ATT Ok'ed Unlock for my iPhone 6+ Restore Necessary for Unlock?

[FtrV8]

I sent in a request to have my iPhone 6+ unlocked just to see, and they sent me an email saying it is okay to be unlocked and will let me know in 48 hours.

Do I have to restore via iTunes and plugging it in? Trying to skip the restore process since it takes a long time with all the stuff I have. I have a blank Verizon nano-SIM to test.

 

[McDaddio]

I sent in a request to have my iPhone 6+ unlocked just to see, and they sent me an email saying it is okay to be unlocked and will let me know in 48 hours.

Do I have to restore via iTunes and plugging it in? Trying to skip the restore process since it takes a long time with all the stuff I have. I have a blank Verizon nano-SIM to test.

Yes.

You have to do a "restore phone", not a restore from backup (that was my mistake the first time).

So...
Back up phone.
Do a restore.
It it is successful it will say something like "Congratulations it is unlocked".

Then to get your stuff back, then do a restore from backup. Really doesn't take that long at all.

 

[FtrV8]

Gotcha!

Thanks.

 

[titans1127]

Don't bother with a restore, its not necessary. After AT&T approved my 6+ unlocked, I immediately popped a T-Mobile SIM in to test and i got signal right away. Save yourself the time and trouble of restoring.

 

[noobinator]

From what I understand people only restore so they can see that fancy confirmation message.

 

[winterny]

Any non-AT&T sim card will put the phone back into activation mode, and if the phone is truly unlocked, it will get the unlock signal at that activation (or an error, if not). Don't waste your time with a restore.

 

[FtrV8]

Don't bother with a restore, its not necessary. After AT&T approved my 6+ unlocked, I immediately popped a T-Mobile SIM in to test and i got signal right away. Save yourself the time and trouble of restoring.

Even better!

 

[ltb7]

I sent in a request to have my iPhone 6+ unlocked just to see, and they sent me an email saying it is okay to be unlocked and will let me know in 48 hours.

Do I have to restore via iTunes and plugging it in? Trying to skip the restore process since it takes a long time with all the stuff I have. I have a blank Verizon nano-SIM to test.

that is awesome and you have not paid for iPhone in full?!?

 

[iWozinator]

Yes.

You have to do a "restore phone", not a restore from backup (that was my mistake the first time).

So...
Back up phone.
Do a restore.
It it is successful it will say something like "Congratulations it is unlocked".

Then to get your stuff back, then do a restore from backup. Really doesn't take that long at all.

Completely false

 

[Applejuiced]

Don't bother with a restore, its not necessary. After AT&T approved my 6+ unlocked, I immediately popped a T-Mobile SIM in to test and i got signal right away. Save yourself the time and trouble of restoring.

Exactly.
For a long time now since ios 7 the restore wasn't necessary.
Just a waste of time to download, install, resync all your stuff back etc..
Just connect to wifi and pop in another carrier sim and it will activate and work fine.

 

[FtrV8]

that is awesome and you have not paid for iPhone in full?!?

The phone was on a two year contract on someone's account. On my account I am eligible for an upgrade. So I didn't use my upgrade.

 

[Bomb617]

The phone was on a two year contract on someone's account. On my account I am eligible for an upgrade. So I didn't use my upgrade.

How does that work? I don't understand...

 

[PLin]

How does that work? I don't understand...

Basically, if someone who is out of contract requests an unlock for an in-contract phone that was purchased using someone else's account, the request is sometimes approved.

I think AT&T first checks to see if the person requesting the unlock is still in-contract. If that person is still in-contract, the unlock request is automatically denied, and you'll get a denial email within minutes. If the person requesting the unlock is no longer under contract, you won't get an email for 24-48 hours, because the next step is to check if the device itself is under contract. I guess sometimes that second step isn't very accurate, so the request might be approved.

I was able to do this in the past with an iPhone 5, but I tried again with an iPhone 6, and it was denied.

 

[Applejuiced]

Basically, if someone who is out of contract requests an unlock for an in-contract phone that was purchased using someone else's account, the request is sometimes approved.

I think AT&T first checks to see if the person requesting the unlock is still in-contract. If that person is still in-contract, the unlock request is automatically denied, and you'll get a denial email within minutes. If the person requesting the unlock is no longer under contract, you won't get an email for 24-48 hours, because the next step is to check if the device itself is under contract. I guess sometimes that second step isn't very accurate, so the request might be approved.

I was able to do this in the past with an iPhone 5, but I tried again with an iPhone 6, and it was denied.

In other words the OP got lucky.
If the phone is bought under a 2 year contract on another line and used now on a different line it still does not qualify for an unlock.
Most likely the OP got a rep that bend the rules and didn't bother checking further and processed his unlock request.
I tried it too with my 6 Plus but they didn't want to hear it.