genius Bar. There is a single unactivated model which during the activation process receives either unlock or lock policy from the iTunes activation server. That's it.

[acadiel]

Thanks been looking for one that works!

 

I just tried this very one and wasted $97 on it on a Sprint 4S.  Weighing my options.  I bought one for my 4S and one for my 5S (and Sprint had already unlocked both for international; I needed a domestic unlock.)  The auction itself says "SPRINT USA iPhone 6+ 6 5S 5C 5 4S Apple Permanent Factory Unlock Service".

 

 

Here's some snippets from the guy when challenged when the 4S unlock didn't work.  I even sent him a video of me removing the Sprint SIM and putting a T-Mobile SIM in and it saying "SIM not valid".  (I even restored in iTunes).

Yeah thats what i thought , since its 4S the policy on it only international and doent have usa included in it . that happens with sprint 4S all the time !!! 
The phone is unlocked but it doesnt support USA thats how the sprint wanted it from apple. 
So i dont know what to tell you ! why dont you sell it for international website and buy US one later ?

I said:

The phone was already unlocked for international use; that's why I had the Orange SIM.  The reason I purchased your unlock code was to get the domestic unlock working, and you seemed to be one of the only ones on eBay that offered that service.

I also purchased an unlock for my 5S (which is also already unlocked for international use)l; and I wanted to use it domestically.  

Nowhere in your auction do you say that the Sprint unlock is for international use only; so I assumed you meant a full unlock, including domestic.

I got this back from him:

And also want to clarify one more thing if i could. The add did not say for domestic use, did not say any sim , but it did say sim lock remover.  which your phone is presented simlock - unlocked 
I dont mean to be rude or anything, but we did our part actually the phone it self does not support the us sim and its not our fault it sprint crazy policy! 
You said the 5S also internationally unlocked but is not true , its fully locked to sprint. 
So there is little contradiction in your story and We are not accusing you of anything but  you have to understand that we have  over 6000+ transactions a year and we seen a lot of people trying to do all kinds of stuff. So to be fair the apple data showed its sim unlocked so i think it would be fair to say we did our job , dont you think ?
 

I sent him a picture of my Sprint international unlocked 5S with an Orange SIM in it, running on T-Mobile (About screen said "EE" for carrier bundle, 8.1.2 iOS and the serial number of the phone).    Also, I told him this:

The Sprint iPhone 5S with IMEI XXXXXXXXXX is fully unlocked for international use.  I have an Orange SIM in it, and have attached a picture (via eBay messages).  Carrier type shows up as "EE 18.0" and "T-mobile" is in the title bar.  Sprint did this for me a few months back.  The screen shot shows the IMEI very clearly, as well as the Carrier and carrier bundle.

Also, in relation to the auction, you state "factory unlock service."  I've been dealing with cellular phones since the early 90's.  A GSM "unlock" means just that - it can take any GSM SIM which the phone will support on the frequencies built into the device.  A GSM lock restricts a phone to the MCC-MNC of a particular SIM so that others will not work in that phone.  Unlocking it removes this MCC-MNC restriction.  There is a sentence in your auction stating that it unlocks the phone to "any carrier in any country" - which means someone reading it to purchase it would think that you can unlock a Sprint phone to work on AT&T, T-Mobile, or any carrier in any country.  Nothing states "international only."

I understand you have many happy customers, and I'm not accusing you of anything negative.  All I'm saying is that you stated in the auction that this was a "factory unlock", which when read, sounds like I can take my Sprint iPhone and use it on AT&T or T-Mobile (any carrier, any country).  

If you cannot unlock these phones completely to where I can use them on T-Mobile or AT&T, I would appreciate my two fees refunded to me.

I got this back:

You do have a point , and of course picture does not prove anything 
But i  can give you full refund on 5s (even though it will unlocked with this service) and partial on 4s since we can cancel the first one but cant do on 4S since its done !! and money been paid to supplier. please understand that,  we only doing that cause we care about satisfied customer not because you proving to us something or we proving you other wise. 
We have a lot on our plate and honestly do not have time for this debates 

I'm currently contemplating on how to word this to Paypal.  I'm sure that he's probably sold more than 200+ of these things, and if you look in the auction, nowhere anywhere does it say "this unlock will not work on domestic".  I know that's Sprint's policy, but if this guy is giving false hope to those looking for a domestic unlock by whatever method he's using, he really needs to get straightened out.