Iphone - is it locked?
marc822
Posts: 3,118 Forum Member
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Can someone help.
I want to sell my iphone but i dont know if its locked or not.
i brought it sim free and then put my EE simcard in it. I brought it from carphone warehouse.
Will it be sim free as i get more on a trade in site if it is.
Or if its now locked to EE, then can i unlock it from that waste of space company.
thanks
I want to sell my iphone but i dont know if its locked or not.
i brought it sim free and then put my EE simcard in it. I brought it from carphone warehouse.
Will it be sim free as i get more on a trade in site if it is.
Or if its now locked to EE, then can i unlock it from that waste of space company.
thanks
0
Comments
Hope this helps.
Try a PAYG SIM from another network - if you have one - to check it is locked.
Is it over 6 months old? - EE will NOT unlock until then! If so follow the instructions on http://ee.co.uk/help/getting-started/joining-ee/unlocking-your-phone
If it is locked, ask EE to unlock to for you. It's worth the £20 in resale value.
check this out to find out if its locked or unlocked.
It will be locked to EE, as locking to the first UK sim is standard procedure for "sim free" iPhones bought from CPW.
You will need to request the unlock from EE:
http://ee.co.uk/help/getting-started/joining-ee/unlocking-your-phone
https://freesim.vodafone.co.uk/free-minutes-sim-card?tracker=58f8dj
If it doesn't you'll have to pay EE the 20 quid.
If it is locked, they'll unlock it with Apple for you permanently without waiting 6 months. I've not used them myself, so I'd suggest paying by PayPal to give comfort that you won't get "done over".
They'll he asking around £100 to unlock an EE 5S (if they actually can), I also wouldn't rely on the online lock status checkers, they aren't 100% accurate.
With EE the only reasonable price for an unlock is officially via the network.
OP can be sure the phone is locked if they bought it simfree from CPW, the "lock to first UK sim" is the only only way they sell the iPhone.
Ah okay. The website says "from £19.99" for EE. I didn't look at it anymore than that, I just guessed that at most it'd be a little bit more than that, but maybe I'm wrong. Nothing wrong with the OP looking into it to see how much they will charge though if it's within 6 months and they use another SIM card to confirm it is locked? And if they get quoted the £19.99 or a reasonable price they're happy with, I'd definitely recommend paying by PayPal -- that way at least if it can't be done, their money is safe!
From the CPW website:
I like that ominous disclaimer, as if it will explode if you try to use a different network's SIM and simply won't tell you to put a different one back in
Agreed - if it is over 6 months old, then EE would be the way to go. I was offering an potential solution because the question of it being under 6 months old came up.
Speaking as someone who works in the industry, I have never seen or heard (and can be verified) of a sim free iPhone not locking to first UK sim inserted.
With regard to the poster and his 5c, who knows? Without being able to verify what he says its just a comment that can't be verified, while the CPW rules can easily be verified on their website, in a branch, or over the telephone...
The only way around it is to activate with a Three sim, then request them to unlock it (which is free and at any time).
I don't know if I read that correctly, but if you're saying that you think all sim-free iPhones lock to the first network, then I have a sim-free 4S here that hasn't done that.
The difference is that it was not bought from CPW, it was bought from Apple.
I checked the IMEI number of my 5c purchased from CPW and the purchase country says HONG KONG I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
We are discussing CarPhoneWarehouse (CPW) if you follow the thread (and see the post by BKM i was answering), I am only referring to CPW sold "sim free" iPhones.
I am aware of the topic, but your statement made it sound as if it was any sim-free iPhone.
Perhaps if read by itself, but not if you read it in context with the other posts made around it.
But just for clarity, I'll repeat it, and make it clearer for you
I have never seen or heard (and can be verified) of a sim free iPhone SUPPLIED BY CARPHONEWAREHOUSE not locking to first UK sim inserted.
With regard to the poster and his 5c, who knows? Without being able to verify what he says its just a comment that can't be verified, while the CARPHONEWAREHOUSE rules can easily be verified on their website, in a branch, or over the telephone...
The only way around it is to activate with a Three sim, then request them to unlock it (which is free and at any time).
Say I have a current "worst to unlock" iPhone - say from EE to mention names! I contact 3 and lie in that I tell them it is a CPW supplied one locked to THEM. Will 3 happily contact Apple and instruct them to unlock it for me?
Or will Apple tell 3 - "we reject your request as the handset seems to really be locked to EE"?
BTW GiffGaff now supply fully unlocked PAYG iPhones. This used to be the Apple Store only.
I know that technicaly Three will know which IMEI is active on their network - so send that IMEI to apple, and apple can confirm when its unlocked. Three don't need to know where it was bought from, just that its active on the Three network.
Doesn't mean this is how they do it though.
Your guess is right, firstly when the iPhone activates the IMEI will register to the network and the network will have a record of the IMEI on network, secondly as you guessed, if Three were to request an unlock for an iPhone locked to EE (Apple will know the lock status from their own records), Apple would refuse the unlock as it isn't the "locked to" network making the request.