The iPads are unlocked. You can use them anywhere with a 3G micro SIM card. I have put in 3G micro SIM cards from several European countries in an iPad and they all work.
Nope. I can't remember if anyone mentioned in yesterday's keynote if the iPad2 3G+WiFi was going to be unlocked just like the iPad 3G+WiFi. But I may have missed it.
By the way, the iPhone4 sold by AT&T also works on European networks on 3G, but only with an AT&T SIM and roaming enabled. iPhone4s sold in US are locked to AT&T's network. iPhone4s sold directly by Apple in Canada are unlocked, but otherwise exactly same as the ones sold in the US. Hence, they take any (micro)SIM from any carrier in the world as long as they operate 1900/2100 MHz networks.
Bottom line: unlocked != works on all frequencies.
The question was: if I buy an iPad 2 in the US and I take it back to spain, will it work with a spanish sim?
In other words, is it unlocked?
I also don't recall anything in the keynote saying that they were going to be unlocked. On the contrary, one for AT&T and one for Verison. Nothing about unlocked...
I still don´t know if I can buy it and bring it back to Europe...
They did not say that it would be locked and the previous version was not so I assumed it would continue to be unlocked. They normally announce that which has changed.
Apparently in Canada, at least, the iPad 2 models are carrier-specific.
I am now in the same position as Tokao : I have to wait to be sure that the 3G versions bought in the US are unlocked and usable by all carriers in Europe as the previous models were.
Remember the original iPhone was $600 on a 2 year contract and there were lines stretching around blocks on launch day? And it didn't have 3G when all other phones had 3G. Not that that matters since AT&T doesn't seem to have a properly provisioned network.
That's shocking! The iPhone4 is available on all 3 (4 if you count Fido separately from Rogers, which owns Fido) major carriers. The iPhone4s sold by the carriers are locked, but those sold by Apple in the Apple Store are factory-unlocked.
No. US iPad 2 3G is going to be provider locked. Compare the language use on Apple UK website where the UK iPad 2 3G will be unlocked: "To enable 3G service on your iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G, you need a micro-SIM card and a data plan. A number of carriers offer no-contract data plans for iPad, and you can activate 3G service anytime after installing the micro-SIM card; some plans can even be activated right on the iPad."
You don't see this language anywhere in the Apple US site, only saying the compatibility with AT&T or Verizon. Plus, Steve Jobs the man himself didn't say whether the iPad 2 3G is unlocked, while he specifically said so for the iPad 1 3G during its keynote.
gRagib : all of that is true. But that was for a version 1.0 device. This a version 2 device and it would certainly be considered a step backwards rather than forwards.
The fact is no one know yet. We are all working under assumptions and they can go either way.
The iPad2 is definitely unlocked in the UK and in France as their web site says so expressly. It is definitely locked in Canada for the same reasons.
However we do not have any idea for the US yet.
The only reason that there are 2 different 3G version in the US, and only the US, is because there is a technological difference between AT&T and Verizon which does not exist elsewhere: AT&T=GSM and Verizon=CDMA
Everywhere else we all use GSM and the iDevices (iPhones and iPads) work everywhere in the world on GSM. This is also why we can jailbreak and carrier-unlock iPhones, and iPads if necessary, and they work everywhere.
We are not going to be able to do that with Verizon (CDMA) devices.
This is all a bunch of wait and see until Apple announces locked or unlocked for the US. Hopefully they'll say something officially before March 11th rather than on the day as a lot of us are going to be making our buying decisions based on that announcement.
Why would anyone in the US care if it is a step backwards? Even if the GSM iPad2 was sold unlocked, it wouldn't matter because you could either use it on AT&T's network at HSPA speeds, or on T-Mobile's network at EDGE speeds. Now how many people would do the latter?
And if the Verizon iPad2 was sold unlocked, would Sprint allow it on their network? CDMA carriers usually are very reluctant to provision those devices that they didn't sell.
As far as I can see, the only time a SIM-locked iPad2 becomes a problem is when you are travelling and you can't use a local SIM and take advantage of lower rates.
Selling SIM-locked iPad2 in Canada is a step backwards because all 3 major/national cellular operators (Bell, Telus and Rogers/Fido) use the exact same HSPA technology and 1900MHz frequency, unlike in the US where:
… AT&T uses 1900MHz EDGE and 1900MHz HSPA
… T-Mobile uses 1900MHz EDGE and 1700MHz HSPA
… Verizon uses 1900MHz EV-DO and 700MHz LTE (IIRC)
… Sprint uses 1900MHz EV-DO and 2500MHz Wimax
What this means for Canadians is that you have to decide on which network you want to use your iPad2 before you buy the device, knowing that you can only use it on only that one network. If you want to use the iPad2 on a different network, you'll need to buy a new iPad2 for that network!
Contract this to the situation in the UK, where they have a similar situation like we have in Canada wherein all networks use the same HSPA technology and 2100MHz frequency, and the iPad2 sold there will be SIM-unlocked!
Would this count for Australia also? I travel between here and the US and will be there over the next couple of weeks so was hoping to purchase the 3G there...for a world where people travel so frequently it makes no sense for them to create products that are locked to specific countries...we shall soon see.
Yes. It's unlocked. I have both a Rogers sim and a Bell sim and have tried both on a pay as you go service. Will be heading back to the UK in September and will pick up a pay as you go sim while i'm there to keep my service oing
