Locked carrier

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Level 1

8 points

Locked carrier

Hey guys, I have a big issue with my iphone 8+. I bought it 2 days ago from the market place in New York City and it supposed to be unlocked. Of course i have tested it with couple of sim cards, some of them belonged to europeans carriers, some to americans once. The iphone used to work with all of them and i was able to make phone calls and use the cellular data. The problem is that today i arrived in Europe and when i put any sim card into the phone, its trying to activate them and than it announce SIM NOT VALID, which is very strange, because the same cards used to work fine in the USA. Could you provide me any information about how can i use my phone in Europe.

Posted on Sep 12, 2018 3:10 AM

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Answer 1

ProustGiulio

Level 10

208,193 points

Sep 12, 2018 4:12 AM in response to martinivanov

Going to Settings>General>About>Model and tapping on it you should see a number like A1864, A1897, A1898. (it should be A1897)

Then read the possible model numbers that can work in the country you're in:

iPhone - View countries with supported LTE networks - Apple

You can also visit an Apple Store or Authorized service provider and ask them (find the country among this list):

Apple - Find Locations - Location Selector

Regards

Giulio

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Answer 2

ProustGiulio

Level 10

208,193 points

Sep 12, 2018 4:30 AM in response to martinivanov

Not sure, but from the list I provided, it seems a model that can't be used in Europe, sorry.

Try and contact (or go to) an Apple Store in the country you're in at the moment. They should be able to give you the appropriate answer.

Regards

Giulio

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Answer 3

KiltedTim

Level 10

197,026 points

Sep 12, 2018 5:00 AM in response to martinivanov

The answer is simple, really... the phone you bought is not unlocked. The seller lied.

Call AppleCare and give them the serial number. They can tell you what carrier it's locked to.

Only the carrier it's locked to can authorize unlocking it.

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Answer 4

martinivanov Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 13, 2018 8:46 AM in response to KiltedTim

Thank you for the answer, i have just one more question. So why when i tested the phone in USA with 2 different SIM cards, one from european's carrier and the other one was simple mobile, it worked fine and i used to be able to make phone calls and to use cellular data in the USA and exactly the same cards don't work in Europe, both of them? How can you explain that to me?

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Answer 5

KiltedTim

Level 10

197,026 points

Sep 13, 2018 8:57 AM in response to martinivanov

Phones sold by US retailers other than Apple will lock to the first US carrier used. That takes time. If you tried it with Simple Mobile, then tried immediately after that with a SIM from another carrier, the lock probably hadn't fully processed yet.

Now... here's your real problem. If it was new, and it's locked to Simple Mobile, you can't get it unlocked. Simple Mobile does not offer unlocking. Since no one other than the carrier it's locked to can authorize unlocking it, it's useless on any carrier other than Simple Mobile.

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