T-Mobile USA Rolling Out Software Update for Existing Unlocked iPhone Customers

iphone_5_black_whiteIn line with a report from earlier this week, TmoNews reports that T-Mobile USA has begun rolling out software updates for existing customers running unlocked iPhones on its network.

As the carrier notes in its support forum, the update enables a number of features, including LTE support where available, ahead of the official launch of new iPhone 5 sales for the carrier next week.

Enables the following:

- Visual Voicemail
- 4G network indicator
- Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS)
- AWS LTE (T-Mobile and officially unlocked AT&T iPhone 5 only)
- HD Voice (T-Mobile and officially unlocked AT&T iPhone 5 only)
- AWS HSPA+ (T-Mobile and new 2013 AT&T iPhone 5 only)

Auto configures:

- MMS Settings
- Personal Hotspot Settings (Smartphone Mobile Hotspot)
- APN settings for LTE connectivity
- My Account bookmark

Earlier today, T-Mobile began taking pre-orders for iPhone 5 customers, with the official launch set for next Friday, April 12.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

Tiger8 Avatar
139 months ago
They are not wasting time! WOW!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aristotle Avatar
139 months ago
I don't think you guys understand what is going on here. The T-Mobile version and the old iPhone 5 AT&T versions are the SAME hardware.

The only difference between the two models is that they have a different firmware builds. A firmware update can update the baseband which is what controls the radios and what frequencies can be offered.

When you hear about a new version breaking the unlocks that jailbreakers use, it is because Apple updated the baseband portion of the firmware. It is similar to an SMC firmware update on a mac. When Apple updates the baseband, it will often result in a longer upgrade process as the phone has to reboot several times. If a baseband update is not part of the update, jailbreakers can often get their unlock back.

It is possible that Apple will provide older iPhone 5 models with a baseband that can use AWS HSPA+ sometime in the future. Apple has already told the FCC that the hardware is the same. The only difference is the baseband firmware which can be updated and has been updated multiple times by previous updates to iOS.

When you officially unlock, Apple sends an update file that modifies the baseband slightly causing it to shift from a carrier locked baseband to a "factory unlocked" one. That unlock will remain in place even after future firmware updates.

You guys are under the mistaken impression that the cellular radio firmware is stored on a READ ONLY chip.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JCCL Avatar
139 months ago
For Carrier updates, you need to go to Settings - General - About. That will trigger the carrier update. Of course you'll need to have your T-Mobiles SIM inserted in the iPhone.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BrandonRP0123 Avatar
139 months ago
For those of you that are eager...

- Carrier update changes references of 3G to 4G

- My new APN for cellular data is fast.t-mobile.com
- My new APN for MMS is fast.t-mobile.com
- MMSC remains the same: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc
- MMS max message size the same 1048576
- MMS UA Prof URL: now empty
- Takes away my 'Internet Tethering' section in the Cellular Data Settings
- Puts a 'Setup Personal Hot Spot' button on the cellular page. Press it "PLZ CONTACT TEH TMOBILE TO CAN HAZ SETUP HOTSPOT" (those turds)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
crisss1205 Avatar
139 months ago
You can also install this profile update by visiting http://tmobile.com/isetup directly on your iPhone if your phone is on T-Mobile’s network but doesn’t show up any available updates.

I tried accessing that link with my AT&T iPad and it was about to install the T-mobile configurator. I cancelled it. Did anyone tried it to see what happens?

It has been posted several times here already, IT IS NOT the same thing as a carrier update.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SmacTX Avatar
139 months ago
When it's available, it will be in this list:

curl -s -L http://phobos.apple.com/version | grep -i ios6.1.*_us_
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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