Apple Closes Unlocked iPhone Loophole for T-Mobile and Verizon Financing

[MacRumors]

Carrier-financed iPhones purchased from Apple will soon be locked to the carrier, ending a workaround customers used to purchase an unlocked iPhone on a payment plan.

Until the rule change, buying an iPhone from Apple and opting for financing through Verizon or T-Mobile meant you would get an iPhone not locked to either carrier's network. That's no longer the case, and now iPhones financed through Verizon or T-Mobile will not be able to be used with a different network. AT&T-financed smartphones were always locked to the AT&T network.

Apple's new policy was highlighted on Reddit after a user saw a new "Will my iPhone be unlocked?" FAQ item.

In most cases, yes. An iPhone purchased from Apple is unlocked. Once your new iPhone is activated, it remains unlocked, which means you can use it with any carrier that provides service for iPhone. However, if you choose to finance an iPhone through the AT&T Installment Plan, T-Mobile Equipment Installment Plan, or Verizon Device Payment Program, your iPhone will be locked to the carrier until paid in full.

An unlocked smartphone means it can be used with any carrier, while a locked smartphone is limited to the carrier it was purchased through. Locked smartphones can be problematic when traveling internationally, because activating a second eSIM for another network is blocked.

Apple hasn't said why it's making the change, but buyers were able to use carrier trade-ins and promotional discounts to get an unlocked iPhone. Some buyers may have purchased iPhones and sold them off without making the carrier payments, and carrier locking is a standard practice to prevent unpaid devices from being resold.

Apple's checkout process still says iPhones financed through T-Mobile and Verizon are unlocked, so the new policy may not have gone into effect yet.

iPhones purchased outright or with Apple Card Monthly Installments remain unlocked from the time of purchase. When iPhones purchased through carrier plans are paid off, they are unlocked.

Article Link: Apple Closes Unlocked iPhone Loophole for T-Mobile and Verizon Financing

 

[I7guy]

[…]Apple hasn't said why it's making the change, but buyers were able to use carrier trade-ins and promotional discounts to get an unlocked iPhone. Some buyers may have purchased iPhones and sold them off without making the carrier payments, and carrier locking is a standard practice to prevent unpaid devices from being resold.[…]

Could be this?

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

It's 2026. Carrier locking should be illegal.

 

[I7guy]

I thought for VZW they couldn’t do lock phones based on a deal related to purchased spectrum.

 

[Charlie Bonesx]

It's 2026. Carrier locking should be illegal.

it is here!

 

[Smaugg]

Thank God we don’t have that nonsense in Europe anymore.

 

[aaronhead14]

Carrier-locked phones are objectively stupid and should stop being a thing entirely.

 

[Böhme417]

I thought for VZW they couldn’t do lock phones based on a deal related to purchased spectrum.

That’s no longer the case. The FCC allowed them to go back to locking in January of this year.

 

[kevjen888]

if i purchase an iphone from apple and use their 24 month interest free payment plan or via Apple's IUP, and choose TMobile as my carrier during the ordering process, will my phone get locked to TMobile?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Finally!
It's always frustrated me for users to have this sort of choice and not be fully controlled.


-Tim

 

[mlayer]

My aversion to payment plans means it's always "Straight Cash, Homie" for all of my Apple hardware purchases. Oh well.

 

[CWallace]

if i purchase an iphone from apple and use their 24 month interest free payment plan or via Apple's IUP, and choose TMobile as my carrier during the ordering process, will my phone get locked to TMobile?

No. As noted in the article, iPhones purchased using Apple financing are unlocked.

The article notes this only happens if your iPhone is financed through the carrier on one of the carrier's installment plans and once the phone is paid off, it can be unlocked.

 

[F23]

iPhone Upgrade Program?

 

[CWallace]

iPhone Upgrade Program?

As noted in the article, iPhones purchased under IUP remain unlocked.

 

[chrfr]

You can still buy an unlocked phone financed through Apple, just financed for 2 years instead of 3.

 

[goobot]

How about not locking it for customers who have for years always paid their bill. New or unreliable people getting locked phones makes sense.

 

[ricketysquire]

I mean if it's carrier financed, then it makes sense it being locked. Through as soon as its paid off, it should be fully unlocked.

 

[CalMin]

It's 2026. Carrier locking should be illegal.

Not if the phone is subsidized by the carrier. You’re effectively getting a cheaper phone in exchange for committing to that carrier for a defined period of time.

For the record, that’s why I never buy an iPhone from a carrier. I save more by buying it outright than I would with a carrier deal—especially when I travel internationally.

I fully recognize that not everyone can do that, but without carrier locking, there would be little incentive for a carrier to subsidize the purchase price.

 

[surferfb]

Even though I don’t buy locked phones and don’t trust carriers as far as I can throw them, unless I am missing something, this actually doesn’t bother me.

If you have your mobile phone carrier buy the phone for you, it makes sense it’d be locked to them until it’s paid off.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Last I checked, Apple Card monthly installments were no longer an option.

Unless you want to be locked in to one of the cartel providers, you must buy the iPhone outright, even on Apple Card.

 

[Hairball]

Last I checked, Apple Card monthly installments were no longer an option.

Unless you want to be locked in to one of the cartel providers, you must buy the iPhone outright, even on Apple Card.

This is true. When I purchased my last few phones,. I had to pay full price upfront. I don’t understand why an unlocked phone can’t be financed.

 

[sw1tcher]

Locked smartphones can be problematic when traveling internationally, because activating a second eSIM for another network is blocked.

I mean if it's carrier financed, then it makes sense it being locked. Through as soon as its paid off, it should be fully unlocked.

So international travelers are SOL?

 

[CarAnalogy]

Not if the phone is subsidized by the carrier. You’re effectively getting a cheaper phone in exchange for committing to that carrier for a defined period of time.

For the record, that’s why I never buy an iPhone from a carrier. I save more by buying it outright than I would with a carrier deal—especially when I travel internationally.

I fully recognize that not everyone can do that, but without carrier locking, there would be little incentive for a carrier to subsidize the purchase price.

I haven't bothered with this for a long time for the same reason I don't buy my computers from my ISP, but back when that was the only option, my real problem with this is what happens when it is paid off.

AT&T at least made it an enormous pain. And I'll never forgive them for withholding updates from their locked version of an Android phone I had at the time.

The thought of these network operators having their claws in my phone is just gross. This was the exact innovation Steve Jobs fought so hard for. The radical concept that the phone was just a computer attached to their network, and the network operator shouldn't control every aspect of it solely to extract profit.

 

[Böhme417]

Not if the phone is subsidized by the carrier. You’re effectively getting a cheaper phone in exchange for committing to that carrier for a defined period of time.

For the record, that’s why I never buy an iPhone from a carrier. I save more by buying it outright than I would with a carrier deal—especially when I travel internationally.

I fully recognize that not everyone can do that, but without carrier locking, there would be little incentive for a carrier to subsidize the purchase price.

How are you getting a cheaper phone? What is being subsidized? Aren’t those payment plans just the retail price of the phone spread out? I’m not following your math.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The thought of these network operators having their claws in my phone is just gross. This was the exact innovation Steve Jobs fought so hard for. The radical concept that the phone was just a computer attached to their network, and the network operator shouldn't control every aspect of it solely to extract profit.

Yeah. I think it’s also part of why they didn’t like SIM cards anymore. (Vs eSIM)