Apple-unlocked iPhone became locked suddenly!!

I have an Apple-unlocked iPhone 3GS which I bought in Australia 2 years ago. It's always worked fine with various SIMs and varuious carriers - I travel a lot so unlocked was my chocie as I use SIMs in each country I visit. Recently in UK, I bought and installed a prepaid (pay as you go) SIM while I was there and now I find the phone is locked to that carrier. Well, at least it will not make calls - it'll recieve calls and it'll send and recieve SMS messages, but I can't make any calls - it just begins the calling process then gives call failed message. Now I find the problem, I've moved on to another country so getting the carrier to see to it is impossible for me. So now I have a locked phone because somehow a carrier has been able to disable the factory unlock by using their SIM I installed. This is a carrier I have not used before with this phone.
Amazing... how can that happen? How can a carrier have that sort of power over the device???
Can anyone tell me what's happened here? How can I get back to the original unlocked state?
I've tried a total Restore, but no change - still locked.
Thank you in advance for any help offered.

Okay I found the fix. Firstly it was not actually locked - I realised it couldn't be since it was still receiving calls and sending/receiving texts. Locked would give the SIM warning at the unlock screen.
So... eventually, Restored the phone and set up as a new iPhone instead of from backup. No more problem. Must have been corrupt backup files, so deleted all those from my Mac and have started from scratch with the new setup.

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Unlocked iPhone became locked after upgrade to iOS6 - what should I do?

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Since about a year ago I've been using it in Israel with Israeli carrier. Didn't need to jailbreak it or anything, since it was bought unlocked.
However, after upgrade to iOS6 this morning, it became locked and I can't use it again.
Any ideas what to do? Did this happen to anyone else?

You need to contact the Apple retail store in Montreal where the iPhone was purchased.
If you still have the receipt, the receipt should indicate unlocked.

Will apple unlock iphone if i bought it from my service provider?

Will apple unlock iphone if i bought it from my service provider?

No, because Apple didn't lock the phone to begin with. Your service provider did. Only your service provider can initiate the unlock. Contact them and see if they even offer unlocking, and if they do, what the requirements you need to fulfill are.

Official Apple Unlocked iPhone, not supported by Apple

Whilst I was travelling in South East Asia, I needed to purchase a new phone.
I found a supplier of iPhones in Thailand that sold me an Official Apple Unlocked iPhone, it turned out to be an Italian iPhone, again an official Apple one.
I needed an unlocked phone that I could use in many different countries, using local SIM cards.
I have been very happy with the phone, it needed updating to v2 and this did not cause any problems.
I was just speaking with AppleCare about an unrelated issue. at the end of the conversation I mentioned that the only thing about the iPhone that was disappointing about the iPhone was the volume of the speaker phone. The agent took the serial number of the iPhone and put me through to iPhone support.
The iPhone agent then took the serial number again and told me that I had an Italian iPhone, because it was bought in Thailand, support was only available through Thailand, she also told me that using a SIM card other than that of an official carrier voided the warranty.
All this seems a bit restrictive, for people in my position, to buy an Official Apple product and then be denied support defeats the object of sourcing an unlocked product in the first place. I can understand why Apple refuse to support iPhones that are unofficially unlocked, but to deny support for an official product seems grossly unfair.
Anyone else had problems getting Apple to support their own products, any ideas how this situation can be resolved?
Jeremy

Apple clearly states that an iPhone is supported only in the country in which is was officially distributed. If you purchased an Italian-distributed iPhone in Thailand, it was imported and sold against Apple's terms and contracts and so you may indeed have problems getting it serviced since it will not show as being sold in the correct country. Using a SIM from another carrier is also unsupported. The only places in Thailand where can purchase an iPhone that will be supported by Apple in that country are True Move stores or Apple Premium Resellers. See:
http://www.apple.com/asia/iphone/buy/#th
for links to approved locations. Any such iPhone sold will be supported only in Thailand.
At this point you're probably stuck since you have an unofficially-sold iPhone. Your best route will be to sell your current iPhone and purchase one from an official dealer in your country of residence. Do not buy one in any other country (unless you'll be in that country for months or years), whether it's unlocked or carrier-locked, or you'll have the same problem.
Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

Do bought from Apple Store iPhones get locked to first sim carrier?

I have bought many iPhones for myself and my family over the years and always on contract, UNTIL the iPhone 5. When it came out, I decided to avoid all the unlocking mess and contract handset subsidy thing and buy an unlocked (or so I thought) iPhone 5 from Apple. Now, someone told me the other day, that the 'unlocked' handset becomes locked to the carrier of the first sim that is inserted.
Surely this can't be true, is it?

Ihavenoideas wrote:
Apple support told me today that it locked to the first SIM inserted.
02 support told me today they had seen iPhones become locked to thier network even though they were bought SIM free.
Either way it's a complete Nightmare sorting out what's going on here!
Seb
Apple support have told me today that their unlocked handsets are locked to the carrier of the first sim card inserted. BUT, they also said that doing a forced restore in iTunes with a different carrier's sim will then lock it to that carrier.
However, I was also told that certain sim cards can totally lock handsets. This I find disturbing. Take the scenario that you want to check to see if a handset is unlocked. Standard procedure is to try a sim from another carrier. You'd get a bit of a suprise when you put your original sim back into your phone to find that it no longer works as it's been locked to another carrier!

How to unlock iphone 5s locked to orange tunisia?

please somebody tell me how to unlock my iphone 5s locked to orange tunisia.
Thank you..

Contact them & see if they offer official unlocking & if you qualify. There's no other way to get your phone officially unlocked.
Apple won't help you.

My Unlocked Iphone is LOCKED. Dosent work in brazil

I bought a Iphone 4 at apple store, paid $699 cause I'm from Brazil, the guy told me with 100% certainty the iphone will work.
Now i'm at Brazil and have a LOCKED phone and Apple here dosent give support for Iphone!
Anyone knows what i can do ??
I think i become fooled at Apple Store.

nzelfman wrote:
I purchased an official unlocked iPhone 3GS from a wireless provider in Singapore and paid full price for the unit as I wanted an iPhone that I could use with any pre/postpaid GSM wireless company around the world of my choosing. Coming to the US, I have used the ATT network and a few months back my wife was unable to use this supposed unlocked phone while overseas and was unable to do so because it was now locked to the ATT network. I have spent hours on the phone with both Apple and ATT and to summarize the answer that I got. Apple has no ability to unlock the phone for me. ATT DOES NOT unlock any iPhones period. I was told by an ATT rep that if you used an unlocked iPhone on the ATT network, it will download a software to relock the phone to the ATT network. Now I have a phone that I have paid full unsubsidized price and locked to the ATT network. I've been given the run around with both Apple and ATT unwilling to help me and I'm wondering if anyone in this forum can help advice what can I do. How can ATT/Apple relock a phone that was NOT purchased in the US and from ATT. How can they then wash their hands off the problem by saying that they both do NOT have unlock codes. Come on Apple, you manufactured the phones you must know the codes!!! I've been a great supported of Apple and the iPhones but this experience has left a bad impression and liable to force me to consider alternatives. Any thoughts advise who I can contact to make this right? Apple are you listening?
your going to have to keep trying at&t there the only ones who can unlock your phone... if your story is true I have never heard of this happening before..

Question about Legally Unlocked iPhones & Update 'locking'?

Please forgive me if this has been covered before, as I am a totally newbie in this area.
I have a question regarding legally unlocked iphones:
If I bought an iphone from a country that offered legally unlocked cellphones like Singapore for example, and then used it/patched it up for the first time AFTER bringing it back into the US, would this 'lock' the cellphone to only work in the US, or with ATT?
The reason I ask is due to two points: A) I know that certain countries offer cellphones that were never locked to begin with. B) I have read that after installing the latest patch (2.2.1 I think) in the US, iphones that were previously locked and then unlocked, will be re-locked.
So my question is basically this: What would happen in the event that you update a phone that was never locked to begin with? Would it 'lock' for the first time? Or would it remain unlocked still?
Thank you.

Legally unlocked iPhones have to be updated in the country where they were purchased to guarantee they are not relocked...Every country has their own iTunes -- When you connect to iTunes in the US you are connecting with a US ISP address on your computer. You would have a completely different ISP code in a different country.
Wait to update and see what others are finding before you attempt to update in the US. It is completely within Apple's right to relock phones used within the USA.
This is not the right forum site to get updates on this. A google search will bring up non-Apple websites where you will get up to date information about this.

Why do unlocked iPhones get locked to the first carrier SIM?

I wanted to buy an unlocked iPhone 5s in the UK. I was told at Phone4U that it will get locked to the first carrier SIM which I put in!!! And I will not be able to switch!!
I am an international student and travel a lot to my home country, isn't there any way I could buy an unlocked iPhone which remains unlocked, providing me flexibility to switch carriers ??

That has been an ongoing issue with "unlocked" iPhones from CarPhones and the place you mention...the iPhones are not unlocked in the true sense. They are setup to lock to the first sim inserted for activation. There really isn't away around this, either. Only the Apple store sells truly unlocked iPhones.
For a retail store: http://www.apple.com/retail/storelist/

How to unlock iphone 5 locked to three uk

I bought a second hand iphone 5, locked to three Uk. I cant contact the original owner of the iphone to request Three to Unlock it. is there anything i can do?
What if i buy a sim only 1 Month sim and Register this iphone on to that sim that Way will i be able to request three to unlock it?
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I contacted three, they said they can unlock the phone, however due to security reasons they can only do this when the original owner requests to do so. Which i understand. I bought the iphone from ebay and therefore i have no information of the original owner. I tried contacting the ebay guy, he said he got It from an ex work colleague who got the phone as an unwanted upgrade... I am Pretty sure i havent been frauded as he Had 121 positive feedback, including selling. What can I do to unlock my Iphone?

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Hi modular,
I guess you have not read my earlier threads completely, I received the approval and it did not work. I was in constant touch with AT&T on the case when they suddenly changed their policy and told me what is mentioned above.
I am not being wishful. I was told by AT&T earlier that my Phone was eligible and the earlier approval was some error from their side and would be corrected. If somebody is wasting everybody's time it is this change in policy by AT&T and their comments to contact Apple and whosoever. It is a developing situation and really bad in part of large corporations to walk back on their promise. I'm just seeking clarification on the current situation.
Lastly I think this is a forum to request for help from the community and if you feel time is being wasted do not read the threads or comment, I have provided enough tags and an appropriate subject line for you to ignore this thread. Either be emphatic to people's problem or do not comment.

My UNlocked Iphone got LOCKED after reset..!?

Hello there, did that happened to anybody else?
I got an Iphone5C last year from a Apple-Store in London.. UNLOCKED... so I payed the full price.
Was using the phone always with a prepaid O2 card.. was always working.. when I was in Germany I used my German SIM and it worked perfectly.
Recently I moved to Singapore... And I have a Singapore SIM card.. worked perfectly.. until today...
I had to reset the phone.. and just wanted to have it fresh... I did everything I always did on my iphone 3, iphone 4, and iphone5...
but suddenly it looks like the phone got LOCKED with my O2 carrierer!
When I was re-installing the phone he asked me to put in the SIM card... I had my Singapore SIM card in there (that already for 4-6 weeks was working) but I got the message that the SIM was invalid.. so i did put in my UK card... and he activated the phone.. fine right? not really... because as soon as I put the SIngapore SIM in there he ask me again for Iphone Activation... and telling me that the SIM is not valid and to contact my carrier for unlock.
I called apple.. they told me they can see in there System that I purchased the phone UNLOCKED.. and that I LOCKED the phone while I was resetting it (can sombody explain me how that is even possible?)..
So I contacted O2 now and they told me.. yes they can unblock it.. but for 15pounds! And I have to waut at least 2 weeks...
so,.. what did I do wrong ???
Cheers,
Giorgio

I have to check if I have still the receipt.. but like I wrote before... it was working.. so I do not think that I got a locked phone from Covent garden.
And... I do not care about the 15Pounds.. but it is about the concept... I payed for the phone to be unlocked... And apparently there is nothing strange about it that it got locked by mistake.. because the lady on the apple hotline was not surprised at all.She just told me "Looks like you locked the phone to the carrier while you where resetting the phone BECAUSE you had your O2 card in there" ... !???
I am still waiting for feedback from O2 and see what they say.

How to unlock iphone 4 locked to 3 uk

hello i bought an iphone 4 from ebay and it locked on 3 uk ?
i was reading this discussion
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16970013#16970013
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i have a friend live in uk can do the call for me but what did they will ask him about ? if they ask for the IMEI only ok good, but i think cuz am not the first owner then i will not unlock it
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The only way to find out is to ask 3 (or have your friend ask).

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My phone has always worked before hand with other sim cards, so I can't get my head about what could be wrong.
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Apple-unlocked iPhone became locked suddenly!!

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