Sim not supported

Best Buy phones are not unlocked. They are normally flex policy which means they must be activated with a US carrier and lock to the first carrier used.

If it was in fact unlocked, then something has happened between then and now for it to be locked. iPhones don't just magically become locked if they are actually unlocked.

Did you father ever have an issue with the phone and have it replaced in India?

Did you do anything to the iPhone before sending it to him?

What exactly is saying is locked? The SIM card or the iPhone? The Sim card being locked has nothing to do with the iPhone status. If the SIM card is locked, then he needs to contact the carrier to have them provide the sim lock pin to unlock it or get a new SIM card from his carrier.

Elshaddai1 wrote:

The exact thing stated is SIM is not supported.

That means the iPhone is locked to a carrier that is different than then one the sim card is for.

However, that then begs the question, of how the iPhone was used for 4 years with an Indian sim if it was locked to a US carrier? Being locked does not just magically appear after 4 years. If it is locked it should have been locked from the beginning. It can't just randomly become locked.

Again I ask, did you do something to the iPhone before giving it to your father? Was it maybe hacked to remove the sim lock, and has now been restored? Restoring the iPhone would remove the hack.

How can I get it unlocked. If it is locked to the carrier, why doesn't the same carrier SIM card not work?

Only the carrier it is locked to, can unlock it officially.

There's a part of the story we don't yet know. Something had to happen for your father to be able to use it 4 for years if it was initially locked to a US carrier.

Whether you purchased it outright has nothing to do with it being unlocked. Also, the only place to get an unlocked phone in the US is an Apple Store. Best Buy will advertise as unlocked, but it is a Flex phone. That is a phone that will lock to the first carrier you activate the phone with. Did your father activate the phone the first time with an India carrier?

It can only be activated with a US carrier and it will lock to the first US carrier used. At that point, only the carrier it is locked to can unlock it. If you activated it on a US carrier, you will have to contact that carrier and request an unlock. Different carriers have different requirements for unlocking. Not all carriers offer unlocking. US carriers are under no legal obligation to unlock the device.

Elshaddai1 wrote:

I bought an iPhone XR in 2018 and bought it outright from Best Buy. So naturally it is an unlocked iPhone.

False. Best Buy does NOT sell unlocked iphones. if they told you they did, they lied or the person who told you that was just ignorant.

Elshaddai1 wrote:

"Best Buy will advertise as unlocked, but it is a Flex phone."

This is partially incorrect. If Best Buy sells it as an unlocked iPhone paid in full, IT IS unlocked. Confirmed this by having a conference call with Apple and Best Buy this morning. Apple confirms that there is no unlock nor flex policy on my iPhone and that the issue has something to do with the incomplete update happening in India. We are in the process of doing another restore to have them share screen and guide us through another update

I'm going to doubt that an update would somehow lock the device. What would it lock it to? It can't just get locked to a

random carrier. That explanation makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and I doubt Apple would say that at all.

Best Buy might say that though.

But 4 years ago, Best Buy did not sell truly unlocked iPhones. They may be unlocked for activation with any US carrier, but they will then lock to the carrier used to activate it.

There's some part of the story missing here.