IPhone – How to get the Verizon apple Iphone to straightalk

You can't convert a GSM iPhone to run on the CDMA network, unfortunately. Neither the functional nor the cosmetic components are interchangeable.

If your friend is willing to give you his iPhone and if it's still in decent condition you could probably sell it for enough to fund the purchase of a Verizon iPhone. If it's not in great condition and you still have the urge to tinker, you may be able to find cheap cosmetic parts to restore it to salable condition.

Yes, for Verizon phones in the US, neither the month-to-month contract (unsubsidized) phones (when they become available) nor the subsidized phones are in any way carrier-locked.

I tested this by establishing AT&T service on my subsidized iPhone 5 before I did anything with the Verizon side of things and it has worked with both data and cellular provisioning on the nano-SIM from AT&T.

The Apple LTE page will guide you to know which frequencies are available for which model of iPhone 5. The model of each phone is conveniently printed on the back plate of each device.

The carrier you intend to get service from is in the best position to guide you in picking a US model to import, but Apple's documentation show no difference in the GSM 3G capabilities of any of the three phones available at launch, namely the A1428 (GSM), A1429 (CDMA or GSM).