The Ultimate Guide On How To Unlock An iPhone XS Max

The Definitive Tutorial On How To Unlock iPhone's

Today’s the day you at long last made the last payment on your iPhone and it's officially all yours. So you’re able to use it while traveling abroad with a domestic SIM card and have the freedom to switch networks as you please, right? Don’t start booking your flight to the Caribbean or running to AT&T quite yet since, unfortunately, it’s not quite that straightforward.

In order to stop people from moving to a competitor’s network before they’ve payed off their iPhone or satisfied their contract, a great deal of carriers put a sim lock (sometimes known as a network lock) on their smartphones. This ultimately means that you, or whomever you sell your second hand iPhone to, are saddled with them for the long term. If you’re thinking this sounds like a fairly dysfunctional arrangement, we're inclined to agree with you. Fortunately, 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 carry on, a quick note about the sort of unlocks that are available, and the one's you should steer clear of! There is software on the market that offer the ability to unlock your phone yourself, however they require you to jailbreak your smartphone, and this is not a smart move, for many reasons. You can do your own investigating into jail-breaking, but it's very risky, and not recommended. The simplest way to unlock your iPhone is as simple as speaking directly with your wireless 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 tedious. To help you get one step closer to a life free of carrier-locked tyranny, we accumulated all the steps to be able to get an iPhone unlock with this comprehensive guide. Please note that even though this was written with iPhone owners in mind, plenty of the advice may be carried over to other smartphones.

What Is SIM Unlocking?

As mentioned previously, when you purchase an iPhone or other smartphone from your network carrier, that smartphone will still only function on that individual network unless you either request to have your service provider unlock it or maybe your carrier automatically unlocks it for you (read more about that later). Also 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.

Fortunately, not all iPhones require unlocking. For example, if you buy your iPhone straight from Apple and pay for it in cash, it should 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. For example, although sold as “unlocked”, smartphones bought at Best Buy are in fact considered universal. So, whenever you insert a SIM card initially, the phone will essentially lock itself to the service provider associated with the SIM card. Then, since certain networks like T-Mobile will only unlock your iPhone if you purchased it directly from them, you could potentially end up having an eternally carrier-locked device. Basically, you wind up paying factory-unlocked prices to get a network-locked cell phone.

Why would I Unlock My iPhone?

Having a factory-unlocked iPhone comes with a good number of advantages including the freedom to utilize (nearly) any network in the Unites States and abroad and increased resale values.

SIM-unlocking allows you the ability to use your smartphone with the cellular provider of your choice, almost whenever and wherever you wish (with a few exceptions, as you’ll see later). Such as, if you are currently using T-Mobile but are moving to a new area of the country with lousy T-Mobile coverage, you can swap to AT&T on a dime

A Carrier-unlocked iPhone makes international travel a cinch. Unlocking also gives you the flexibility to use your cell phone overseas. Global 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 you’re in business.

Officially-unlocked iPhones have higher resale values.

Even if you don’t anticipate moving service providers or traveling abroad soon, unlocking your iPhone remains a smart idea. If you anticipate trading in your old iPhone if you upgrade, you’ll generally get more money for it if the iPhone is already carrier unlocked because of a higher demand for them on the resale marketplace.

Is it illegal to IMEI Unlock your smartphone?

No! Due to 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 provider will unlock a cell phone differ widely from service provider to service provider. As a rule, almost all providers require you to complete your contract, pay for your financial obligations fully, or at least have an account in good standing before they’ll enable you to unlock your iPhone.

The way to find out if your iPhone is Unlocked

Before beginning the iPhone-unlocking process, you’ll first want to determine if your iPhone is already unlocked (no sense in suffering the hassle when you don’t absolutely need to). All you have to do is make sure that you’re connected with WiFi and insert a new SIM card from an alternative cellular provider and your mobile will do the rest automatically. This verification check generally takes under a minute to complete as soon as a new Sim card has been inserted.

During the verification process, you’ll observe that your iPhone will boot onto a white screen and try to validate that it has been unlocked with your network. If Apple confirm that your iPhone is carrier-unlocked, it will return to the home screen and signal bars ought to appear from the new network. However, if you see a white screen that says SIM Not Supported, your mobile phone has not been unlocked.

How to Unlock iPhones from any Network

Once you determine that your smartphone is definitely locked to your current network provider, next you'll need to look at your provider’s unlocking eligibility requirements. If your iPhone meets those guidelines, you can ask that the device can be unlocked from their network. As suggested earlier, both the eligibility requirements and the unlocking process vary from service provider to service provider. Each has been outlined below for the major carriers including T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.

Please note that, as long as you’ve met the unlock requirements and are completing the network-unlocking directly with your network, requesting that your iPhone be unlocked is often completely free. Should you decide to work through a 3rd party unlocking service provider, you'll be charged, but utilizing a 3rd party provider is going to be your only option if you are not the original owner of the phone. Before you spend any money, try using the directions below as a first step.

Find Your iPhone’s IMEI Number

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

You could also 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 written on the back or the SIM tray.

Once you’ve found the IMEI, we strongly recommend that you store it someplace for safekeeping.

Unlock an iPhone on AT&T

Unlocking your iPhone from the AT&T network is about as easy as 1, 2, 3. Just pop on across to the AT&T site, 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 unlocking status. Once you receive your validation text or email, simply open it up then click on the verification link. That's all there is to it! AT&T will unlock your iPhone in just a couple of working days.

For an iPhone to be unlocked from AT&T, it's got to fulfill the following requirements:

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 it is a work phone, you must have your employer’s permission to unlock it

When the iPhone is included in 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 detailed eligibility prerequisites, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on Sprint

Depending on when you purchased your phone and if it has SIM-unlock capabilities, you've got a several different unlock choices. In the event you obtained a new iPhone from Sprint after February 2015 (it should be SIM-unlock capable) and it is actively being used on their network, Sprint can unlock it automatically after it meets their eligibility requirements. So, you really don’t have to do anything at all apart from keep your account in good standing. Even so, if your iPhone is inactive or was purchased prior to February 2015, you’ll need 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).

We have seen reports from some Sprint customers that the auto-unlock program does not always function as it should, so it’s most certainly a good idea to check that your iPhone has been unlocked before trying to change to another service or advertising your iPhone as unlocked, if you want to sell it to a buyback business or on craigs list.

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 meet these conditions:

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

For in depth eligibility requirements, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on T-Mobile

If you’re an Android phone owner reading this and your device matches the eligibility requirements, consider yourself in luck: You can unlock it directly from the device itself. For all you iPhone owners out there, you’ll have to speak to T-Mobile’s Group of Experts directly (either dial 611 from a T-Mobile iPhone, call 877-746-0909.

To have an iPhone unlocked from the T-Mobile network, it has to adhere to the following requirements:

Must have been purchased directly from T-Mobile
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

If the iPhone is part of a postpaid account, it has to also meet the following conditions:

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

For precise eligibility prerequisites, click here.

Unlock an iPhone on Verizon

Verizon is, by far, the best carrier to use for unlocking an iPhone. Why? Because Verizon will automatically unlock your phone Sixty days following the purchase of the handset. If you bought 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, satisfy any unique demands, or even contact them to request to unlock your phone from their network. So long as your iPhone hasn’t been reported stolen or lost, merely wait eight weeks after purchase or activation and your phone will be a-ok.

Hard to believe? Just click here.

Once I've Unlocked my iPhone — now what?

Several years ago, you’d need to hook your iPhone up to iTunes and conduct a software restore to complete the unlock process. Fortunately, it’s a lot easier now. All you need to do is follow the same steps you took earlier to check whether your phone is unlocked in the first place.

When you don’t have access to a Sim from an alternative carrier, you may still confirm that a iPhone has been unlocked using an iTunes software restore. Just connect your iPhone to a computer running iTunes and hit the “restore” option. When the restoration process has completed, you should see a message that says “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked.”

Well done! You successfully factory-unlocked your iPhone! Which means you can use whichever network you want to now, right? We hate be the bearer of bad news, but sadly not. Because of the two different types of technologies deployed in the Unites States, GSM and CDMA, your available cell phone providers is determined by 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 most service providers abroad are GSM (Global System for Mobiles) networks.

As you may have guessed, these two different network types do not talk to each other (because that would be too easy). Thankfully, as we approach global 5G access and as older networks are retired, this will hopefully no longer be a challenge.

To find out which networks you can access based on both of these factors, continue 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

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?

You got it! After your phone has been Sim-unlocked, it is going to stay that way for the lifetime of the handset. You'll be able to restore your iPhone or update applications without worrying about your unlock vanishing afterwards.

About This Author

Boyle Carney
Joined: February 18th, 2021

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