What to do if my iPhone is locked as a demo unit?

That iPhone can never be unlocked or used normally. It was never meant to be sold. Apple does not and will not sell demo units to the public. I'm not sure how you obtained it, but if you can, return it to whoever sold it to you for a full refund.

It will never be able to be used and is possibly stolen.

If you actually bought a demo unit iPhone, it would most likely have been stolen. To my knowledge, Apple does NOT sell Demo Units. So unlocking one is going to be pretty much impossible. Can you return the phone for refund? If no, you've very likely been scammed.

Apple and authorized retailers do not sell "demo" iPhones.

It's stolen. Return it and get your money back.

Return the phone to the seller for a refund - if you can do so safely

Or turn it in to the police.

You purchased a stolen device. Turn it off and drop it off in a recycling bin.

Who sold you the device, a business or just some stranger?

What do you mean by Demo Unit?

What do you mean by "doesn't light up"?

Do you mean the iPhone is stuck on a black screen?

It won't turn on?

What happens when you plug it in to charge?

Have you tried restarting it?

click here ➜ Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

H1290 wrote:

Demo unit. I recollect a conversation about this recently. Perhaps with you Jeff? We talked about an employee possibly overlooking removing the device from its “Demo Setup” before selling it? Maybe that’s what happened. Wild guess though. 😆

When I worked for Verizon, we were never allowed to sell demo units. On rare occasions, were were allowed to pull a phone from stock, move it to demo status in our inventory and get the demo software loaded onto it (don't remember the process but it was annoying). But once a phone, any phone, had been in demo status, it could only ever be moved to used.

I would imagine any store large enough and authorized to have Apple demos would be set up much the same way.

lkrupp wrote:

H1290 wrote:

Demo unit. I recollect a conversation about this recently. Perhaps with you Jeff? We talked about an employee possibly overlooking removing the device from its “Demo Setup” before selling it? Maybe that’s what happened. Wild guess though. 😆

Nonsense. Authorized Apple resellers do not sell demo units off the display stands. Quite obviously this phone was stolen in a “snatch and grab” action. The thieves entered the store, grabbed what they could and ran. Happens more than you want to believe. Then the original poster bought it at a "too-good-to-be price" and got ripped off. The thieves ripped the store and then ripped off the OP. Not much sympathy here.

Thanks for the correction.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

H1290 wrote:

Demo unit. I recollect a conversation about this recently. Perhaps with you Jeff? We talked about an employee possibly overlooking removing the device from its “Demo Setup” before selling it? Maybe that’s what happened. Wild guess though. 😆

When I worked for Verizon, we were never allowed to sell demo units. On rare occasions, were were allowed to pull a phone from stock, move it to demo status in our inventory and get the demo software loaded onto it (don't remember the process but it was annoying). But once a phone, any phone, had been in demo status, it could only ever be moved to used.

I would imagine any store large enough and authorized to have Apple demos would be set up much the same way.

Makes sense. Thank you Idris.

Demo unit. I recollect a conversation about this recently. Perhaps with you Jeff? We talked about an employee possibly overlooking removing the device from its “Demo Setup” before selling it? Maybe that’s what happened. Wild guess though. 😆

H1290 wrote:

Demo unit. I recollect a conversation about this recently. Perhaps with you Jeff? We talked about an employee possibly overlooking removing the device from its “Demo Setup” before selling it? Maybe that’s what happened. Wild guess though. 😆

Nonsense. Authorized Apple resellers do not sell demo units off the display stands. Quite obviously this phone was stolen in a “snatch and grab” action. The thieves entered the store, grabbed what they could and ran. Happens more than you want to believe. Then the original poster bought it at a "too-good-to-be price" and got ripped off. The thieves ripped the store and then ripped off the OP. Not much sympathy here.

It could be a small store in an emerging market. I’m not sure how demo iPhones are handled in those markets. It could be a major retailer like Target or Best Buy. Apple would know from the serial number.

Demo unit from where exactly? How did you come by a demo unit?

Yup... that message means exactly what it says.

Where did you buy it?