My Verizon iPhone 5S works on AT&T:

EmceeGeek

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

I was wondering how your battery consumption is? I have the T-Mobile (unlocked) model, and they are my carrier but the battery life is as bad as the iPhone 5 battery was on T-Mobile. The unlocked AT&T version of the iPhone 5 battery usage was the same as it has been for years with me but as soon as Apple made the TMo specific version I thought it was the dual-bands burning through the battery. Now I'm wondering if its just TMo's frequency? My unlocked i5 was running TMo's 4G or HSPA+ but no LTE capability. I still don't use LTE because 4G murders my battery. Everyone can get a full day BUT us, it seems. Do any of you think the Verizon model would be better or do you think it works the same as what they advertise as the TMo unlocked i5S?
 

Eileen89

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

Irish in that screenshot you're connected to wifi you can do voice and data on Verizon if you're connected to wifi LOL.


Carried by a raven from the Wall.

Yeah. I was going to point that out as well. Try it with wifi off, please, Irish. I'm curious as well.

Good catch guys, thanks! I updated my screenshot above. Tried it again, this time double checking that WiFi was actually off. Voice & Data definitely work on AT&T's 4G network. Since it works with AT&T using Verizon's own iPhone, I don't see why it don't work for Verizon's customers. It's the same iPhone....


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M.Rizk

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

I was wondering how your battery consumption is? I have the T-Mobile (unlocked) model, and they are my carrier but the battery life is as bad as the iPhone 5 battery was on T-Mobile. The unlocked AT&T version of the iPhone 5 battery usage was the same as it has been for years with me but as soon as Apple made the TMo specific version I thought it was the dual-bands burning through the battery. Now I'm wondering if its just TMo's frequency? My unlocked i5 was running TMo's 4G or HSPA+ but no LTE capability. I still don't use LTE because 4G murders my battery. Everyone can get a full day BUT us, it seems. Do any of you think the Verizon model would be better or do you think it works the same as what they advertise as the TMo unlocked i5S?

I don't think the iPhone 5S supports 1700 MHZ (T-Mobile 3G AWS). It still only supports 1900 MHZ for 3G, so this device is not special for T-Mobile, it is the same as the AT&T model and Verizon. People it's all one phone no difference! Even the T-Mobile also the AT&T one both support Verizon CDMA it is just Verizon that won't allow you in as they want you to purchase the device of their stores.


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Eileen89

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

I was wondering how your battery consumption is? I have the T-Mobile (unlocked) model, and they are my carrier but the battery life is as bad as the iPhone 5 battery was on T-Mobile. The unlocked AT&T version of the iPhone 5 battery usage was the same as it has been for years with me but as soon as Apple made the TMo specific version I thought it was the dual-bands burning through the battery. Now I'm wondering if its just TMo's frequency? My unlocked i5 was running TMo's 4G or HSPA+ but no LTE capability. I still don't use LTE because 4G murders my battery. Everyone can get a full day BUT us, it seems. Do any of you think the Verizon model would be better or do you think it works the same as what they advertise as the TMo unlocked i5S?

My battery life so far is awesome. I'll post a screenshot here. The battery life on the 5S is definitely better than my backup AT&T unlocked iPhone 5. I'm getting about 2 to 3 hours more usage.... I wouldn't say the Verizon model is any better than the unlocked T-Mobile 5S. It's just that they won't run on Verizon's CDMA side which is a problem if someone ever wanted to switch to Verizon from AT&T or T-Mobile.


Battery life so far looks like this:

ynuru8uz.jpg





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EmceeGeek

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

I don't think the iPhone 5S supports 1700 MHZ (T-Mobile 3G AWS). It still only supports 1900 MHZ for 3G, so this device is not special for T-Mobile, it is the same as the AT&T model and Verizon. People it's all one phone no difference! Even the T-Mobile also the AT&T one both support Verizon CDMA it is just Verizon that won't allow you in as they want you to purchase the device of their stores.

Okay, just had to see if they really were all the same. I see now that AT&T just runs better than TMo on the iPhone. Our battery time doesn't come close to 8 hours on a full charge.

My battery life so far is awesome. I'll post a screenshot here. The battery life on the 5S is definitely better than my backup AT&T unlocked iPhone 5. I'm getting about 2 to 3 hours more usage.... I wouldn't say the Verizon model is any better than the unlocked T-Mobile 5S. It's just that they won't run on Verizon's CDMA side which is a problem if someone ever wanted to switch to Verizon from AT&T or T-Mobile.

Looks like this will just be a problem for TMo users. It would be nice to be able to get at least 8 hours on a full charge again. I just knew the 5S would change things, thats why I was so excited about it coming out. Oh well, thanks guys!

Thanks for letting us know the Verizon model does work for us GSM users, might come in handy down the road.
 

tigerinexile

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

I don't think the iPhone 5S supports 1700 MHZ (T-Mobile 3G AWS). It still only supports 1900 MHZ for 3G, so this device is not special for T-Mobile, it is the same as the AT&T model and Verizon. People it's all one phone no difference! Even the T-Mobile also the AT&T one both support Verizon CDMA it is just Verizon that won't allow you in as they want you to purchase the device of their stores.


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Negative, the A1533, whether Verizon or other, supports T-Mobile 3g AWS.

It was for the old 5 that the Verizon A1429 worked on AT&T for 3g but not T-Mobile.

If I lived in the US, I'd have bought a Verizon A1533 outright.

I don't, so have the GSM A1533 instead. It's all good unless I move to the middle of the US, where Verizon is king and AT&T and T-Mobile have lousy coverage...

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Eileen89

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

I don't think the iPhone 5S supports 1700 MHZ (T-Mobile 3G AWS). It still only supports 1900 MHZ for 3G, so this device is not special for T-Mobile, it is the same as the AT&T model and Verizon. People it's all one phone no difference! Even the T-Mobile also the AT&T one both support Verizon CDMA it is just Verizon that won't allow you in as they want you to purchase the device of their stores.
I'm pretty sure that Apple updated all the 5S's to include support for T-Mobile's AWS 1700 and 2100 band. they were updating the iPhone 5's in the later half of the year to support T-Mobile customers, therefore the iPhone 5S should definitely support the 1700 band.... T-Mobile USA: Understanding network compatibility of an unlocked iPhone 5

Although Model A1533 will support CDMA, Verizon will not activate it at all on their network, therefore as I said above, if anyone has a GSM carrier now and has thoughts of switching to them at some point, buying the Verizon 5S would be the way to go. Unless one doesn't mind having to purchase another 5S just to switch carriers.
 

Rocket_Girl

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

This should become a sticky! So relevant for so many people long after the new-release frenzy dies down. Irish Rose answered the EXACT question I had before buying a full-priced 5s. I spent more time investigating this than any other aspect of the 5s. I thought it would PROBABLY work- it looked that way on paper- but I was not going to test it b/c still under VZW contract. For now.

Thank you, Irish Rose. A very important and incredibly CLEAR post, easy to understand. clearer info, all in one place (with examples) than is available anywhere else out there.

Mods: I nominate this for sticky!
 

Eileen89

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

This should become a sticky! So relevant for so many people long after the new-release frenzy dies down. Irish Rose answered the EXACT question I had before buying a full-priced 5s. I spent more time investigating this than any other aspect of the 5s. I thought it would PROBABLY work- it looked that way on paper- but I was not going to test it b/c still under VZW contract. For now.

Thank you, Irish Rose. A very important and incredibly CLEAR post, easy to understand. clearer info, all in one place (with examples) than is available anywhere else out there.

Mods: I nominate this for sticky!

Rocket_Girl, I appreciate your feedback on this. Like you I did a lot of research on this as well, but the answers seemed to only add more questions. I was hoping that by posting my experience and the answers that I found through testing would help others out too.
 

Eileen89

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I wonder if the AT&T version will work on Verizon. I think that the iPhone 5 might do the same

The specs on Apples website show that the frequency bands are supported. Problem is, Verizon will not activate a unlocked AT&T or T-Mobile 5S on their network at all.


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Rocket_Girl

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I wonder if the AT&T version will work on Verizon. I think that the iPhone 5 might do the same

Somebody described this with a good dose of humor earlier in the thread, so I won't repeat (for details, see above). VZW will not let AT&T devices work on their system.
 

kch50428

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

Good catch guys, thanks! I updated my screenshot above. Tried it again, this time double checking that WiFi was actually off. Voice & Data definitely work on AT&T's 4G network. Since it works with AT&T using Verizon's own iPhone, I don't see why it don't work for Verizon's customers. It's the same iPhone....

Voice on Verizon uses CDMA... while some Verizon devices did/do support voice&data over CDMA, Apple devices do not.
 

Eileen89

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

Voice on Verizon uses CDMA... while some Verizon devices did/do support voice&data over CDMA, Apple devices do not.

I find it odd how Apple doesn't support it, but whatever... Thanks for clarifying this, Keith. :)


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kch50428

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

For Apple to support CDMA voice plus data, the phones would need two radios/antennae constantly active...to support that, the phones would not be as small as they are because of hardware needs.
 

nikkisharif

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

Thanks for sharing Irish!!! I have a Verizon 5S and was thinking of switching to AT&T at some point. So glad to know I won't have to purchase a new phone if I switch and decide to go back!
 

jsntrenkler

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

I get the same battery life on the T-Mobile side as I did on the AT&T side, I can't tell a difference in battery usage.
 

darkoman4

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

A1533 supports 11 LTE bands, but Sprint model does 13. Could anybody confirm Sprint model could be activated on the rest of the carriers.
 

M.Rizk

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Re: My Verizon iPhone 5S on AT&T:

They are not the same LTE bands as the Verizon/ATT/tmobile version. And Sprint locks the GSM/LTE SIM so even if in a given location the LTE bands did match up, you still couldn't use it without getting the SIM unlocked.

According to apple.com/iphone/LTE they do have the same bands. However, Sprint locks it's devices anyways. So the final answer is no, won't work.
 

M.Rizk

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Apparently I was wrong when I said the new iPhone 5S doesn't support T-Mobile 1700 MHZ AWS 3G. It does support it and that's great news for me as now I will be able to test T-Mobile coverage while Roaming for the first time. I personally hate the AT&T 3G coverage in Orlando, FL.

Quote from Apple.com:
Model A1533 (GSM)*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25)


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