Must I sync with Itunes if change sim on unlocked 4s to make sim work?

[dnkw]

Hi folks, non iPhone user here.

My dad's thinking of getting a 4s (as it's good for old fogies - his words, not mine) - one thing about this, he's going to Thailand on holiday for 4 months soon, and would want to put a Thai sim in for this period.

I understand if he gets the iPhone, say, on Vodafone (UK), and gets them to unlock it, that when he puts the Thai sim in, he would need to connect the phone to Itunes to sync and get the Thai sim to work.

Is that the case if he bought a 4s that was unlocked from the get go (Giffgaff are offering an unlocked one atm)? Basically, I'm trying to avoid him having to plug in to iTunes to manage this, as it'll be beyond him.

Thanks!

Dan

TLDR: If you change sims on an unlocked 4s, is it always necessary to sync with Itunes to make it work?

 

[scifan57]

Hi folks, non iPhone user here.

My dad's thinking of getting a 4s (as it's good for old fogies - his words, not mine) - one thing about this, he's going to Thailand on holiday for 4 months soon, and would want to put a Thai sim in for this period.

I understand if he gets the iPhone, say, on Vodafone (UK), and gets them to unlock it, that when he puts the Thai sim in, he would need to connect the phone to Itunes to sync and get the Thai sim to work.

Is that the case if he bought a 4s that was unlocked from the get go (Giffgaff are offering an unlocked one atm)? Basically, I'm trying to avoid him having to plug in to iTunes to manage this, as it'll be beyond him.

Thanks!

Dan

TLDR: If you change sims on an unlocked 4s, is it always necessary to sync with Itunes to make it work?

I visited the UK last month from Canada. I inserted a Vodaphone SIM card in my iPhone 5s and did not have to connect to iTunes in order to get the UK SIM card to work in my Canadian iPhone. It should work the same way with an iPhone 4s on a trip from the UK to Thailand.

 

[dnkw]

Thank you for the reply!

Please can you tell me, for your phone, was it unlocked at point of purchase, or did you have it unlocked later?

Reason for asking - this seems to be a point of difference I have come across on another forum, i.e. if it is originally unlocked and you introduce a different sim, then there is no need to sync it with iTunes to make it work, if it is unlocked later then syncing is required (hope this makes sense).

Thank you

Dan

 

[scifan57]

According to Apple, you only have to sync with iTunes if there are problems. If you insert the Thai SIM card and it recognizes the carrier you should not have to connect to iTunes. Here's the Apple support page. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2309

BTW, my iPhone was purchased unlocked direct from Apple.

 

[dnkw]

Thank you, I've much obliged to you.

 

[scifan57]

Thank you, I've much obliged to you.

You're welcome.

Let us know how the Thai SIM card works out.