If I buy an iPhone off of someone do we need the same carrier?

I'm interested in buying an iPhone off of a friend of mine but she has Verizon while I use AT&T so I was wondering if this would cause a problem in any way. Can I switch the phone from Verizon to AT&T or do I need to purchase a phone in which was initially from AT&T? What I'm trying to say is, will purchasing a phone off of someone with a different cell phone company than my own make the phone unusable to me?

No, the SIM cards are interchangeable and they can probably pop it right in for you.

Make sure they wipe it first to get their icloud ID off it.

Depending on the iPhone model, yes you would need the same carrier. In this case since a GSM & a CDMA carrier are involved the iPhone 4, if it is the one here, wouldn't work. Newer models shouldn't have this issue & models older than the 4 would as well have an issue for this switch.

If both of you were on CDMA carriers or on GSM carriers it would be a matter of getting the phone flashed/activated (CDMA) or unlocked (GSM) for the switch to be possible.

  • Switch from iPhone 6 to iPhone 6 plus on same carrier? So I just broke my iPhone 6 screen. My dad has his old 6 plus lying around (He got an s7 the other day). We both have Verizon. If I wanted to switch phones, but retain my phone #, could I just put my SIM card into his phone? Or is it more complicated than that?
  • I wanna buy an iPhone 4S off of Craigslist and then setup with an carrier? But I'm wondering if I buy one will I get in trouble if the person off of craigslist that I bought it from stole it and I go to set it up with an carrier will I get in trouble
  • My iPhone keeps turning on and off like it turns on and off. Can someone tell me? Okay tbms it turns on and off on and off and then sometimes it shows a red screen for a few seconds then off again and dies out. It's not the battery because I got that changed thinking that it was the cause and it wasn't. So is there anything someone can help me with? The repair guy tried restoring it through iTunes he said it didn't work either it just won't come on it doesn't go pass the Apple logo before shutting off and on again and dying out
  • Is tbere any major différence between thé iPhone 6 and the 6s? Whooppeee is Xmas again and my daughter wants new 2nd hand) iPhone… 2 years ago almost bought her 5 before i réaliséd that it was 5s she wanted ( cos thé 5 sucks?) And I don't want to screw up this year…