Will my iPhone work with a UK carrier?

I have an iPhone 4. I was reading about unlocked iPhones being able to be used on a UK plan with a European SIM card. However, my iPhone 4 is on the Verizon network here in America so it doesn't have a SIM card slot.... will it still work?

When DH and I bought our phones, I was told that only the 4s would work outside of the US...even with a SIM card change because any of the other iPhones only work on the CDMA networks. 

I could be wrong as I'm still in the US, so I haven't tested this to find out if the rep just wanted to sell us the latest phone or not.   

The UK only uses GSM (AT&T) network and not CDMA (Verizon)
You may have luck, selling your phone and buying new when you move over.

It might be cheaper to buy the iPhone 4s in the states and then get a SIM card once here though.  Mine was really expensive.

Thank you all

Anytime!
Also, if you buy your phone outright, you can get a Pay as you go sim and not be tied to a contact. The link in my sig has a great deal. You can order an iPhone sim for FREE and when you initially top up, you get £5 free credit!

Anytime!
Also, if you buy your phone outright, you can get a Pay as you go sim and not be tied to a contact. The link in my sig has a great deal. You can order an iPhone sim for FREE and when you initially top up, you get £5 free credit!

That's exactly what I just did.
When I first moved over, I had an iPhone 3G (archaic lil' guy) that was tied to AT&T. I unlocked it at one of those places for like, £10 and got a great monthly contract from O2 -- unlimited texts, 300 min (I never call anyone) and the bolt on for unlimited mobile. I pay about £16/month in total.

At Christmas, we bought me a fancy new iPhone 4S in the US. I got a free SIM from O2 (the 4S uses a micro SIM), and am on the same monthly rate.

I have a Iphone with Verizon and I won't be bringing it over because it virtually be useless. Selling it to my younger brother and then we are getting me a plan there.

I just moved to the UK from US, and have an IPhone4 tied to AT&T. I took it to a guy to get it unlocked and it's £130 and he took it for 3 weeks!! But the good news is that AT&T used to cost $130/mo and now with my unlocked iPhone4, I pay just £10/mo through O2 and am not tied to a contract.

If you CAN get an unlocked iPhone in the US before coming to the UK, it is absolutely worth it.

Unfortunately, you cannot use a Verizon iPhone in the UK - it would have to be the AT&T version.  That said, even with an AT&T version, you need AT&T to factory unlock the phone.  AT&T has a policy against doing this, so it is nearly impossible.

If you just take it to "some guy" then he will be doing an after-market or out-of-factory unlock, which means that it will lose the capability to access 3G networks unless it is on the original network to which it was locked...

For example, if I had an AT&T iPhone and went to "some guy" in the UK, he could unlock the phone to work on any carrier.  Then I could get a SIM from any carrier like T-Mobile, Three or O2.  When I put that UK SIM into the phone, I would not be able to access 3G speeds on internet, which would be painstakingly slow.

The best option here is to sell your phone in the USA for cash.  When you get to the UK, sign up for a contract such as the T-Mobile Full Monty plan where you get an iPhone 4 for free, or iPhone 4S for cheap.  When you sign up for the contract with T-Mobile (or whatever provider) tell them you need the phone unlocked so that you can use it on travel to the USA.  They will FACTORY UNLOCK the phone for you on the spot and then you will be able to use the phone in the USA with 3G, using a pay-as-you-go/monthly SIM when you visit.

Full Monty Plan from T-Mobile UK
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/pay-monthly/lg-prada/the-full-monty-36-24m/extras/ [nofollow]

T-Mobile USA Month SIM Options
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans [nofollow]

T-Mobile USA Daily SIM Options
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-by-the-day-cell-phone-plans [nofollow]

T-Mobile USA Minutes/PAYG SIM Options
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go-plans [nofollow]

I have looked into this a lot, so reply here or shoot me a PM/email with any other questions.

You will need credit to get a contract. As your American credit history doesnt follow you to the UK, you will need put a large deposit down with a provider OR go Pay As You Go and buy the phone outright. (Not sure if you can buy the iPhone carrier free/simfree in the UK or not)

GiffGaff, as posted in my signature, offers £10 top up for 250 minutes and truly unlimited Data and Texts (with 8p per min calls & 8p texts to the US). Runs off the O2 network - only downside is that theres no call centre, everything is handled via email or in their forums with user support. To be fair, when I was with O2, I rarely used their contact centre as I found them useless and their chat service at least gave you a recorded conversation to your email. GiffGaff works similarly.

You will need credit to get a contract. As your American credit history doesnt follow you to the UK, you will need put a large deposit down with a provider OR go Pay As You Go and buy the phone outright. (Not sure if you can buy the iPhone carrier free/simfree in the UK or not)

GiffGaff [nofollow] , as posted in my signature, offers £10 top up for 250 minutes and truly unlimited Data and Texts (with 8p per min calls & 8p texts to the US). Runs off the O2 network - only downside is that theres no call centre, everything is handled via email or in their forums with user support. To be fair, when I was with O2, I rarely used their contact centre as I found them useless and their chat service at least gave you a recorded conversation to your email. GiffGaff works similarly.

If you have AMEX, I have heard you can transfer your card to the UK, taking your credit history with you.  Worthwhile to look into it.  Would make a lot of things easier.

http://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/ [nofollow]

If you have AMEX, I have heard you can transfer your card to the UK, taking your credit history with you.  Worthwhile to look into it.  Would make a lot of things easier.

http://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/

Does that apply to the AMEX "Blue" card, I wonder?

Does that apply to the AMEX "Blue" card, I wonder?

You should call AMEX.  You can also try to call your bank to see if they offer UK or Expat accounts that are reasonable, as the bank might be able to transfer some of your credit history over so you aren't starting from scratch.

HSBC, for example, has Expat accounts but you need to have pretty large balances to make it work

https://www.expat.hsbc.com/1/2/ [nofollow]

If you have AMEX, I have heard you can transfer your card to the UK, taking your credit history with you.  Worthwhile to look into it.  Would make a lot of things easier.

http://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/

Fair enough, but good luck using it outside of london!