Excuse the old man question, but if I buy an iPhone 16 Pro Max outright, with no carrier. I can set it up with my current carrier easily?
Excuse the old man question, but if I buy an iPhone 16 Pro Max outright, with no carrier. I can set it up with my current carrier easily?
Buying one through Apple online at the moment, but it’s roughly $1300 with taxes. So I have myself a little nervous at the cost. Thanks in advance for answering. 👍
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New iPhones bought from Apple that are unlocked “connect to any carrier later” work on all the networks in the us. Once upon a time, there was an “unlocked” phone - meaning you could change the sim and the phone wasn’t locked to a contract. But you still had to match the phone to the major carrier. For example, an att phone could be unlocked, and then used on straighttalk (becasue straighttalk resold att network). But it wouldn’t work on Verizon or T-Mobile because they were different networks.
That’s not a thing anymore with iPhones and hasn’t been for a long time. An unlocked iPhone can be used with any carrier that supports esims.
If your old phone is still on a contract - you may not be able to transfer the phone number, or have to request an unlock, or any other shenanigans. But the new iPhone will still work on whatever network you take it to.
Ideally, your contract is done, you buy new unlocked iPhone, you take it to your existing or a new carrier, you say “I bought a new unlocked phone, I want to set it up new, and I want you to transfer my number” a prime time carrier will just make this happen for you. A reseller can be a little more of a pain in the arse.
Personally I’ve been happy with the prepaid plans from straight talk - despite their setup process sucking. If you call them and get a person to help it goes pretty smooth. And the service is indistinguishable for a much cheaper price once it’s setup. I’m pretty sure this goes for most resellers.
Good luck - you’ll be fine!
Once upon a time, there was an “unlocked” phone - meaning you could change the sim and the phone wasn’t locked to a contract. But you still had to match the phone to the major carrier.
Ah yes, those confusing GSM/CDMA days. They were like 2g or 3g tech (not sure), but eventually they all converged with 4G and VoLTE. I'm so glad that bs was done.
That’s what I was worried about lol, glad those days are over and I can just pick “Connect to any Carrier later” option.
I’m debating on whether larger storage is worth it, 256GB to 512GB for $200 more. Any thoughts? Appreciate the detailed feedback.
For what it’s worth, choosing the T-Mobile option wouldn’t lock it to T-Mobile. It just includes some extra setup stuff, IIRC. If you’re buying it from Apple it isn’t carrier locked (with the exception of an AT&T installment plan, not sure if they still offer that).
Thanks, the past years of cellphone shenanigans have me paranoid lol.
I have 256 GB and have a “family” 2TB iCloud plan. I sync to iCloud for everything and have it set to automatically manage storage. I’d only buy a larger phone if you either don’t use iCloud or if you plan to take a lot of photos or plan to use the iPhone for filming.
iPhones have no sd card slots, so I'd get the bigger storage (if that money isn't that tight)
How much is your current iphone storage and how much is filled?
Currently it’s 97.56GB out of 128GB. So around 26% free space? Guessing 256GB will be enough.
Probably.
If its photos/videos taking up storage, you could always move it to a computer.