The Essential Guide On How To Unlock iPhone's

Today’s the day you finally made the last payment on your iPhone and that baby is eventually all yours. Meaning you’re able to use it while traveling overseas with a local SIM card and are free to swap networks as you want, right? Don’t start booking your flight to Europe or running to AT&T quite yet as, unfortunately, it’s not quite that clear-cut.

So as to prevent individuals from changing to a rival’s network before they’ve payed off their iPhone or fulfilled their contract, many carriers place a SIM lock (sometimes known as a network lock) on their cell phones. This consequently means that you, or anyone who you sell your used iPhone to, are saddled with them for the long term. If you’re thinking this sounds like a rather dysfunctional partnership, we're inclined to agree with you. Luckily, with a bit of legwork plus an account in good order, you can be well on your way to a SIM-unlocked iPhone very quickly!

Before we continue, just a quick note about the sort of unlock's that are avialable, and the one's you should steer clear of! There is software out there that provide the ability to unlock your phone yourself, however you need to jailbreak your iPhone, and this is unadvisable, for many reasons. You can do your own homework into jailbreaking, but it's fraught with danger, and not recommended. The best way to unlock your iPhone is by talking directly with your cellular provider. The journey to a carrier-unlocked iPhone depends largely on your network, with the procedure being either fairly quick and painless or painfully tedious. To help you get a step closer to a life free from carrier-locked tyranny, we resarched all the steps to be able to obtain an iPhone unlock with this comprehensive guide. Please note that although this was written with iPhone owners in mind, most of the advice could be used with other smartphones.

What Is Carrier Unlocking?

As noted previously, when you purchase an iPhone or some other smartphone from a cellular provider, that mobile phone will only operate on that individual network unless you either request to have your carrier unlock it or maybe your carrier automatically unlocks it for you (more about that later). Often called 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 need to be unlocked. For instance, if you buy your iPhone directly from Apple and purchase it outright, it will be unlocked and ready to use on a varitey of networks.

You should be aware, however, that not all phones bought outright from third-party retailers are automatically unlocked. In particular, although sold as “unlocked”, smartphones purchased at Best Buy are actually considered universal. So, whenever you insert a SIM card for the first time, the phone will essentially lock itself to the carrier associated with the Sim. Then, because certain networks like T-Mobile will only unlock your iPhone if you got it directly from them, you could potentially end up with an permanently network-locked device. In other words, you find yourself paying factory-unlocked prices to get a carrier-locked phone.

Possessing a carrier-unlocked iPhone incorporates a lot of benefits like the freedom to use (almost) any service provider in the United States and abroad as well as heavily increased resale values.

Why Should I Unlock My iPhone?

Having a factory-unlocked iPhone comes with its fair share of benefits including the flexibility to operate on (nearly) any network in the Unites States and abroad in addition to increased secondhand values.

1. SIM-unlocking gives you the ability to use your mobile phone with the service provider of your choice, almost wherever and whenever you want (with a number of exceptions, as you’ll see later on). Such as, if you're currently using T-Mobile but are moving to a new area of the country with bad T-Mobile coverage, you'll be able to swap to AT&T in a heartbeat




2. A SIM-unlocked iPhone makes international travel a breeze. Unlocking also provides the flexibility to use your mobile phone abroad. International roaming fees, costly international plans, and mad dashes for WiFi are a thing of the past with an unlocked iPhone. Merely pop in a SIM card from a local network and you're golden.




3. Carrier-unlocked iPhones have significantly higher resale values.

Even when you don’t intend on switching carriers or traveling overseas in the near future, unlocking your iPhone remains a good idea. If you ever plan on trading in your old iPhone once you upgrade, you’ll generally get more cash for it if the iPhone has already been carrier unlocked due to higher demand for them in the resale market place.

Is it unlawful to Network Unlock your smartphone?

No way! Due to the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014, all US-based cellular providers have to allow customers to unlock their phones. However, the conditions under which a provider will unlock a smart phone differ widely from carrier to carrier. On the whole, many service providers require you to finish your contract, cover your financial obligations in full, or otherwise have an account in good standing before they’ll let you unlock your iPhone.

The best way to find out if your iPhone is Unlocked

Prior to starting the phone-unlocking process, you’ll first need to find out if your iPhone has already been unlocked (no sense in enduring the hassle when you don’t actually need to). All you need to do is make sure that you’re connected with WiFi and insert a brand-new SIM card from another cellular provider and your mobile phone will do everything else automatically. This confirmation check normally takes less than a minute to accomplish after a Sim card has been inserted.

Through the verification procedure, you’ll notice that your iPhone will boot onto a white screen and attempt to authenticate that it has been unlocked with your network. If Apple verify that your iPhone is network-unlocked, it will return to the home screen and signal bars will appear from the new service provider. However, if a white screen appears that says SIM Not Supported, your mobile phone is not unlocked.

How to Unlock iPhones from a Carrier

Having established your mobile phone is definitely locked to your current cellular provider, next you will need to take a look at your carrier’s unlocking eligibility conditions. If your iPhone meets their unlocking criteria, you can ask them if the handset can be unlocked from their network. As hinted at before, both the eligibility requirements and the unlocking process vary from network to network. Each has 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 is often absolutely free. If you want to go through a 3rd party unlocking service provider, you're going to be charged, but making use of a 3rd party provider will be your only option if you bought the phone second hand. Before you spend any money, try using the directions below as a first step.

How To Locate Your iPhone’s IMEI Number

When permanently-unlocking your iPhone, you'll need to supply your provider your device’s IMEI number. This unique, 15-digit identifier is essentially your phone’s VIN or social security number. To locate your IMEI, on your phone, go to Settings > General > About and search to the bottom of the list where you will see it displayed next to IMEI.

You can also look for the number on the cellphone housing itself. For older iPhone models (1st-generation SE, 5s, 5c, 5, 6, 6 Plus), the number will also be branded on the back or the SIM tray.

After you’ve located the IMEI number, it highly advisable that you store it somewhere for safekeeping.

Unlock an iPhone on AT&T

Unlocking an 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 IMEI-unlocked freedom.

Once you submit your request, use your IMEI and request reference numbers to check on your AT&T unlock status. Once you acquire your verification text or email, simply open it up and click on the confirmation link. That’s it! AT&T will unlock your iPhone in just a couple of business days.

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

• 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
• Must not be active on a different AT&T account

If your iPhone is included in term agreement or installment plan, it needs 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 precise eligibility requirements, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on Sprint

Depending on when you bought your phone and if it has SIM-unlock capabilities, you've got a couple of different unlock choices. If you purchased a new iPhone from Sprint after February 2015 (it should be SIM-unlock capable) and it is actively being used on their network, Sprint should unlock it automatically once it meets their qualifications requirements. So, you really don’t need to do anything at all apart from keep your account in good standing. However, if your iPhone is inactive or was purchased before February 2015, you’ll have to speak to Sprint Customer Service directly to ask for an unlock (either dial *2 on your Sprint phone or call 888-211-4727).

There has been reports from some Sprint clients that the auto-unlock program doesn't always perform as it needs to, so it’s most certainly a good idea to verify that your iPhone is unlocked before attempting to switch to another service or advertising your iPhone as unlocked, if you're planning to sell it to a buyback company or on auction web sites.

In order for an iPhone to get unlocked from the Sprint network, it's got to fulfill the following requirements:

• 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)
• Must be active on the Sprint network for at least 40 days
• Must be on an account in good standing

If the iPhone is part of a service agreement, lease agreement, or installment plan, it's got to also satisfy these conditions:

• 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 in-depth eligibility requirements, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on T-Mobile

If you’re an Android mobile phone owner reading this and your device satisfies the eligibility requirements, consider yourself lucky: You can unlock it right from the device itself. For all you iPhone owners out there, you’ll have to contact 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 the T-Mobile network, it must meet the following requirements:

• 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
• Must be paid for in full

If your iPhone is part of a pre-paid account, it's got to also satisfy these conditions:

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

For precise eligibility requirements, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on Verizon

Verizon is, hands down, the best network to use for unlocking an iPhone. Why? Because Verizon will automatically unlock your phone 60 days following the purchase of the handset. If you obtained your iPhone from a retail partner, it'll be unlocked automatically 60 days after device activation.

There are no catches. You don’t have to pay off your phone, meet any unique demands, or even get in touch with them to request to unlock your phone from their network. Provided your iPhone hasn’t been reported stolen or lost, merely wait two months following purchase or activation and your phone will be all set.

Don’t believe us? Just click here.

Once I've Unlocked my iPhone — what do I do now?

In the past, you’d have to hook your iPhone to iTunes and complete a software restore to perform the unlock process. Luckily, it’s a lot easier now. All you have to do is stick to the same steps you followed earlier to determine whether your phone had been unlocked to begin with.

If you don’t have access to a SIM card from another carrier, you may still verify that a iPhone has been unlocked using an iTunes software restore. Just connect your iPhone with a computer running iTunes and hit the “restore” option. Once the restoration process has finished, you should see a message that says “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked.”

Good job! You successfully SIM-unlocked your iPhone! Meaning you're able to use whatever carrier you want to now, true? We hate be the bearer of bad news, but no. As a result of two different types of technologies used in the Unites States, GSM and CDMA, your choice of mobile phone providers is determined by the model of your iPhone as well as the original network it was locked to. Specifically, Verizon and Sprint are CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networks, while AT&T, T-Mobile, and the majority of service providers in other countries are GSM (Global System for Mobiles) networks.

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

To see which service providers you can access determined by both of 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

Is the Unlock permanent?

Yes indeed! After your phone has been factory-unlocked, it's going to stay like that for the lifetime of the device. You are able to restore your iPhone or update software without worrying about your unlock disappearing afterwards.