You just moved to a different city when you pull out your iPhone. You realize that you have poor reception because your carrier doesn’t have good coverage. Or even worse, your carrier does not even support the country you’re in. Well, perhaps it’s time to switch carriers!
Unlocking your iPhone to use with a different carrier is only possible if you’ve finished paying for the contract and don’t owe the carrier anything. So let’s dive into the article and see how you can check if your iPhone is locked and what you can do to unlock it. The steps in this guide were taken on an iOS 15.3.1 device.
How to Check If Your iPhone Is Locked
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Open the Settings app.
Tap Settings. -
Tap General.
Tap General. -
In the “General” settings, go to About.
Tap About. -
Scroll down until you see “Carrier Lock”. If it says “No SIM restrictions”, that means your iPhone is already unlocked. If it says “SIM locked”, then your contract isn’t over yet and you still have payments left to make.
Scroll down until you see “Carrier Lock”.
How to Unlock Your iPhone If Your SIM Is Locked
Once you’ve finished paying all the bills, all you have to do to unlock your iPhone is contact your carrier, and they’ll do it for you. Depending on what carrier you’re using, you might be able to unlock your iPhone online.
As Apple says on their support website:
Apple can’t unlock your iPhone for use with a different carrier. Only your carrier can unlock your iPhone.
AT&T, for example, gives you the option to unlock your iPhone through their site. Many of these carriers have certain requirements that you have to meet before you can have your iPhone unlocked. T-Mobile, for instance, will only unlock your device if you have been their customer for 50 days.
Once your carrier has unlocked your iPhone, create a backup and replace the old SIM card with the new one. If you want to keep your number, you can transfer it from your old carrier to your new one.