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cbank30
Joined: 26 Apr 2010
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 Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 3:43 pm Post subject: If I buy an iPhone 5 in America, would it work in Korea? |
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I was thinking of purchasing an unlocked iPhone 5 in America and then bringing it back with me when I travel.
Will an unlocked iPhone 5 be possible to use in Korea? |
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Benjamino
Joined: 21 Apr 2012
Location: Jinju
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| Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Can't see why not. My iphone 4 does and that's unlocked. |
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T-J
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae
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| Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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I don't think a phone purchased in the U.S. will be able to access Korea's LTE network. You should still be alright on 3G and WiFi.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ |
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yoitsmykey
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Send a tweet over to https://twitter.com/olleh_expats from KT. Guy behind that account is fluent in English and seems very knowledgeable so it wouldn't hurt to ask. He helped me get my Nexus from overseas working when the shop I went to didn't know how to deal with unlocked foreign phones. |
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jonpurdy
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: Ulsan
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:19 am Post subject: |
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You can get any unlocked phone working in Korea. The question is: can you get an unlocked phone from the US? I heard they only had locked ones from the providers?
If you need an unlocked one, come up to Canada and buy one here at any Apple Store. |
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tatertot
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Like T-J, I wouldn't count on having a seamless experience using a US iPhone 5 in Korea. There are lots of different LTE bands, and so there are going to be a few different models of iPhone 5s for sale (covering different LTE bands). If you bought an ATT iPhone 5 in the US, its 3G would work in Korea, but the LTE would not. If you get a Sprint or Verizon iPhone 5, the LTE might work in Korea, but the 3G might not. See the arstechnica article here http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/want-global-lte-roaming-on-iphone-5-dont-buy-it-from-att/ |
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Moondoggy
Joined: 07 Jun 2011
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 11:07 pm Post subject: Re: If I buy an iPhone 5 in America, would it work in Korea? |
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| cbank30 wrote: |
I was thinking of purchasing an unlocked iPhone 5 in America and then bringing it back with me when I travel.
Will an unlocked iPhone 5 be possible to use in Korea? |
why would you do that? you can get a samsung galaxy s3 for $150 in korea and it's better than the iphone5. |
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peregrinejones
Joined: 25 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 1:47 am Post subject: |
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| On a slightly related note, I currently have an unlocked iPhone 4S via Sprint in the USA and have been wondering if it will work fine in Korea if I take it with me? Can't I just swap the sim card out for one from a Korean carrier? |
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Keeper
Joined: 11 Jun 2012
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| Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 2:11 am Post subject: Re: If I buy an iPhone 5 in America, would it work in Korea? |
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| Moondoggy wrote: |
| cbank30 wrote: |
I was thinking of purchasing an unlocked iPhone 5 in America and then bringing it back with me when I travel.
Will an unlocked iPhone 5 be possible to use in Korea? |
why would you do that? you can get a samsung galaxy s3 for $150 in korea and it's better than the iphone5. |
Where? The prices I've seen are way over 150.00 . |
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tatertot
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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| tatertot wrote: |
| Like T-J, I wouldn't count on having a seamless experience using a US iPhone 5 in Korea. There are lots of different LTE bands, and so there are going to be a few different models of iPhone 5s for sale (covering different LTE bands). If you bought an ATT iPhone 5 in the US, its 3G would work in Korea, but the LTE would not. If you get a Sprint or Verizon iPhone 5, the LTE might work in Korea, but the 3G might not. See the arstechnica article here http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/want-global-lte-roaming-on-iphone-5-dont-buy-it-from-att/ |
It looks like the Sprint/Verizon iPhone 5 versions will work with both 3G and LTE in Korea. Look at the first chart at this link: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6295/why-the-iphone-5-lacks-simultaneous-voice-and-lte-or-evdo-svlte-svdo-support-. All three versions support the same 3G bands, with the Sprint and Verizon versions also supporting the LTE bands used in Korea (bands 3 and 5). Of course, you would need to get an unlocked version or you wouldn't be able to use it on a different network. Those aren't going to be on sale right away, but later on they will be on sale a bit later for $650. |
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tatertot
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 12:59 pm Post subject: |
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| peregrinejones wrote: |
| On a slightly related note, I currently have an unlocked iPhone 4S via Sprint in the USA and have been wondering if it will work fine in Korea if I take it with me? Can't I just swap the sim card out for one from a Korean carrier? |
It looks like all iPhone 4S versions support the same 3G bands, and the Sprint GSM SIM is unlocked, so you should be able to use that in Korea. http://www.macworld.com/article/1162960/how_international_is_the_iphone_4s_world_phone_.html |
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cbank30
Joined: 26 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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So the Verizon iPhone 5 will work on the LTE bands here in Korea... but the CDMA (3G) will not be available because Korea is GSM (3G)
Is this what others have discovered? |
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Konglishman
Joined: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| What about the other way around? Will an iPhone 4 bought in Korea work in the USA? |
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fosterman
Joined: 16 Nov 2011
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:47 pm Post subject: Re: If I buy an iPhone 5 in America, would it work in Korea? |
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| Keeper wrote: |
| Moondoggy wrote: |
| cbank30 wrote: |
I was thinking of purchasing an unlocked iPhone 5 in America and then bringing it back with me when I travel.
Will an unlocked iPhone 5 be possible to use in Korea? |
why would you do that? you can get a samsung galaxy s3 for $150 in korea and it's better than the iphone5. |
Where? The prices I've seen are way over 150.00 . |
online .. |
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fosterman
Joined: 16 Nov 2011
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:48 pm Post subject: Re: If I buy an iPhone 5 in America, would it work in Korea? |
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| Moondoggy wrote: |
| cbank30 wrote: |
I was thinking of purchasing an unlocked iPhone 5 in America and then bringing it back with me when I travel.
Will an unlocked iPhone 5 be possible to use in Korea? |
why would you do that? you can get a samsung galaxy s3 for $150 in korea and it's better than the iphone5. |
its not even out yet. how can you say that? |
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