Can a carrier lock a sim-free phone

[maverick22]

I still owe $500 on a 7 plus. My sister in law wants to buy it. I want to switch to ATT and use a sim-free 8 plus/X on it.

Say I order the sim-free phone now, get it in a few days, put my sim from my "unpaid for/locked" T-Mobile phone into the new sim-free phone, will the new phone become locked ?

Makes me think of another question: my wife's old 6plus was paid off long before we joined Tmobile. Is it still unlocked?

I haven't dealt with this stuff enough. Thanks.

 

[Shadowbech]

No to your first question. If you buy a sim free model, it will stay unlocked permanently.*

As for the 2nd question, where did she get the 6 Plus and what carrier? If it's already paid off and not under any obligation, you can request an unlock and once approved it will be unlocked.

*This is if you buy it through Apple. I believe other retailer like Best Buy and Target have the policy to lock it once activated on a certain carrier (eg. AT&T). But in that case, you may want to activate it with a Verizon sim card first so that it will stay unlocked.

 

[eyoungren]

SIM locks are tied to the phone, not the SIM.

 

[maverick22]

No to your first question. If you buy a sim free model, it will stay unlocked permanently.*

As for the 2nd question, where did she get the 6 Plus and what carrier? If it's already paid off and not under any obligation, you can request an unlock and once approved it will be unlocked.

*This is if you buy it through Apple. I believe other retailer like Best Buy and Target have the policy to lock it once activated on a certain carrier (eg. AT&T). But in that case, you may want to activate it with a Verizon sim card first so that it will stay unlocked.

It was originally an AT&T phone. We paid it off before we even switched to T-Mobile. It was unlocked, and should be unless T-Mobile did something when we put their sim in.

Thanks