Today’s the day you at long last completed the contract on your iPhone and it's officially all yours. What this means is you’re able to use it while traveling in another country with a local SIM card and have the freedom to swap networks when you want, right? Don’t start booking your flight to London or running to Sprint quite yet as, unfortunately, it’s not quite that straightforward.
So as to stop users from moving to a competitor’s network before they’ve payed off their iPhone or fulfilled their contract, a lot of carriers place a lock (commonly known as as a carrier lock) on their smartphones. This ultimately ensures that you, or whoever you sell your used iPhone to, are saddled with them in the future. If you’re thinking this sounds like a pretty dysfunctional partnership, we're inclined to agree with you. Luckily, along with a little legwork and an account in good standing, you are on the right path to a SIM-unlocked iPhone very quickly!
Before we continue, a quick note about the sort of unlocks that are available, and the one's you should steer clear of! There is software out there that offer a chance to unlock a device yourself, but you need to jailbreak your cell phone, and this is not a smart move, for a lot of reasons. You can do your own homework into jail-breaking, but it's fraught with danger, and to be avoided. The simplest way to unlock your iPhone is simply by speaking directly with your cellular provider. Your journey to a carrier-unlocked iPhone will depend largely on your network, with the procedure being either reasonably quick and simple or painfully challenging. To get you a step closer to a life free of carrier-locked tyranny, we put together all the steps on how to obtain an iPhone unlock with this comprehensive guide. Please note that although this was written with iPhone owners in mind, a lot of the advice could be carried over to other smartphones.
As mentioned before, when you purchase an iPhone or another smartphone from a cellular carrier, that smart phone will only operate on that specific network until you either request to have your carrier unlock it or your carrier automatically unlocks it for you (more about that later). Often known as a SIM unlock, factory unlock, or network unlock, carrier unlocking means removing a network’s restrictions on a device, permitting you to use it with a different cellular provider.
Luckily for us, not all iPhones require unlocking. For instance, if you purchase your iPhone directly from Apple and pay for it in full, it will be unlocked and able to use with a variety of carriers.
You should be aware, however, that not all phones bought outright from third-party retailers are automatically unlocked. For example, although sold as “unlocked”, cell phones bought at Best Buy are actually considered universal. So, if you insert a Sim initially, the device will effectively lock itself to the carrier associated with the SIM card. Then, given that certain service providers like T-Mobile will only unlock your iPhone if you purchased it directly from them, you may end up with an eternally carrier-locked device. In other words, you find yourself paying factory-unlocked prices for a carrier-locked cell phone.
Possessing a factory-unlocked iPhone comes with a number of rewards including the flexibility to use (almost) any network both in the US and in another country together with higher second-hand values.
Even when you don’t anticipate swapping networks or going overseas soon, unlocking your iPhone is still a smart idea. If you intend on trading in your old iPhone whenever you upgrade, you’ll usually get more cash for it if the iPhone is already network unlocked because of a greater demand for them in the resale marketplace.
No way! Thanks to the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014, all US-based cellular providers must allow people to unlock their phones. However, the circumstances under which a carrier will unlock a mobile phone differ greatly from service provider to service provider. As a rule, the majority of service providers require you to finish your contract, pay for your financial obligations in full, or at least have an account in good standing before they’ll allow you to unlock your iPhone.
Prior to starting the smartphone-unlocking process, you’ll first need to determine whether your iPhone is already unlocked (no need in dealing with the hassle when you don’t actually need to). All you have to do is make sure that you’re connected to WiFi and insert a brand-new SIM card from another cellular provider and your iPhone will do the rest automatically. This validation check generally takes no more than a minute to complete after a SIM has been inserted.
During the verification procedure, you’ll notice that your iPhone will boot to a white screen and attempt to confirm that it has been unlocked with your service provider. Should Apple determine that your iPhone is carrier-unlocked, it will return to the home screen and service bars will appear from the new provider. However, if you see a white screen that says SIM Not Supported, your phone is not unlocked.
Once you verify that your mobile phone is definitely locked to your current cellular provider, next you will need to start looking at your provider’s unlocking eligibility prerequisites. If your iPhone meets those guidelines, you can ask them if the device can be unlocked from their network. As recommended before, both the eligibility requirements and the unlocking process vary from service provider to service provider. They all have been outlined below for the major carriers including Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T.
Please be aware that, as long as you have met the unlock requirements and so are completing the network-unlocking directly with your provider, asking for your iPhone be unlocked can be absolutely free. If you go through a 3rd party unlocking service provider, you will be charged, but using a 3rd party provider is going to be your only option if you are not the original owner of the phone. So, before you spend money unnecessarily, try using the directions outlined below as a first step.
When officially-unlocking your iPhone, you will have to supply your provider the device’s IMEI number. This unique, 15-digit identifier is fundamentally your smartphone’s VIN or social security number. To find your IMEI, on your phone, select Settings > General > About and scroll down to the bottom of the list where you'll see it listed next to IMEI.
You can also locate the number on the cellphone outer shell itself. For older iPhone's (1st-generation SE, 5s, 5c, 5, 6, 6 Plus), the IMEI number may also be branded on the back or the SIM tray.
When you’ve located the IMEI, it highly advisable that you store it someplace for safekeeping.
Unlocking your iPhone from AT&T is about as simple as A-B-C. Just run on across to the AT&T site, answer a few questions, and you'll be well on your way to carrier-unlocked freedom.
When you submit your request, use your IMEI and request reference numbers to check on your AT&T unlock status. Once you obtain your confirmation text or email, simply open it up and click on the verification link. That’s it! AT&T will unlock your iPhone in just 2 working days.
For an iPhone to get unlocked from AT&T, it's got to adhere to the following requirements:
If the iPhone is part of a term agreement or installment plan, it needs to also adhere to these requirements:
For in-depth eligibility requirements, click here.
Depending on when you acquired your phone and if it has got SIM-unlock capabilities, there are a few different unlock choices. If you obtained a new iPhone from Sprint after February 2015 (it will be SIM-unlock capable) and it is currently being used on their network, Sprint can unlock it automatically once it meets their qualifications requirements. So, you really don’t need to do anything besides keep your account in good standing. However, if your iPhone is inactive or was purchased prior to February 2015, you’ll have to get in touch with Sprint Customer Service directly to request an unlock (either dial *2 on your Sprint phone or phone 888-211-4727).
There has been reports from some Sprint clients that the auto-unlock program doesn't always perform as it should, so it’s most certainly a very good idea to confirm that your iPhone has been unlocked before attempting to switch to another provider or advertising your iPhone as unlocked, if you intend to sell it to a buyback business or on eBay.
For an iPhone to be unlocked from the Sprint network, it must meet the following requirements:
If your iPhone is part of a service agreement, lease agreement, or installment plan, it's got to also satisfy these conditions:
For in-depth eligibility requirements, click here.
If your reading this and own an Android cellphone and your handset matches the eligibility conditions, consider yourself in luck: You can unlock it easily from the phone itself. For those iPhone owners out there, you’ll need to contact T-Mobile’s Group of Experts directly (either dial 611 from your T-Mobile iPhone, call 877-746-0909.
To have an iPhone unlocked from the T-Mobile network, it has got to adhere to the following requirements:
If your iPhone is part of a pre-paid account, it's got to also satisfy the following conditions:
For in-depth eligibility conditions, click here.
Verizon is, without a doubt, the leading provider to use for unlocking an iPhone. Why? Because Verizon will automatically unlock your phone 60 days following the purchase of the handset. If you bought your iPhone at a retail partner, it can be unlocked automatically 60 days after device activation.
There are no catches. You don’t have to pay off your phone, satisfy any special conditions, or even contact them to request to unlock your phone from their network. Providing your iPhone hasn’t been reported stolen or lost, merely wait sixty days after purchase or activation and your phone will be a-ok.
Hard to believe? Just click here.
In the past, you’d have to connect your iPhone up to iTunes and do a software restore to complete the unlock process. Luckily, it’s much simpler today. All you need to do is go through same steps you took earlier to verify whether your phone had been unlocked to start with.
When you don’t have access to a Sim from an alternative carrier, you may still verify that your iPhone has been unlocked by performing iTunes software restore. Just hook up your iPhone to a computer running iTunes and hit the “restore” option. Once the restoration process has finished, you should see a message stating “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked.”
Well done! You successfully network-unlocked your iPhone! Meaning your able to use what ever carrier you want to now, right? We hate be the bearer of bad news, but sadly not. Due to the two different kinds of networks employed in the Unites States, CDMA and GSM, your choice of mobile providers is dependent upon the model of your iPhone and the original network it was locked to. Primarily, Verizon and Sprint are CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networks, while AT&T, T-Mobile, and most service providers abroad are GSM (Global System for Mobiles) networks.
As you may have guessed, both of these different network types will not talk to each other (because that would be too easy). Fortunately, as we approach global 5G access and as older networks are retired, it will hopefully cease to be a major problem.
To discover which service providers you can access determined by both these factors, keep on reading.
GSM networks only (AT&T, T-Mobile, international GSM carriers): Original iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X
Any carrier worldwide: iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
International networks only: iPhone 4s and iPhone 5
Any carrier worldwide: iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
GSM networks only (AT&T, T-Mobile, international GSM carriers): Original iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X
Any carrier worldwide: iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
Compatible with any carrier in the world, but with limitations when using GSM networks: iPhone 4s, iPhone 5
Any carrier worldwide: iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
Yup! After your phone has been officially-unlocked, it'll stay that way for the lifetime of the device. You'll be able to restore your iPhone or update apps without having to worry about your unlock disappearing afterwards.
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