Are there any carrier locked versions of the iPhone 15?

I thought that once iPhone had gone completely to eSIM, there were no longer "network specific" versions of iPhone.

Not sure where you got that idea.

If this were true, Apple would not require that users purchasing the iPhone 14, 15, and 16 in the U.S. specify which carrier....ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc they will be using with the phone, since the phone will be locked to the carrier when it is delivered.

Yes, there is an option for users to buy an unlocked phone, but it must be paid for in full up front, and would not be eligible for financing through monthly payment promotions offered by most carriers.

Now, if you reside in Europe and will be purchasing a phone in Europe.....for example.....the phone will be unlocked.....eSIM or not.

AMG CEO wrote:

I thought that once iPhone had gone completely to eSIM, there were no longer "network specific" versions of iPhone. Anyone know the truth about this?

Could be whoever you were discussing that with was, well, confused.

In the US, carrier locking is irrespective of eSIM.

While the US FCC is proposing a 60 day unlock, most (all?) subsidized phone purchases presently get carrier locks.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/t-mobile-att-oppose-unlocking-rule-claim-locked-phones-are-good-for-users/

Should that FCC proposal come into force, it’ll undoubtedly then be litigated.

There haven’t been carrier-specific iPhone models for a while in the US. Not since Verizon was dragged off CDMA, and they only decommissioned their 3G CDMA network last year. CDMA doesn’t use SIM or eSIM.

Servant of Cats wrote:

As far as carrier locking, I read in another thread that some phones are initially unlocked – but become locked to whatever carrier you first activate them with…

That’s variously called Flex Lock, or Reseller Flex Policy, or SIM OUT.

Resellers get the same phones, and the phones will lock to the first carrier used.

AMG CEO wrote:

Good to know. On the bright side, I once had an iPhone 10 locked to Sprint; had it unlocked at an Apple store and sold it to a friend who never had any issue with using it on another carrier. So, perhaps if you didn't buy it directly from Apple, at least have it unlocked by Apple.

Apple doesn’t release carrier locks. That’s left for the carriers.

Apple had you clear the lock with Sprint, then helped perform the following:

How to unlock your iPhone for use with a different carrier - Apple Support

The sequence needed locally after the carrier releases their lock has been simplified over the years, too.

As far as carrier locking, I read in another thread that some phones are initially unlocked – but become locked to whatever carrier you first activate them with. Also, that if you are in the U.S. and want a phone that is unlocked, you need to buy it directly from Apple … presumably without selecting any carrier financing plan.

I don't have a link to that thread, but here is an older one saying the same thing …

Phone bought best buy “unlocked” but not.… - Apple Community

Note that iPhones made for different parts of the world may have different coverage in terms of cellular bands and Wi-Fi bands.

For instance, U.S. variants of some phones like the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE (2nd generation) do not have support for FDD-LTE band 28. Telstra (an Australian carrier) appears to have a 4G network that relies very heavily on that particular band. So now that they have shut off their 3G network, people with U.S. versions of those phones have been posting here about not being able to get service to work on Telstra's network.

In this case, the practical difference is about as big as with CDMA vs. non-CDMA phones. But in a lot of cases, I'd expect that there would be enough overlap between the different variants that your phone still would be usable on foreign trips, even if it wasn't a variant tuned specifically for the place that you were visiting.

AMG CEO wrote:

My concern was not so much about traveling to other countries and I do appreciate that different countries use different systems. I was thinking about switching from one carrier to another within the U.S.; and being told (apparently mistakenly) that a phone originally locked to a particular carrier could not be subsequently used on another carrier even if unlocked. As if to suggest that the hardware was somehow unique to that original carrier.

That was the case with GSM and CDMA gear up to 2010 or so, and earlier.

Verizon gear and AT&T gear were not interchangeable, among other permutations.

Starting with 4G/LTE gear around 2010, all major US carriers are using similar hardware.

4G/LTE and 5G gear is similar worldwide, though the US persists in some differences in the frequency bands used, and gear intended for China mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao usually gets dual-SIM with no eSIM.

Whether any carrier offers an unlock varies. Most do.