If your iPhone has been locked by your carrier (as most iPhones purchased from carriers are), you’re probably already looking for ways to unlock it. However, if you just got your iPhone from a third party and you’re not sure whether the phone is locked, you’re probably just trying to figure that out first.
Keep reading and we will show you several methods you can use to find out whether the iPhone you have is locked, and after that we’ll go over a few options for unlocking the phone if it is indeed locked.
Method 1 – Putting in Another Network’s SIM Card
One quick way to see if your iPhone is unlocked, provided you have access to a SIM card from a carrier other than the carrier the phone was purchased from, is to simply remove the current SIM card and replace it with a SIM card from another network. Of course, you’ll need to make sure that the SIM card you’re inserting has active service on it. If you don’t have an extra SIM card with active service, you can usually get a customer service representative at a competing network to let you use one of their SIM cards to see if your iPhone is unlocked. After all, most of these stores would be happy to help you find out whether the phone is locked, as that would be the first step in having you switch over to their network. You could also just ask a friend to pull the SIM card out of their phone and let you use it for a moment.
Once you’ve replaced the SIM card, turn the phone back on and attempt to make a phone call. If you get an error message after inserting a SIM card that has been verified to work in another phone, that’s a good indicator that your phone is locked. If you’re completely unable to gain access to a SIM card, or you want a faster and easier way, it is sometimes possible to find out whether your phone is locked by checking within the settings menu. Here’s how:
Method 2 – Checking the Settings Menu
Itis important to note that while this method is more convenient then replacing the SIM card, the latter is the only true way to verify that the phone is unlocked. Still, checking the settings menu first can give you a good pre-indicator as to whether the phone might have been unlocked in the past by the carrier or a previous user. To check, pull up the Settings menu and look for tabs called “carrier” or “cellular.” If you see these tabs, that means one of two things – either your carrier has allowed you to change your network APN, or somebody unlocked the phone in the past. Again, to verify that the phone is in fact unlocked it’s always best to insert a SIM card from a different network and try making calls to be absolutely sure.
What to Do If Your iPhone Is Locked
If the above tests confirm that your iPhone is locked, your only options are to either have the carrier unlock the phone for you, or unlock the phone yourself using a software or service, like the one found at unlockingsmart.co.uk. It should be noted that unlocking the phone yourself is much faster and typically more convenient than having your carrier unlock the phone, as you can do so from home in just a few minutes. Also, most carriers will charge a fee to unlock your iPhone and it can take up to 20 days in some cases.
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