I cannot contact apple support as mine has expired and I should not have to pay £29 for the privilige of having apple explain how they or their carriers screwed up this time....
iPhone 5, iOS 9.2.1, Bought Sim Free
If you bought it from Carphone Warehouse it would lock to the first sim that you put in it. This is nothing to do with Apple. Sim free does not mean it is unlocked. Is your new sim from an Apple authorised carrier ?
Really? Get's interesting now then, the first SIM I inserted was a giffgaff one, these require the phone to be unlocked according to their website......
When you inserted the Giffgaff sim the phone was not "locked" - but as soon as you switched on it would lock to GiffGaff. Now you have a locked phone and will not be able to use another sim until GiffGaff authorise an unlock.
Found out some more on the giffgaff website, for anybody else having this issue, the phone is not locked to giffgaff but rather O2 who giffgaff piggyback, robbing tramps is all I have to say, if Apple sells sim free phones which never lock why are they letting their retailers like CPW get away with this? Think the world of droid and doze is gonna replace my macbook n ipoon, so long Crapple.....
I think you have misdirected your anger. Carphone Warehouse should be your target - not Apple. If you had bought an unlocked phone at an Apple store then it would remain unlocked forever.
Talk to O2 and see if they will authorise an unlock for you.
DjBeNice wrote:
Found out some more on the giffgaff website, for anybody else having this issue, the phone is not locked to giffgaff but rather O2 who giffgaff piggyback, robbing tramps is all I have to say, if Apple sells sim free phones which never lock why are they letting their retailers like CPW get away with this? Think the world of droid and doze is gonna replace my macbook n ipoon, so long Crapple.....
This is copied directly from the iPhone 6s page on the Carphone warehouse web site:
"iPhone will lock itself to the network of the first SIM card that is used in the phone. Subsequently attempting to use it on any other network, for example by replacing the SIM card, may mean it becomes permanently unusable. SIM free iPhones can only be used with a UK-network SIM card, and will not accept foreign SIM cards."
Aemittedly they are pretty sleezy in burying that down in the fine print of a very long web page for every iPhone they sell, but it is there. This is NOT an Apple thing, it is a CarPhone Warehouse issue - buy from them and you get a product sold under their terms. CarPhone Warehouse may sell SIM-free iPhones, but they have never sold unlocked iPhones.
If you had wanted a truly unlocked iPhone, Apple itself actually sells those.
Sadly Michael they are somewhat sleazier than that, I asked the question directly and was lied to, there are other people who have the same story to tell. There is still an axe to grind with Apple however, the product is theirs ultimately, they shouldn't be selling to the sleazier elements for one and for two they could offer the unlock service themselves, ultimately it's their OS so no BS about third party developments etc holds any water. Every which way it's my humble opinion and ultimately my money so I will spend it where I choose.
CPW is NOT an authorized iPhone reseller (I assume they told you that), nothing to do with Apple, they were a bad choice to make.
Carphone Warehouse has always been this way. The only place to purchase an unlocked phone in the UK is Apple.
Apple does not unlock phones, and they do not lock them either. Carriers are the ones that authorize both the lock and the unlock of phones. That is a decision of the carrier themselves. It has nothing to do with Apple.
DjBeNice wrote:
Sadly Michael they are somewhat sleazier than that, I asked the question directly and was lied to, there are other people who have the same story to tell. There is still an axe to grind with Apple however, the product is theirs ultimately, they shouldn't be selling to the sleazier elements for one and for two they could offer the unlock service themselves, ultimately it's their OS so no BS about third party developments etc holds any water. Every which way it's my humble opinion and ultimately my money so I will spend it where I choose.
No, Apple cannot offer any unlock service by itself. It is the carrier's who lock devices and thus it is only they who can authorize an unlock. Apple has no legal basis at all to override a carrier lock without that carrier telling them to do so. All Apple is able to do is process a legitimate unlock order sent from a carrier. Similarly, Apple has no legal basis for dictating terms to a reseller if that reseller is operating with the terms of consumer law in their country of operations. If that reseller's employees lied or misled you, again, that is an employee issue with that reseller, not Apple. CarPhone Warehouse is an authorized reseller but they are also an independent business - Apple doesn't mange their employees for them.
Csound1 wrote:
CPW is NOT an authorized iPhone reseller (I assume they told you that), nothing to do with Apple, they were a bad choice to make.
Actually, they are - http://www.apple.com/ie/iphone/buy/
But they have never sold unlocked iPhones.
Apple makes the device = end of involvement with how it gets used.
That was your choice to make. The OS has nothing to do with what carrier is used or how a carrier locks or unlocks a device.
I feel for your predicament, in that no retailer should lie to a customer, but it seems you just want to be angry at Apple. This situation would be exactly the same for a locked 'droid.
Locked phones are the domain of carriers, not manufacturers.
DjBeNice wrote:
Found out some more on the giffgaff website, for anybody else having this issue, the phone is not locked to giffgaff but rather O2 who giffgaff piggyback, robbing tramps is all I have to say, if Apple sells sim free phones which never lock why are they letting their retailers like CPW get away with this? Think the world of droid and doze is gonna replace my macbook n ipoon, so long Crapple.....
Carphone Warehouse does the same thing with Android phones that they sell.
I have recently moved to ireland, I bought my iPhone Sim free and unlocked from the carphone warehouse, when I try to activate a tesco ireland sim it says my activation server won't allow it?
