What model iPhone? If it's a 5s and the imei begins with I think 013 or 3588 it 91.4% is an AT&T phone from prior experience AKA nightmares. If it's 3588, tread wisely because in a previous life that Imei may have belonged to a certain Korean Tech Giant beginning with "S". Oh that's right you can't switch Imei numbers. Ha, so foolish of me. Sarcasm.com.
No. That's not how unlocking iPhones works. Your only option if it's carrier locked is to contact the carrier it's locked to and see if it's eligible for unlocking.
If you don't know what carrier it's locked to, call AppleCare and give them the serial number. They should be able to tell you.
If it's carrier locked, then you are going to have to go through the carrier that sold the phone. They are the only ones that are going to be able to unlock it by sending it a signal allowing it to be unlocked. You may be able to call Apple and see if they can lookup what carrier it came through. Otherwise try getting a hold of the person that you bought it from online or return it if you can because without that information you aren't going to be able to do much with it.
The only way to unlock the phone is to find the original owner and get them to log into their Apple ID online and unlock the device. There is no other way to unlock a locked phone, sorry. Apple designed iPhones this way to ensure that if your device is stolen, you can lock it from your account online, and ensure that no one can ever use it.
britanniefrombeaverton wrote:
The only way to unlock the phone is to find the original owner and get them to log into their Apple ID online and unlock the device. There is no other way to unlock a locked phone, sorry. Apple designed iPhones this way to ensure that if your device is stolen, you can lock it from your account online, and ensure that no one can ever use it.
That would be true if the problem were an Activation Lock. The carrier lock is a different thing altogether. Only the carrier to which the phone is locked can unlock it. They don't always require that the original owner be involved in the process.
It's carrier locked and i have no idea who the previous carrier was
Would one of those unlock codes you get from various websites work? Or is that just a scam?
Return it and get your money back. There is no way to bypass the activation lock.
Locked how, carrier or activation?
It's carrier locked not activation locked
If it is just the carrier lock unfortunately it can only be unlocked by the carrier, I don't know how you can find that out though.
Have you tried extracting the SIM from its guts (if present) and inspecting it? Some carriers have the courtesy of labeling their SIMs.
And yeah, Idris, this forum is getting hilarious this morning...
I bought an iphone online and its locked and i dont know previous carrier what do i do?
