Switching Carriers? (XS Max)

iPhones bought through the iPhone Upgrade Program are not locked to any carrier. I'll say it again, they are not locked to a carrier. They have never been locked, as that is the entire point of the iPhone Upgrade Program. Its main selling point was and is that you can change carriers any time you like.

The issue that exists with older iPhones, pre XS iPhones, is that there had been 2 different types in the U.S.

The ones that support GSM carriers only (AT&T & T-Mobile) and the ones that support GSM and CDMA carriers. (Verizon and Sprint)

If you got an iPhone on the upgrade program and chose AT&T or T-Mobile as your starting carrier, you would not be able to use that iPhone with Verizon or Sprint, not because it was locked, but because it lacked the CDMA hardware for Verizon or Sprint. However choosing Verizon or Sprint as a starting carrier, means it can be used with them and any GSM carrier as well as it had both sets of hardware.

This is no longer the case with the iPhone Xs and Xs Max, as they support both GSM and CDMA carriers. So any iPhone can be used with any carrier.

The issue comes when trying to Activate the iPhone with Sprint or Verizon. They are notoriously difficult when it comes to activating devices not meant for them specifically.

With that said, and to answer the original question specifically: iPhones from the Apple Upgrade Program are not and have never been locked to a specific carrier. An Xs from the Apple Upgrade Program should be able to be used on any carrier. The issue is getting some carriers like Verizon to activate it.

If you buy an Iphone from Apple it comes unlocked. Period.

However, I went through this yesterday and it was a huge hassle, doable but a hassle.

In summary, if you want to switch carriers with the new XS/XS max it works (just for the phone itself) but with some limitations especially if you are moving to Verizon and have the new Apple watch series 3 / 4 cellular with number sync (will not work, please see below).

I originally bought the XS max from Apple and had it activated with AT&T as it was an upgrade from the X on AT&T. Unfortunately, my new commuting route has terrible service with AT&T so I decided to move to Verizon. Thought this would be simple because of the new dual network support (GSM/CDMA). It started pretty hassle free, went to ask Apple if this would be ok. They said, no problem but that is between me and the carriers as the phone is unlocked and can move between carriers. Off I went to Verizon. After calling AT&T and getting them to drop my series 4 cellular watch from my plan I migrated my originally AT&T unlocked XS max to a Verizon contract. This worked fine and the phone now had service through Verizon with calling, texting and data all working properly. This is when the problems started....

I noticed on the Verizon sales rep's tablet that my account showed the phone as unknown. He said that's not a big deal and because my phone is unlocked it won't identify as an Iphone. I might not get seamless access to some of their built in account management features through the phone but I thought no problem not a big deal for me. On to setting up the watch with Number sync.... After several attempts and several escalations with their internal support, we came to find that Verizon can not support the watch with an unlocked phone because the IMEI device ID of the phone is not properly cataloged in their database. This didn't make sense. They explained that even though Apple sells phones unlocked, the phones that ear marked for Verizon have their IMEI device ID's prepopulated into Verizon's system this way they show up as Iphones and can have specific functions enabled.... The phones are still "unlocked". Confusing yes... I asked if it was just a simple matter of taking the phones IMEI and entering it into whatever database it needed to go into. They said this wasn't possible and they didn't know of any ETA when it could be. So they told me the only way I can get my watched sync'd to my phone in order to use the celluar functionality was to go get the phone swapped at Apple for the Verizon "version". I did that went back to Verizon, after all this ridiculousness it all worked and now every thing is coming up in their system as it should and on my plan and account properly.

I'm not sure what other features on the account specifically don't work with the non-native unlocked phones but hope my experience helps others avoid or at least be prepared for the craziness ahead if you choose a similar route......

They do not come locked. I switched to AT&T with no problem from Verizon with my iPhone X. Like I said, they come set up for your carrier, not locked.

He said he purchased it from Apple, not AT&T. It absolutely shouldn't be locked to AT&T. He's making payments to Apple, not AT&T. Apple just sets up the service with a new sim but it doesn't come activated. that's not an answer.

How to unlock your iPhone for use with a different carrier - Apple Support

iPhone XS - Technical Specifications - Apple

Using Dual SIM with an eSIM - Apple Support

NYYankees925 wrote:

Thanks Phil. I knew it. Apple just verified the XS and XS Max can work on both CDMA and GSM. I’m trying to go back to Verizon. Worst case is I have to go to the Apple store.

You're welcome. Good luck with Verizon.

Thanks Phil. I knew it. Apple just verified the XS and XS Max can work on both CDMA and GSM. I’m trying to go back to Verizon. Worst case is I have to go to the Apple store.

The phones are predesigned to work with one carrier or another and come from Apple locked.

When you purchase a phone via the upgrade program and you pay monthly and choose a carrier, the phone will be locked to that carrier. Only the carrier can unlock the phone. And AT&T may tell you you don't qualify for an unlock unless you pay off the balance on the phone. That's actually pretty likely. You'll need to reach out to AT&T to see what your options are.

I had a similar problem....bought an unlocked XS from Apple under the upgrade program, activated on TMobile, then tried to switch to Verizon and could not because Verizon said the phone was "locked". After several days of going back and forth with TMobile and Apple I found that the "unlocked" XS phones will pseudo lock themselves to the first carrier the connect to when turned on for the first time. This results in other carriers seeing "unknown" in the IMEI database. To resolve the issue you have to wipe your phone back to factory settings and reboot it with the new SIM in the phone, this will send the right information to the new carrier and clear the "unknown" from the system.