An Essential Tutorial On How To Unlock iPhone's

So, you've finally fulfilled the contract on your iPhone and that bad boy is eventually all yours. So you’re able to use it while traveling in another country with a local SIM card and are free to move networks as you please, right? Don’t start booking your flight to Europe or running to T-Mobile just yet since, unfortunately, it’s not quite that straightforward.

In order to stop users from switching to a rival’s network before they’ve paid off their iPhone or satisfied their contract, plenty of carriers place a SIM lock (also known as a carrier lock) on their phones. This inevitably guarantees that you, or whoever you sell your second hand iPhone to, are tied to them for the long haul. If you’re thinking this sounds like a extremely dysfunctional working relationship, we're inclined to agree with you. Fortunately, with a bit of legwork and an account in good standing, you will be on the right track to a SIM-unlocked iPhone in no time!

Before we proceed, just a quick note on the kind of unlocks that are available, and the one's you should stay clear of! There is software out there that offer the ability to unlock a handset yourself, however they require you to jailbreak your smartphone, and this is a stupid idea, for many reasons. You can do your own investigating into jail-breaking, but it's not a sensible choice, and not recommended. The best way to unlock your iPhone is as simple as speaking directly with your wireless provider. Your journey to a carrier-unlocked iPhone depends largely on your network, with the procedure being either reasonably quick and easy or painfully tedious. To get you a step closer to a life free of carrier-locked tyranny, we accumulated all the steps in order to get an iPhone unlock with this comprehensive guide. Please note that even though this was written with iPhone owners in mind, most of the recommendations can easily be used with other smartphones.

What Is SIM Unlocking?

As mentioned previously, when you buy an iPhone or another smartphone through your network carrier, that phone will still only function on that specific network unless you either request to have your service provider unlock it or your carrier automatically unlocks it for you (read more about that later). Also referred to as a SIM unlock, factory unlock, or network unlock, carrier unlocking means removing a network’s restrictions on a device, enabling you to use it with a different cellular provider.

The good news is, not all iPhones require unlocking. For example, should you buy your iPhone straight from Apple and purchase it outright, it should already be unlocked and ready to use with a variety of carriers.

Please note, however, not all phones purchased outright from third-party retailers are automatically unlocked. In particular, although sold as “unlocked”, smartphone's bought at Best Buy are in fact considered universal. So, when you insert a SIM card initially, the iPhone will effectively lock itself to the service provider associated with the Sim. Subsequently, given that certain carriers like T-Mobile will only unlock your iPhone if you purchased it directly from them, you can end up getting an permanently network-locked device. Quite simply, you wind up paying factory-unlocked prices for a carrier-locked cell phone.

Why would I Unlock My iPhone?

Having a carrier-unlocked iPhone comes with a good number of perks including the ability to use (just about) any network both in the Unites States and abroad together with higher second-hand values.

1. Officially-unlocking gives you the flexibility to use your phone with the service provider of your choice, almost whenever and wherever you wish (with a handful of exceptions, as you’ll find out in a while). As an example, if you're currently using T-Mobile but are moving to a new area of the country with poor T-Mobile coverage, you can swap to AT&T in a heartbeat




2. A Factory-unlocked iPhone makes international travel a piece of cake. Unlocking also provides the ability to use your smartphone in foreign countries. International roaming fees, costly international plans, and crazy dashes for WiFi become a distant memory with an unlocked iPhone. Merely put in a SIM card from a local service provider and you're golden.




3. Officially-unlocked iPhones have considerably higher resale values.

Even when you don’t intend on moving carriers or heading abroad soon, unlocking your iPhone remains a smart idea. If you ever plan on trading in your old iPhone whenever you upgrade, you’ll more often than not get more cash for it if the iPhone has already been carrier unlocked because of a greater interest in them in the resale market.

Is it against the law to Carrier Unlock your cell phone?

Absolutely not! Thanks to the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, finalized into law by President Barack Obama in 2014, all US-based cellular providers must allow people to unlock their phones. However, the conditions under which a network will unlock a mobile phone vary greatly from carrier to carrier. As a rule, the majority of carriers require you to finish your contract, cover your financial obligations in full, or at best have an account in good standing before they’ll will let you unlock your iPhone.

How you can verify that your iPhone is Unlocked

Prior to starting the carrier-unlocking process, you’ll first want to determine whether your iPhone has already been unlocked (no need in enduring the hassle if you don’t really need to). All you need to do is be sure that you’re connected with WiFi and insert a brand new SIM card from an alternative cellular provider and your cellphone will do the rest automatically. This validation check generally takes no more than a minute to accomplish as soon as a new SIM has been inserted.

During the verification procedure, you’ll see that your iPhone will boot onto a white screen and try to check that it has been unlocked with your carrier. If Apple verify that your iPhone is network-unlocked, it will go back to the home screen and signal bars will appear from the new network. However, if a white screen appears that says SIM Not Supported, your mobile phone has not been unlocked.

How to Unlock iPhones from any Carrier

Having determined your mobile phone is definitely locked to your current cellular provider, next you will need to start looking at your network’s unlocking eligibility demands. If your iPhone meets their unlocking criteria, you can ask them if the handset can be unlocked from their network. As recommended earlier, both the eligibility requirements and the unlocking process vary from company to company. Each has been outlined below for the major carriers including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

Please be aware that, as long as you’ve met the unlock requirements and so are completing the network-unlocking directly with your carrier, requesting that your iPhone be unlocked is likely to be completely free. If you opt to go through a 3rd party unlocking service, you're going to be charged, but working with a third party company is your only option if you are not the original owner of the phone. Before you spend money unnecessarily, try using the directions outlined below beforehand.

How To Locate An iPhone’s IMEI Number

When IMEI-unlocking your iPhone, you'll have to supply your service provider the handsets IMEI number. This unique, 15-digit identifier is essentially your cellphone’s VIN or social security number. To find your IMEI, on your phone, go to Settings > General > About and scroll down to the bottom section where you'll see it displayed next to IMEI.

Additionally you can locate the IMEI number on the smartphone outer shell itself. For earlier iPhone's (6, 6 Plus, 1st-generation SE, 5s, 5c, 5), the number may also be imprinted on the back or the SIM tray.

When you’ve established the IMEI number, we strongly recommend that you store it somewhere for safekeeping.

Unlock an iPhone on AT&T

Unlocking your iPhone from the AT&T network is about as uncomplicated as A, B, C. Just pop on across to the AT&T unlock portal, answer a couple of questions, and you’re well on your way to IMEI-unlocked freedom.

After you submit your request, use your IMEI and request reference numbers to review your AT&T unlock status. When you get your confirmation text or email, simply open it up and click on the verification link. That's all there is to it! AT&T will unlock your iPhone within a couple of working days.

For an iPhone to be unlocked from the AT&T network, it needs to adhere to the following requirements:

• Must not be active on a different AT&T account
• If it is a work phone, you must have your employer’s permission to unlock it
• If it is an AT&T PREPAID phone, it must be active for at least six months
• Must not be reported as lost, stolen, or blocked
• Must not have a past-due balance

When the iPhone is included in term agreement or installment plan, it has to also meet these requirements:

• The term agreement must be complete
• The device must be active on the AT&T network for at least 60 days
• The installment plan must be paid off

For detailed eligibility requirements, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on Sprint

Based on when you acquired your phone and if it has got SIM-unlock capabilities, you've got a few different unlock choices. In the event you purchased a new iPhone from Sprint after February 2015 (it will be SIM-unlock capable) and it is actively being used on their network, Sprint should unlock it automatically after it meets their qualifications requirements. So, you really don’t have to do anything at all apart from keep your account in good order. Even so, if your iPhone hasn't been activated or was purchased before February 2015, you’ll need to contact Sprint Customer Care directly to ask for an unlock (either dial *2 on your Sprint phone or ring 888-211-4727).

We have seen reports from some Sprint users that the auto-unlock program doesn't necessarily work as it should, so it’s definitely a very good idea to confirm that your iPhone has been unlocked before attempting to switch to a different network or advertising your iPhone as unlocked, if you plan to sell it to a buyback business or on auction web sites.

In order for an iPhone to get unlocked from the Sprint network, it needs to meet the following requirements:

• Must be active on the Sprint network for at least 40 days
• Must be on an account in good standing
• Must not be reported as lost, stolen, or associated with fraud
• Must have SIM-unlock capabilities (if it doesn’t, it is MSL (Master Subsidy Lock) locked and you will need to call Sprint for the MSL code)

If your iPhone is part of a service agreement, lease agreement, or installment plan, it must also satisfy these requirements:

• If leased, the end-of-lease purchase option must be fully paid
• Any early-termination fees must be fully paid
• Any lease or installment payments must be fully paid

For precise eligibility conditions, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on T-Mobile

If you’re an Android mobile phone owner reading this and your handset meets the eligibility conditions, consider yourself fortunate: You can actually unlock it straight from the handset itself. For all you iPhone owners out there, you’ll have to get in touch with T-Mobile’s Team of Experts directly (either dial 611 from a T-Mobile iPhone, call 877-746-0909.

For an iPhone to be unlocked from T-Mobile, it needs to fulfill the following prerequisites:

• Must be paid for in full
• Must not have been reported as lost, stolen, or blocked
• For prepaid accounts, it must have been active on the account for at least 12 months
• Must have been purchased directly from T-Mobile

If the iPhone is on a pre-paid account, it needs to also meet the following prerequisites:

• Must have been active on the account for at least 40 days
• The account must be in good standing

For in-depth eligibility conditions, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on Verizon

Verizon is, by far and away, the top network to use for unlocking an iPhone. Why? Because Verizon will automatically unlock your phone 60 days following the purchase of the device. If you bought your iPhone from 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, meet any unique prerequisites, or even get in touch with them to request to unlock your phone from their network. As long as your iPhone hasn’t been reported lost or stolen, just wait sixty days following purchase or activation and your phone will be ready to go.

Don’t believe us? Just click here.

Once I've Unlocked my iPhone — now what?

Several years ago, you’d have to connect your iPhone to iTunes and complete a software restore to finish the unlock process. Luckily, it’s much simpler these days. All you have to do is go through same steps you followed earlier to check whether your phone had been unlocked to start with.

In the event you don’t have access to a Sim from an alternative carrier, you may still verify that a iPhone has been unlocked using an iTunes software restore. Simply hook up your iPhone with a computer running iTunes and click the “restore” option. When the restoration process has finished, you should see a message that says “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked.”

Congratulations! You successfully IMEI-unlocked your iPhone! Meaning you're able to use whatever service provider you would like to now, right? We hate to break this to you, but no. Because of the two different kinds of technologies employed in the US, CDMA and GSM, your choice of mobile providers is determined by the type of your iPhone and the original carrier it was locked to. Primarily, Verizon and Sprint are CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networks, while AT&T, T-Mobile, and the majority of service providers abroad are GSM (Global System for Mobiles) networks.

As you’ve probably guessed, these two different network types will not talk to each other (because that would be too easy). Thankfully, as we move closer to global 5G access and as older networks are phased out, it will hopefully cease to be an issue.

To find out which networks you can access based on both these factors, keep on reading.

AT&T

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

Sprint

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

T-Mobile

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

Verizon

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

Will the Unlock last forever?

Yes indeed! After your phone has been Sim-unlocked, it will stay that way for the life of the device. You are able to restore your iPhone or up-date applications without having to worry about your unlock disappearing afterwards.