will phone be unlocked?

Yes, your iPhone will be unlocked when using Apple Card Monthly Installments regardless of what carrier you pick.

The only time it’s locked is if you directly use carrier financing with AT&T.

Per the FAQ entry on the iPhone purchase page:

https://www.apple.com/us-edu/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-17-pro/6.9-inch-display-256gb-deep-blue-att

Will my new iPhone be unlocked?

In most cases, yes. An iPhone purchased from Apple.com is unlocked. Once your new iPhone is activated, it remains unlocked, which means you can use it with any network that provides service for iPhone. However, if you buy an iPhone with an AT&T Installment Plan, your iPhone will be locked to AT&T and will only work on the AT&T network for the term of your Installment Plan agreement.

n_kbkv wrote:

Hi, If I applied for an Apple Card monthly installment plan on the Apple website and chose Verizon as the carrier, will my phone be unlocked?

If you aren't choosing carrier financing, which you're not, the phone will be unlocked. If you chose Carrier Financing, the phone would be locked.

Phil0124 wrote:

The only time it’s locked is if you directly use carrier financing with AT&T.

On the order page, the words "And your new iPhone will be unlocked" disappear if you choose any of the four carrier financing plans:

• AT&T Installment Plans
• Boost Mobile Financing
• T-Mobile Equipment Installment Plan
• Verizon Device Payment Program

On the "See details" pages for the T-Mobile and Verizon plans, I saw a statement that "Your new iPhone will be unlocked, which means you can use it with any carrier that provides service for iPhone."

No such language on the "See details" pages for the AT&T and Boost Mobile plans, and the FAQ explicitly says that "if you buy an iPhone with an AT&T Installment Plan, your iPhone will be locked to AT&T and will only work on the AT&T network for the term of your Installment Plan agreement."

I wonder if the people who wrote the FAQ forgot to mention Boost Mobile.

KiltedTim wrote:

razmee209 wrote:

n_kbkv wrote:

Hi, If I applied for an Apple Card monthly installment plan on the Apple website and chose Verizon as the carrier, will my phone be unlocked?

no, not if you choose Verizon as your carrier.

This.

It will be locked to Verizon for (I believe) 90 days, after which Verizon will unlock it.

They (Verizon) allegedly do this to prevent phones being purchased and them immediately exported to other countries.

Incorrect.

If using Apple Card Monthly Installments(ACMI) to finance, the iPhone will always be unlocked regardless of carrier.

The Lock only comes into play if instead of using Apple Card Monthly Installments you choose the carrier specific financing option. Then it can get locked to the carrier.

However, if you choose Verizon's or T-Mobile's Financing from Apple's website it will still be unlocked.

AT&T and Boost mobile financing options will produce a locked iPhone to them.

razmee209 wrote:

n_kbkv wrote:

Hi, If I applied for an Apple Card monthly installment plan on the Apple website and chose Verizon as the carrier, will my phone be unlocked?

no, not if you choose Verizon as your carrier.

This.

It will be locked to Verizon for (I believe) 90 days, after which Verizon will unlock it.

They (Verizon) allegedly do this to prevent phones being purchased and them immediately exported to other countries.

The op mentions Apple Card monthly installments. In which case it should be unlocked.

True, Boost Mobile does not say it will be unlocked if you choose its Financing Option.

Probably forgot to add Boost to the Faq entry.

With that said, as long as the Apple Card Monthly Installments option is selected, the iPhone will be unlocked regardless of chosen carrier then.

No_takers_taken wrote:

I paid off my phone years ago through spectrum mobile. It’s locked and I’m confused how and why? I’m sure Verizon can explain if it’s locked or not. I don’t know my phone was locked until I called my carrier and tried to cancel.

Did you buy it directly from Spectrum? It can be locked to them then.

If you bought from Walmart, devices will lock to the first carrier used to activate them. So if you activated it with Spectrum it would be locked to them.

Where are you seeing it currently locked exactly?

If it's an iPhone what do you see when you go to Settings ➜ General ➜ About ➜ Carrier Lock?

If it's locked to Spectrum, then Spectrum needs to unlock it even if they do use Verizons network.

Verizon won't likely tell you much of anything about the lock since it's not directly locked to them.

Yes. I worded that poorly. In my mind, if you go to the Apple Store and buy a phone financed by the carrier, you're buying it from the carrier, not Apple. Apple is simply the agent.

No_takers_taken wrote:

I paid off my phone years ago through spectrum mobile. It’s locked and I’m confused how and why? I’m sure Verizon can explain if it’s locked or not. I don’t know my phone was locked until I called my carrier and tried to cancel.

Years ago, if you bought a carrier-locked phone, it was common for the carrier to keep the lock in place on the phone even after you had paid off the contract.

Now, I think there's some expectation that once you pay off the contract, you can get a phone unlocked. The following (and the CTIA wireless industry site to which it links) may be of interest.

FCC – Cell Phone Unlocking

If the customer purchases an iPhone directly from Apple and pays in full, no lock. But typically if the iPhone is bought provisioned for Verizon a 60 day lock is typically applied.

Verizon also had a discount tied to this last holiday period they effectively waived the activation fee ($35) if you bought from Verizon and they tied in the locking to waiving activation fee. We got multiple complaints about this last year.

n_kbkv wrote:

Hi, If I applied for an Apple Card monthly installment plan on the Apple website and chose Verizon as the carrier, will my phone be unlocked?

no, not if you choose Verizon as your carrier.

I paid off my phone years ago through spectrum mobile. It’s locked and I’m confused how and why? I’m sure Verizon can explain if it’s locked or not. I don’t know my phone was locked until I called my carrier and tried to cancel.

KiltedTim wrote:

Neither of those apply since the OP is buying directly from Apple, not from Verizon.

Both of those are from Apple’s website. The iPhone purchase page to be precise. But are indeed irrelevant since OP is using ACMI.

Neither of those apply since the OP is buying directly from Apple, not from Verizon.