I'm moving to New Zealand for a couple years. Can I bring my (Sprint) iPhone with me from the US and just switch the SIM card with out with a Vodafone one? That way I am on a Vodafone plan but still have my iPhone with all its capabilities... I know I could purchase an iPhone there but it will just be expensive.
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possible duplicate of Will my iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S work in New Zealand? but that question is referring to a Verizon phone, which is apparently somewhat different.– Greg HewgillJan 15, 2015 at 20:50
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First of all, is your phone unlocked?– JoErNanO ♦Jan 16, 2015 at 10:25
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1 Answer
No you likely can't but that is because your phone is a CDMA type and they don't use SIM cards. A GSM type phone can be as long as it is unlocked.
In the US
Verizon, Sprint are CDMA
ATT and T-Mobile are GSM
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2This answer is a bit incomplete. CDMA and GSM refer to 1G technologies, and the big four providers are all converging on 4G LTE for data (and presumably, eventually for voice). The larger problem now is that they are all assigned varying frequency bands for LTE, and a given phone may not support all of them— much less the LTE bands in use in other countries. In fact, "convergence" on LTE has actually made the situation even worse than 3G, as you have fewer roaming possibilities than before.– chosterJan 15, 2015 at 21:25
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1The link posted in the comments above handles this more accurately. If your model iphone is a world model with a SIM card slot, with support for frequencies used in New Zealand, and your phone is unlocked by Sprint it will probably work. Sprint has had some changes to some phone to prevent unlocking but this may only apply to domestic carriers. If your service contract is up then they may unlock your phone if it is one that can be unlocked.– draksiaJan 15, 2015 at 21:35
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Spark in New Zealand does not use GSM in a lot of the areas. Just 3G. Jan 22, 2015 at 19:33