Unlocking IPhone 5 on T-Mobile

[cat843]

Contacted T-Mobile to help a friend unlock IPhone 5 that was originally purchased from T-Mobile. After a lot of discussion with them, they sent a procedure which does not include a unlock code. I thought we needed one. They said to wait 24 hours before trying the procedure. I hope the procedure works and does not require T-Mobile cell service to work. The basic procedure is to back up the phone via ITunes erase the phone and restore. I assume behind the scenes T-Mobile contacts Apple and says to unlock the phone.

 

[Andrew1972]

Don't you just change the SIM card to new carrier and done?

 

[BikeWhisperer]

Originally Posted By: madRiver
Don't you just change the SIM card to new carrier and done?


NO...it doesn't work that way. You have to unlock the phone to use a different GSM network

 

[WhyMe]

i have done a couple. from what i understand they send info to Apple to unlock the phone. plug in phone and do a factory reset via itunes. the reset will send info to the phone to unlock it. at the end you should see a congrat your phone is now unocked.

 

[cat843]

Not in many cases. This is a reason in my mind to buy unlocked phones and find a carrier.

 

[Andrew1972]

I purchased an unlocked iPhone 6 from Verizon directly for $650 - $200 (trade in allowance for iPhone4 last year). Does that work on any network?