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Unlocking a Locked AT&T iPhone 6S/6S Plus ?

shadesofearl

shadesofearl

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 25, 2015
23
10
San Diego
Today just got an unlocked T-Mobile iPhone 6S 64 GB (Gold) for myself (paid full-price so unlocked ) and an AT&T iPhone 6S 64 GB (Rose Gold) for my wife.

Wife's phone is locked to AT&T (tested), we're going to the UK next week so looking to unlock her AT&T 6S ASAP. AT&T won't unlock it as it's still under contract, so looking for a third party provider.

I've used www.iphoneunlockguys.com and www.swiftunlocks.com in the past with good results, both have great reviews and professional customer service. I noticed SwiftUnlocks are not offering AT&T unlocks anymore (actually read an article last week in my tech feed about AT&T suing SwiftUnlocks for installing malware on AT&T computers so could be that reason)so ordered an AT&T iPhone unlock with iPhone Unlock Guys for $60.

Customer service at iPhone Unlock Guys assured me AT&T unlock service was working despite some problems now with AT&T unlocking because of the SwiftUnlocks court case, but said slots were limited and delays possible but all unlocks would be done.

What's your experience ? Anyone plan on unlocking an AT&T iPhone ?
 
I paid full price for my AT&T iPhone 6S on launch day (in store). AT&T granted me my unlock request that very day, within a mintue of me submitting my initial request. If you want a truly unlocked device without a bunch of hassle, you'll need to buy it out of contract and at the full price.
 
Cubus X said:
I paid full price for my AT&T iPhone 6S on launch day (in store). AT&T granted me my unlock request that very day, within a mintue of me submitting my initial request. If you want a truly unlocked device without a bunch of hassle, you'll need to buy it out of contract and at the full price.
Click to expand...

Well, my wife's phone is under contract and why should it be locked if we want to travel overseas?

Just got the unlock confirmation e-mail today from iPhone Unlock Guys and tested wife's AT&T 6S with my T-Mobile SIM card, it's unlocked and ready to go !
 
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I think OP got the phone unlocked so they can just get the SIM card abroad, insert into the phone and good to go. Much cheaper than paying roaming
 
sorry for bringing this thread live again. i'm in the same boat. i just got a AT&T 6S Plus from AT&T store for 2 year installment payment plan. i'm going to mainland china next month and did not know AT&T phone under contract are locked. i had Verizon iphone 5 and 6 also under contracts and were able to use them in china without any issues. i want to go the same route as OP, which is to unlock my AT&T phone by paying it off. do i pay that off with AT&T store or do i have to call in to pay it off? also i've read even after AT&T unlock your phone, it only works domestically, and still will not work with any of the chinese sim cards, any confirmation on this? my model number is A1634
 
kevjen888 said:
sorry for bringing this thread live again. i'm in the same boat. i just got a AT&T 6S Plus from AT&T store for 2 year installment payment plan. i'm going to mainland china next month and did not know AT&T phone under contract are locked. i had Verizon iphone 5 and 6 also under contracts and were able to use them in china without any issues. i want to go the same route as OP, which is to unlock my AT&T phone by paying it off. do i pay that off with AT&T store or do i have to call in to pay it off? also i've read even after AT&T unlock your phone, it only works domestically, and still will not work with any of the chinese sim cards, any confirmation on this? my model number is A1634
Click to expand...

You can pay off your device by going to your online account, calling or going into a store. Once its paid off, wait 24 hours then submit an unlock request online, they should process it immediately. If it doesn't go through, call them and they will re-process the unlock request. I cannot answer your question about Chinese SIM cards, but I can tell you that my unlocked AT&T iPhone 6 worked in the Bahamas with their SIM cards.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
You can pay off your device by going to your online account, calling or going into a store. Once its paid off, wait 24 hours then submit an unlock request online, they should process it immediately. If it doesn't go through, call them and they will re-process the unlock request. I cannot answer your question about Chinese SIM cards, but I can tell you that my unlocked AT&T iPhone 6 worked in the Bahamas with their SIM cards.
Click to expand...


Thanks, I just paid it off using my AT&T app, now I'm wondering is there a penalty for paying it off early? I just signed up for the 2 year installment plan 3 weeks ago.
 
i submitted the unlock request today, and got rejected, saying my account is not 60 days old yet. i called AT&T, explained to them my case, and they're going through an internal request to fulfill my request. it has gotten the approval from customer service manager but needs to go through the case dept to unlock. having account activated more than 60 days wasn't on the unlock prerequisits and i'm only unlocking 1 of the 3 phones i have on this account, so it's not like i will close the account or anything. let's hope the internal request works.
 
i finally got approved of unlocking by AT&T, they sent over instructions which are restore iphone back to Apple factory setting, and then restore the phone from the most recent backup. my question is after restore the phone to Apple factory setting do i need to set it up as a new phone first before restore from my backup?
 
AFAIK, you do not have to do the backup and restore. That's just a way of confirming the unlock (because you'll see a message in iTunes)
You could confirm yourself by going to a T-Mobile or other carrier's store and asking to borrow a SIM card to try out.
If the other carrier's SIM works then you know you're unlocked.
 
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i did the factory restore but did not see the unlock confirmation message in itune. guess i have to pop in another sim card to verify.
 
Well after the back and restore I did not see any confirmation that my phone is unlocked from either iTunes or AT&T. I inserted in my work phone Verizon SIM card and it says not supported, I'm hoping that's because Verizon uses cdma. I'll try to get a T-Mobile card to give it a try.
 
kevjen888 said:
Well after the back and restore I did not see any confirmation that my phone is unlocked from either iTunes or AT&T. I inserted in my work phone Verizon SIM card and it says not supported, I'm hoping that's because Verizon uses cdma. I'll try to get a T-Mobile card to give it a try.
Click to expand...

Verizon sim will work with your phone if it's officially unlocked. Your iPhone will support both cdma and gsm
 
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