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How do I know whether or not my iPhone 6s is locked and how do I unlock it?

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cynics said:
Straw man argument, of course they won't come and take it, it doesn't cost enough to warrant that sort of action unlike a car or house where they will come and take it away from you. Besides ATT doesn't want the phone, they want your money, which is why they have an early termination fee so you can break the contract.

If the phone was technically yours alone then if you stopped paying ATT then couldn't turn you into collection nor could they basically render the phone useless. But they can and will.

Look at it this way. I paid near 800 dollars (after taxes) for my iPhone 6S. You paid less then half of that, did you think you got some sort of amazing deal?

This is the whole purpose of it being locked btw. If you stopped paying for it and went to a different network AT&T would be out the remainder of your phones cost.
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LTE phones aren't locked on Verizon, for example, and they seem to be doing just fine as far as being able to have people live up to their contracts or financing agreements. Seems like one isn't a necessity for the other.
 
Hieveryone said:
Att does not own my device. I own it. They can't just come and take it away.
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This has to be a joke... you can't seriously think you've paid in full for the device? It might be prudent to read the contract next time. I don't like having my options taken away, so personally I don't do any kind of long term contracts anymore if there are other options... even if it were cheaper I wouldn't want to be tied in.

By the way, why do you want to unlock it?
 
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C DM said:
LTE phones aren't locked on Verizon, for example, and they seem to be doing just fine as far as being able to have people live up to their contracts or financing agreements. Seems like one isn't a necessity for the other.
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You say that as if Verizon magnanimously decided to unlock phones. As if Verizon is ok with this.

They didn't and they are certainly not ok with it. They were forced to because of an agreement with the FCC.

If the FCC said it was ok for them to lock phones again do you think Verizon would hesitate to do so?
 
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eyoungren said:
You say that as if Verizon magnanimously decided to unlock phones. As if Verizon is ok with this.

They didn't and they are certainly no ok with it. They were forced to because of an agreement with the FCC.

If the FCC said it was ok for them to lock phones again do you think Verizon would hesitate to do so?
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I know the reasoning why, what I'm saying is that they are doing just fine with all those phones being unlocked. Sure, they would likely not do it if they weren't required, but what that shows is that locking isn't a necessity or something that really makes a difference for them, just something carriers decide to do just because they can basically.
 
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cynics said:
Straw man argument, of course they won't come and take it, it doesn't cost enough to warrant that sort of action unlike a car or house where they will come and take it away from you. Besides ATT doesn't want the phone, they want your money, which is why they have an early termination fee so you can break the contract.

If the phone was technically yours alone then if you stopped paying ATT then couldn't turn you into collection nor could they basically render the phone useless. But they can and will.

Look at it this way. I paid near 800 dollars (after taxes) for my iPhone 6S. You paid less then half of that, did you think you got some sort of amazing deal?

This is the whole purpose of it being locked btw. If you stopped paying for it and went to a different network AT&T would be out the remainder of your phones cost.
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I got a better than deal than you because you paid more money for the same phone!!!
 
a lot of people in here are missing a key point.

whether the phone is locked or unlocked, the owner still HAS TO PAY OFF the device for 2 years. locking phones is stupid and it's only to benefit the carrier in 1 way: roaming fees. that's it.

it has nothing to do with reselling and non-payment.
 
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Stevessvt said:
And you're married to yours for 2 years.
How was the wedding? Was it nice?
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The OP was just trolling people earlier this week in some thread about owning a different color iPhone for each day of the week. I would bet that he's doing the same thing here, given comments like the one below.

Hieveryone said:
I got a better than deal than you because you paid more money for the same phone!!!
Click to expand...
 
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iPad Retina said:
True but they will be able to blacklist your phone I believe, not be able to connect to a carrier again, or until paid off
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On 2 year contract terms they don't usually blacklist the device.
They will send your account to collections for money owed and etf fees. Also in turn the whole process can screw up your credit or take you to court to collect their outstanding debt.
 
C DM said:
LTE phones aren't locked on Verizon, for example, and they seem to be doing just fine as far as being able to have people live up to their contracts or financing agreements. Seems like one isn't a necessity for the other.
Click to expand...

I agree. They can still allow them to unlock their device and if the customers don't pay or hold up their end of the agreement send them to collections. Same thing all carriers have been doing for years.
But you gotta remember Verizon didn't just wake up and feel nice one day and decided to have all their LTE devices fully unlocked for all their customers.
The FCC made them do that in order for Verizon to purchase the 700MHz "C Block," the largest and most lucrative of five blocks in the 700MHz range auctioned in 2008 with a price tag of $4.64 billion.
 
Applejuiced said:
I agree. They can still allow them to unlock their device and if the customers don't pay or hold up their end of the agreement send them to collections. Same thing all carriers have been doing for years.
But you gotta remember Verizon didn't just wake up and feel nice one day and decided to have all their LTE devices fully unlocked for all their customers.
The FCC made them do that in order for Verizon to purchase the 700MHz "C Block," the largest and most lucrative of five blocks in the 700MHz range auctioned in 2008 with a price tag of $4.64 billion.
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Right, they did it for other reasons. I was just saying that locking isn't really needed for the whole agreement and contract or financing piece, the carriers do it just because they can essentially and can do just fine without it (as Verizon has been, whatever the reasoning that caused it has been).
 
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C DM said:
LTE phones aren't locked on Verizon, for example, and they seem to be doing just fine as far as being able to have people live up to their contracts or financing agreements. Seems like one isn't a necessity for the other.
Click to expand...

AT&T
 
C DM said:
Right, they did it for other reasons. I was just saying that locking isn't really needed for the whole agreement and contract or financing piece, the carriers do it just because they can essentially and can do just fine without it (as Verizon has been, whatever the reasoning that caused it has been).
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We heard you the first time. You are likely correct. But that really has nothing to do with OPs situation; locked and tied to ATT for two years as he bought a phone on contract.
 
noisycats said:
We heard you the first time. You are likely correct. But that really has nothing to do with OPs situation; locked and tied to ATT for two years as he bought a phone on contract.
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Simply replied to someone else who replied to my post even after I clarified it in an earlier reply to another post.
 
cynics said:
AT&T
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Right. They don't do this, but not because it's somehow something that is needed, simply because they choose to just because essentially, which is what I was demonstrating.
 
C DM said:
Right. They don't do this, but not because it's somehow something that is needed, simply because they choose to just because essentially, which is what I was demonstrating.
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Hmm? Not sure what that has to do with the topic. The OP has an iPhone locked to AT&T.

We could find stipulations and exceptions to nearly every thread on this forum if we ignored the OP. Besides isn't he confused enough? :D
 
cynics said:
Hmm? Not sure what that has to do with the topic. The OP has an iPhone locked to AT&T.

We could find stipulations and exceptions to nearly every thread on this forum if we ignored the OP. Besides isn't he confused enough? :D
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Seems like a good part of the discussion was about why the locking was there in general and that's the part I was commenting on.
 
convergent said:
Right! You got a good deal. Let's compare monthly costs and your ability to go to whichever carrier you want!
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Monthly cost is EXACTLY the same if not cheaper for me. I have unlimited data, minutes and text.

You're not getting any discount on service at all for paying more money for the exact same phone I'm using. You're just paying more money for the exact same phone.

Also, why are you changing carriers so frequently? What's the reason for switching from att to t mobile to sprint to Verizon to boost to cricket and back around again?
 
The idea about unlocking is so you can easily go to another carrier if you want to, without replacing your phone.
What other reason would you need for having an unlocked phone?
It's not about how often you change carriers, it's about the versatility to buy a phone when you need it, where you find it, and use it on a different carrier if you prefer it for whatever reason.
You don't have that convenience with a locked phone, without paying for it, and... you pay more to do it. No way can you prove otherwise.
Did you choose to forget the "24-months" part of the financing?
An unlocked phone may be the same per month, but you don't have a 24 month contract, either. Because - you own the phone, no contract, and you can do what you want with it from month to month, not locked in to the carrier...
...
oh, crap... Am I really talking in circles here? Now I know what that dog feels like out chasing his tail....
To the other folks who unfortunately, like me, got sucked in to this thread:
More than 45 posts for the troll. I guess you can count that as successful trolling :D . (if there is such a thing)
 
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DeltaMac said:
The idea about unlocking is so you can easily go to another carrier if you want to, without replacing your phone.
What other reason would you need for having an unlocked phone?
It's not about how often you change carriers, it's about the versatility to buy a phone when you need it, where you find it, and use it on a different carrier if you prefer it for whatever reason.
You don't have that convenience with a locked phone, without paying for it, and... you pay more to do it. No way can you prove otherwise.
Did you choose to forget the "24-months" part of the financing?
An unlocked phone may be the same per month, but you don't have a 24 month contract, either. Because - you own the phone, no contract, and you can do what you want with it from month to month, not locked in to the carrier...
...
oh, crap... Am I really talking in circles here? Now I know what that dog feels like out chasing his tail....
To the other folks who unfortunately, like me, got sucked in to this thread:
More than 45 posts for the troll. I guess you can count that as successful trolling :D . (if there is such a thing)
Click to expand...
It can also just as easily be for someone that travels and uses a different service elsewhere while still the same one back home basically.
 
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