A Definative Guide On How To Unlock iPhone's

So, you have finally made the last payment on your iPhone and that bad boy's officially all yours. Meaning you’re able to use it while traveling abroad with a local SIM card and have the freedom to move networks as you please, right? Don’t start booking your flight to Australia or running to T-Mobile quite yet since, unfortunately, it’s not quite that straight-forward.

So as to prevent people from shifting to a rival’s network before they’ve payed off their iPhone or fulfilled their contract, a great deal of carriers put a SIM lock (sometimes known as a carrier lock) on their smartphone's. This ultimately means that you, or anyone who you sell your second-hand iPhone to, are saddled with them for the long term. If you’re thinking this sounds like a pretty dysfunctional relationship, we’d have a tendency to agree with you. When you've confirmed that your cellphone is not Blacklisted and you would like to unlock it so you can use it on a different carrier, then the most reliable websites to learn about Unlock.Zone out there is Unlock.Zone - make sure you look them up.Happily, with a bit of effort and an account in good standing, you will be well on your way to a network-unlocked iPhone in no time!

Before we proceed, a just a quick note on the type of unlock's that are avialable, and the one's you should steer clear of! There are apps available that provide the ability to unlock your cellphone yourself, but they require you to jailbreak your iPhone, and this is not a smart move, for many reasons. You can do your own research into jailbreaking, but it's very risky, and not recommended. The best way to unlock your iPhone is simply by discussing 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 easy or painfully challenging. To help you get a step closer to a life free of carrier-locked tyranny, we rounded up all the steps to be able to get an iPhone unlock in this comprehensive guide. Please be aware that while this was written with iPhone owners in mind, a great deal of the advice could be used for other smartphones.

What Is SIM Unlocking?

As noted earlier, when you purchase an iPhone or some other smartphone from your network provider, that phone will still only operate on that specific network unless you either request to have your carrier unlock it or your carrier automatically unlocks it for you (more on that later). Commonly 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 example, if you buy your iPhone directly from Apple and pay for it in full, it will be unlocked and ready to use with a variety of carriers.

Take note, however, not all phones bought outright from third-party retailers are automatically unlocked. In particular, although sold as “unlocked”, smart phones purchased at Best Buy are actually considered universal. So, whenever you insert a Sim for the first time, the device will effectively lock itself to the carrier linked to the SIM card. Subsequently, since certain carriers like T-Mobile will only unlock your iPhone if you bought it directly from them, you may end up with an permanently network-locked device. In other words, you find yourself paying factory-unlocked prices for a carrier-locked phone.

Having a network-unlocked iPhone comes with its fair share of rewards including the freedom to utilize (almost) any network in the United States and abroad as well as greatly increased resale values.

Why Should I Unlock My iPhone?

Possessing a network-unlocked iPhone comes with a number of advantages such as the flexibility to use (nearly) any network in the Unites States and abroad as well as higher second-hand values.

1. SIM-unlocking offers you the ability to use your smartphone with the cellular provider of your choice, almost wherever and whenever you want (with a number of exceptions, as you’ll find out later). Such as, if you are currently using T-Mobile but are moving to a new part of the country with weak T-Mobile coverage, you can shift to AT&T in a heartbeat




2. A Carrier-unlocked iPhone makes international travel a piece of cake. Unlocking also provides you with the ability to use your cellphone in another country. Worldwide roaming fees, costly international plans, and crazy dashes for WiFi become a distant memory with an unlocked iPhone. Just pop in a SIM card from a local network and good to go.




3. SIM-unlocked iPhones have higher resale values.




Even when you don’t plan on switching carriers or traveling overseas in the near future, unlocking your iPhone is still a smart idea. Should you ever anticipate trading in your old iPhone once you upgrade, you’ll almost always get more money for it if the iPhone is carrier unlocked because of a greater interest in them in the resale marketplace.




Is it unlawful to IMEI Unlock your mobile phone?




Certainly not! A result of the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, finalized into law by President Barack Obama in 2014, all US-based cellular providers must allow customers to unlock their phones. However, the circumstances under which a provider will unlock a cell phone vary greatly from provider to provider. In general, a lot of carriers require you to complete your contract, pay for your financial obligations in full, or at best have an account in good standing before they’ll enable you to unlock your iPhone.




How to find out if your iPhone is Unlocked




Prior to starting the network-unlocking process, you’ll first need to determine if your iPhone is already unlocked (no need in under-going the hassle when you don’t really need to). All you need to do is ensure that you’re connected to WiFi and insert a brand-new SIM card from an alternative network provider and your mobile will do everything else automatically. This authentication check usually takes no more than a minute to complete as soon as a new Sim card has been inserted.




During the verification procedure, you’ll see that your iPhone will boot onto a white screen and attempt to establish that it has been unlocked with your service provider. If Apple determine that your iPhone is network-unlocked, it will go back to the home screen and service bars will appear from the new network. However, if a white screen appears that says SIM Not Supported, your cellphone is not unlocked.




How to Unlock iPhones from any Carrier




Having verified your cellphone is definitely locked to your current network provider, next you will need to look at your network’s unlocking eligibility requirements. Should your iPhone meet their criteria, you can ask that the device can be unlocked from their network. As suggested previously, both the eligibility requirements and the unlocking process vary from carrier to carrier. Each one has been outlined below for the major carriers including Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T.




Please note that, provided you’ve met the unlock prerequisites and so are completing the network-unlocking directly with your network, requesting that your iPhone be unlocked can be completely free. Should you decide to work through a 3rd party unlocking company, you're going to be charged, but making use of a third party provider is going to 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 network-unlocking your iPhone, you will have to supply your service provider the cell phones IMEI number. This unique, 15-digit identifier is fundamentally your phone’s VIN or social security number. To locate your IMEI, on your phone, go to Settings > General > About and scroll down to the bottom of the list where you'll see it listed next to IMEI.




You could also search for the IMEI number on the smartphone housing itself. For older iPhone models (1st-generation SE, 5s, 5c, 5, 6, 6 Plus), the IMEI number may also be written on the back or the SIM tray.




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




Unlock an iPhone on AT&T




Unlocking your iPhone from AT&T is about as easy as 1-2-3. Just pop on across to the AT&T unlock portal, answer a few questions, and you’re well on your way to carrier-unlocked freedom.




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




For an iPhone to get unlocked from the AT&T network, it's got to satisfy 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 part of a term agreement or installment plan, it has to also adhere to these requirements:





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




For in-depth eligibility prerequisites, click here.




Unlock an iPhone on Sprint




Dependent on when you purchased your phone and if it has SIM-unlock capabilities, you have a few different unlock choices. If you purchased a new iPhone from Sprint after February 2015 (it will be SIM-unlock capable) and it's actively being used on their network, Sprint can unlock it automatically after it meets their qualifications requirements. So, you actually don’t have to do anything more apart from keep your account in good standing. However, if your iPhone is inactive or was purchased prior to February 2015, you’ll have to speak to Sprint Customer Care directly to ask for an unlock (either dial *2 on your Sprint phone or ring 888-211-4727).




There have been reports from some Sprint customers that the auto-unlock program does not always perform as it needs to, so it’s most certainly a good idea to confirm that your iPhone has been unlocked before attempting to switch to another service provider or advertising your iPhone as unlocked, if you wish to sell it to a buyback company or on auction web sites.




In order for an iPhone to be unlocked from the Sprint network, it must 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 has to also satisfy these requirements:





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




For detailed eligibility prerequisites, click here.




Unlock an iPhone on T-Mobile




If your reading this and own an Android smartphone and your handset satisfies the eligibility prerequisites, consider yourself fortunate: You can actually unlock it easily from the phone itself. For the iPhone owners out there, you’ll need to speak to T-Mobile’s Group 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 has got to meet the following requirements:





• 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
• Must not have been reported as lost, stolen, or blocked




If the iPhone is part of a pre-paid plan, it's got to also fulfill the following requirements:





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




For in depth eligibility prerequisites, click here.




Unlock an iPhone on Verizon




Verizon is, hands down, the top provider to work with for unlocking an iPhone. Why? Because Verizon will automatically unlock your phone 60 days following the purchase of the device. If you purchased your iPhone at a retail partner, it will be unlocked automatically 60 days after device activation.




There are no catches. You don’t have to pay off your phone, satisfy any specific requirements, or even contact them to ask to unlock your phone from their network. Provided that your iPhone hasn’t been reported stolen or lost, simply wait 8 weeks after purchase or activation and your phone will be good to go.




Hard to believe? Just click here.




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




A few years back, you’d need to hook your iPhone to iTunes and perform a software restore to complete the unlock procedure. Luckily, it’s much easier now. All you have to do is go through same steps you took earlier to check if your phone is unlocked in the first place.




In the event you don’t have access to a SIM card from an alternative carrier, you may still verify that a iPhone has been unlocked by performing 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 saying “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked.”




Great job! You successfully carrier-unlocked your iPhone! Which means you're able to use what ever carrier you wish to now, right? We hate to break this to you, but sadly not. Due to the two different types of systems used in the Unites States, CDMA and GSM, your choice of cell providers is dependent upon the type of your iPhone and the original network it's 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 do not talk to each other (because that's too logical). Thankfully, as we approach world-wide 5G access and as older networks are phased out, this will hopefully no longer be a challenge.


To see which networks you have access to depending on these two factors, carry 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?




Yup! Once your phone has been Sim-unlocked, it'll remain like that for the lifetime of the handset. You'll be able to restore your iPhone or up-date applications without having to worry about your unlock disappearing afterwards.