I want to buy an iPhone to use as a camera ONLY. NO phone calls. Is this possible? And would I be able to download apps at a wi-fi hotspot without the telephone part of the iPhone being enabled?
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Morey Chelsy
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Can I Use an Unlocked iPhone Camera w/o a SIM Card?
Comments: 2 Responses to “Can I Use an Unlocked iPhone Camera w/o a SIM Card?”
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Yes, it definitely is possible. I have most of my old iPhones and they are without any kind of mobile service. But I use them to test apps and do tutorials. You could use it basically as nice iPod touch, with some bonus hardware included (better cameras, GPS, etc). Or, an iPad.
Wi-Fi works, setting up iCloud and the App Store works, etc. You can even make calls with FaceTime or other Internet calling apps like Skype over Wi-Fi.
Where you sometimes run into issues is the lack of a SIM card. When I pull the SIM out of an iPhone to put it in a new one. I usually put the new never-going-to-be-used SIM into the old iPhone to get around this. Or I find any old SIM lying around.
iPhones just have a hard time being set up without a SIM. But you don't have to use the SIM, it just needs to be there. That said, I haven't extensively tested this on all models.
But if you are buying a new iPhone then I believe it comes with a SIM already, just one you will never use. So you should be OK. Not sure about that though. If not you could probably find a SIM card to use somewhere. Anyone who has ha a succession of old phones has some old SIM cards lying around.
Where I live (not in USA) new iPhones come sans SIM That is, if I buy the phone from the Apple Store. I can buy an iPhone from a phone service provider and they will have the SIM preloaded or allow me to use the older SIM at time of set up. Just passing this along for non USA iPhone users. That said, I’ve not attempted to set up an iPhone with no SIM installed