As many of you probably already know Apple has made it a point to make it tough on outsiders to access the interworkings of their tech. That is why it is harder to pull open a MacBook than it would be to open up any other type of laptop. The same thing happens with phones. iPhones are not as easy to tamper with as many other phones out there. Yet, if you want to buy a foreign SIM you are going to need to make sure that your iPhone is unlocked. If you don’t unlock the iPhone the foreign SIM won’t work it is as simple as that. Now, for the most part, we want you to be able to take the easy route. A route that won’t potentially harm your phone. Since they are not cheap. Therefore, we are going to be talking about different ways that you could potentially unlock an iPhone or get an unlocked iPhone in the first place.
To be honest, it is actually better to have an unlocked phone, to begin with. Rather than trying to unlock it on the fly. Yet, since iPhones are really expensive a lot of people buy them off their mobile carrier. There are a couple of reasons why this may not be the best idea. Especially if you are a big traveler. Having a phone that you are still paying the phone company for is going to limit your possibilities. You are probably going to have to go for the hack method to unlock an iPhone. If your phone sustains any damage while you try and pull one of these methods off you may not be liable to get a free repair even if you paid your Apple care fee. It goes without saying, but we just don’t recommend the hack method, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
- Using unlock methods to unlock an iPhone
- Have you paid off your phone?
- Buying an iPhone that is already unlocked
- Do dual SIM phones have to be unlocked?
- Talk to an expert to unlock an iPhone
- Buy a travel phone abroad
Using unlock methods to unlock an iPhone
If you happen to scroll through Youtube, you are probably going to find a whole bunch of different ways that you could potentially unlock an iPhone. Are all of these ways valid? Probably not, also Apple tends to update its software so that specific methods of unlocking the phone that may have been in use may not be usable anymore. There is one method that we want to cover, though. This is the method that seems basically the easiest and the most effective. This method involves getting an unlock chip. This is basically just a device that you are going to be putting around your SIM card to be able to unlock your phone. It is simple enough, all that you are going to have to do is remove your regular SIM and put the unlock chip in with the new SIM.
As was mentioned before, this was a method that was working at the time of writing for this article. These unlock chips can be bought online. The biggest problem is to figure out which page you can actually trust to sell you something that works. There are a couple of links that we have seen that sell products that work. Also, these products seem to be not overly harmful to the device itself. Therefore, it looks like a safer play. Different versions of the iPhone are going to require different unlock chips. This is not a once size fits all ordeal. So, that is certainly something that you are going to want to keep in mind while buying these chips.
The main reason why we won’t endorse any method entirely is that there hasn’t been a foolproof method that has been developed with a lasting impact. The chip method is one that has been around for quite a while. Presumably, the people who make the chips themselves have adapted as Apple has modified its tech. Therefore it seems to be a method that could potentially be here to stay. Make sure you get the updated version, and you have an updated IOS version on the phone you are trying to crack.
Have you paid off your phone?
One of the best and 100% effective ways to make sure that you are in possession of an unlocked phone is to buy an unlocked phone in the first place. You can do this by buying the phone directly off, of a manufacturer’s webpage. Be it Samsung, Apple, Huawei, or whoever it is that you want to buy from. In this scenario, you essentially get the phone first, and then you have a chance to pick and chose who you want your regular service provider to be.
We are not saying that you must have all of the cash upfront to be able to pay for the latest phones. A lot of people like buying phones from their mobile services providers, because they almost see it as a lease on a car. You are paying a small fee along with whatever it is that you are getting charged for your plan. After some time you are going to get the chance to upgrade to the latest phone. That is a good plan, but it is not great for travel. Since these phones are typically the ones that are locked in the first place. With a locked phone, you can’t input a SIM from another company.
The reason that the initial question on this section is about having paid off your phone is that technically your service provider should unlock the phone for you once you have paid it off. Since the phone is now yours and you should be able to do with it as you please. Some companies may be reluctant to do so and may even punish employees for helping out customers on this. Yet, it is always worth a shot to get help from a person that probably knows more about phones than you.
Buying an iPhone that is already unlocked
The easiest way to do this is to do something that we have already talked about. Buy the phone directly from Apple. Once you do that you are not going to be tied down by any company. A lot of people will go for the phone plus the plan charge. As was mentioned as well, this is looked at like leasing a car. We want to make things as simple as possible. If you are someone who travels a lot you need to have a phone that is unlocked. If you don’t you are going to be stuck paying the international fees that your regular provider has. With the type of coverage that they are able to provide abroad. For most US-based service providers the best that you can get is 3G coverage abroad. If speed is something that you are interested in you are probably not going to want to deal with these issues.
If you are buying a pre-owned phone off of eBay or any other site make sure that the phone is already unlocked before you buy it. You could potentially use the unlock method that was mentioned above if that was not the case. Yet, if you are going to be putting money down, you should be able to buy exactly what you need the first time around. At least that is the way that we see it!
Do dual SIM phones have to be unlocked?
This is the biggest question that people tend to have regarding this generation of phones. Dual-SIM phones are supposed to give you the ability to essentially have two numbers and two separate coverages if you will, within the same phone at the same time. What most mobile service providers don’t tell you is that if you buy the phone off of them there is a good chance that you are going to be getting a locked phone. Even if the phone does boast dual-SIM capabilities. It even sounds off when you say it. Yet, mobile service providers are not going to relinquish the power to make it tough on you to switch from one carrier to the next. It would be a bad business deal.
With that in mind, what could you do with iPhones that come unlocked? You would have to go ahead and follow the procedures that were mentioned above. Talk to your service provider to see if there is anything that can be done. Spoiler alert, this is usually not going to garner great results. As they are probably going to try and push you towards hiring their international plan when what you want is a new SIM card. You could try an unlock method if the “diplomatic” way to do things fails. There is a chance that you could find an employee at your local T-Mobile, AT&T, or Sprint shop to help you out. This is highly unlikely though.
Just as overall advice, if you have one of these phones it is certainly a good idea to make sure that you get it checked out before you head out to wherever it is that you are going. The last thing that you are going to want to do is arrive at your destination and not be sure what you can and cannot do with your phone. While there are some folks that sell SIM cards on the street that could help you out, you can’t just trust anyone with your phone these days.
Talk to an expert to unlock an iPhone
This is pretty much something that we just finished mentioning. If you can get help at a certified Verizon shop or whatever it may be that should be option one. Especially if you are a person that is not very comfortable messing with your phone’s settings and things like that. What is the worst thing that can happen if an unlock process goes wrong? Well, you could lose all of the data that you have stored on your phone. These days having a backup whether it be physical or cloud back up is way more popular. So people are not as afraid to lose all of their personal information. Yet, it is something that could happen if you don’t handle this process correctly. You could be pushed back to an earlier version of your operating system which could slow down your phone overall. So, it is safe to say there is some concern if you want to see it that way.
Now, if they can’t help you at a certified dealer you should certainly think about visiting some of the repair places that could be in your community. The guys that work on repairing all sorts of gadgets are probably going to know a few tips and tricks to unlock your phone. If you do this be very careful that no one tries to open up your iPhone. Apple is very picky when it comes to checking to see if your warranty can be valid if anything goes wrong. The first thing that they are going to check is whether or not the phone was tampered with. If they find that in fact the phone was tampered with in any way there is a good chance that they are not going to make your warranty valid. Ideally, you won’t get to this particular point where you have to worry about your warranty being valid or not. It is just a good idea to know what the consequences of your actions could be.
Buy a travel phone abroad
In another article on this site, we had mentioned that Android phones were better for traveling than iPhones. The simple logic behind this is that Android phones are more universal. In that, you are going to be able to find SIM cards, chargers, and all sorts of gadgets for these phones wherever you go. For a lot of people though iPhones have a better operating system with fewer bugs and better features overall as well as a design that is still unmatched. Having said all of this, would it be a good idea to buy a travel phone that is already unlocked and that you can put foreign SIM cards in easily.
The idea of putting in a foreign SIM card in an easy manner should not be the only thing that you should be taking into account when you decide whether or not you want to buy a travel phone. Think about it, most of the negative things that can happen when trying to unlock an iPhone involve data loss. The way that you lose data faster is by losing your actual device. At times if you are traveling and you are going to visit some remote places or going on extreme tours it could be easy to lose your phone. Therefore, another good reason why you may want to think about buying a travel phone is to protect your regular phone from those adventures. You can also do some good to your phone by protecting from pickpocketers. If you have a phone that does not have a lot of personal data on it and that you did not spend a lot of money on you can actually sleep a lot better at night!
Anything else that you would need to know
Throughout the article, the main thing that we have basically wanted to permeate is a feeling of “proceed with caution”. It is certainly better to know exactly what you are doing and the consequences of that could be. The best thing that you can do is make sure that you buy an iPhone that is already unlocked. We have talked about how it is like a lease with phone companies. There are usually promotions though run by Apple that allow you to have that phone upgrade if you stick with them long term. Again, if you get the phone directly from Apple it is probably going to be unlocked without you having to do anything about it. If you are someone who travels a lot this should be the path that you think about taking.
Are there more issues that you would need to worry about when it comes to taking an iPhone abroad? If you are comfortable with the way that your phone operates there shouldn’t be anything that you would have to be overly worried about. At the end of the day, it is really about making reasonable decisions. Don’t try unlocking methods that seem kind of shady. Don’t give your phone to a stranger that says that they can unlock it. These things may seem overly simple and even dumb. When you make that wrong decision though you are going to certainly feel dumb. So, it is better to be prepared and to have an idea of what could happen if you go with one path or the other.