My step-daughter just got an iphone 7 and we want to sell the old iphone 6. AT&T claims the old phone is now unlocked and we'd prefer to sell it this way. However when I look under Settings>General>About, it still lists "AT&T" under the "Carrier" field. I don't know if an unlocked phone still displays the old Carrier name or not. Any ideas?
Many thanks !!
iPhone 6
Other than taking AT&T at their word, you can test the unlocking, by inserting a sim card from a different carrier and see if it works.
Remove or switch the SIM card in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support
The carrier entry will not change unless a sim card from a different carrier is inserted. If the iPhone still has the sim card from AT&T inside, it will continue to say AT&T.
You may need to restore the iPhone to factory condition, which you should do anyway before selling or giving it away, to complete the unlock.
How to unlock your iPhone - Apple Support
Follow these steps to clear the iPhone for sale:
What to do before you sell or give away your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
If you have the iPhone in your possession you can see if there is a sim card inside:
Remove or switch the SIM card in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support
Just because its pulling the name from the sim card does not mean its locked. It's just pulling the name from the sim card it has installed because there's no other place to get it from if its unlocked.
Changing the sim card to one of a different carrier would make it pull the name from that sim card instead if its unlocked.
There's no other way to find out if its unlocked. You could try to borrow a sim card from someone on a different carrier just to test and see if it works. It would just be a quick swap.
christopherfromcary wrote:
My step-daughter just got an iphone 7 and we want to sell the old iphone 6. AT&T claims the old phone is now unlocked and we'd prefer to sell it this way. However when I look under Settings>General>About, it still lists "AT&T" under the "Carrier" field. I don't know if an unlocked phone still displays the old Carrier name or not. Any ideas?
Many thanks !!
if you received an email from AT&T stating that your phone is now unlock, your daughter will need to restore the phone as new using iTunes - then she should receive a message stating " congrats your phone is now unlocked"
But we don't want to restore the phone. The old phone has been wiped but I went in and put in my apple ID (temporarily) in the setup (I wanted to get the IMEI number) and noticed it had AT&T as the carrier listed. They had told us the phone was unlocked so this didn't make much sense. I've since wiped the phone again.
christopherfromcary wrote:
But we don't want to restore the phone. The old phone has been wiped but I went in and put in my apple ID (temporarily) in the setup (I wanted to get the IMEI number) and noticed it had AT&T as the carrier listed. They had told us the phone was unlocked so this didn't make much sense. I've since wiped the phone again.
Then the phone won't be unlock unless your restore the phone as new using iTunes and you'll get the message your phone has been unlocked.
christopherfromcary wrote:
OK - I'll check with her once she gets home to see if she got an e-mail
It will be an email from AT&T letting her know that her phone is unlock and then next process is to restore the phone using iTunes.
christopherfromcary wrote:
But we don't want to restore the phone.
Why not? It needs to be restored so everything is removed from it. And no Apps or downloads that may be tied to your Apple Id remain on it. Remember that any Apps that were downloaded with an Apple ID remain tied to it, and will require it to update if kept. Restoring sets the phone back to factory condition. But if the carrier has unlocked it, it will complete the unlock or preserve it if its already been completed before. It will not relock it to AT&T if its really unlocked.
christopherfromcary wrote:
I've since wiped the phone again.
What exactly did you do to "wipe" it? Generally wiping it would be restoring it to factory condition. But to complete the unlock, its generally required it be done through iTunes on a computer.
christopherfromcary wrote:
noticed it had AT&T as the carrier listed.
Was the AT&T sim card still inside the phone at this time?
I'm going half-blind here because I'm not sure what she did exactly to get it unlocked. Evidently AT&T told her over the phone it was unlocked. Not sure yet if she got an e-mail. The phone had been wiped (by selecting "erase all content and settings") when she asked me to sell it for her. I went into setup and put in my Apple login so I could find the screen which had the IMEI number. You can't get to that settings screen without setting up the iphone. It then loaded all my data and apps. I then wiped it again once I got the IMEI. That's when I noticed the Carrier was still listed as AT&T. That's my carrier too so perhaps when I set it up it pulled that information from my particular account.
No, that information is only pulled from the carrier lock policy, or the sim card. Not from your data.
Again was the AT&T sim card inside the iPhone when you saw the AT&T label for the carrier? This is important!.
If you set it up again, to access the Settings app, and it did not request a sim card to do so, then there was almost certainly a sim card inside from AT&T so that's the info it got for the carrier.
Again you can remove the existing sim card, and insert one from a different carrier to make sure its unlocked. If it does not issue an error when trying to set it up, its unlocked.
I'm not sure if the original sim card is in there or not. I wasn't there when she upgraded to a 7. And I don't have a different carrier's SIM card that I could try. Our whole family is with AT&T. So if the carrier name pulls from the sim card, then perhaps it is not unlocked.
I just pulled the sim card and it does have the ATT logo. I think i may go ahead and sell it as unlocked and if the buyer has an issue then we'll call ATT to see what's up on their end. I'll also check with her to see if she got an e-mail
OK - I'll check with her once she gets home to see if she got an e-mail
From my experience you have to contact ATT for a unlock code, if you own the phone, and there is no contract on it.
Other wise, can't sell it. Trying to help
Is my iphone 6 REALLY unlocked?
