IPhone unlocked by carrier, will Apple replace with an unlocked phone in the event of a warranty replacement?

Question

Hi there.
I use an iPhone with the Canadian provider, Fido.  I purchased the phone from Fido and signed up for a 3 year contract in order to recieve the phone at the reduced price.  I understand that Fido performs a carrier lock on the phone when you sign up in this way so that the phone can only be used on the Fido network. 
At the moment I am in the process of cancelling my contract with Fido and switching over to another provider in Canada.  After doing some research, I found out that Fido offers a service where they will unlock your phone from their network when you finish your contract, for a fee.  Since I am cancelling my contract and paying the early cancellation penalty, my contract will be satisfied and I will be eligible for the unlock service.   My plan is to have my iPhone unlocked by Fido so that I can use the phone with my new provider. 
My question is this: If I have my phone legitimately unlocked by my provider, will Apple send me an unlocked phone in the event that their is a hardware failure covered under warranty, and I need a replacement iPhone?  All my previous replacement iPhones have been, to my knowledge, locked by Apple back onto my provider before they are sent to me.  But, it would be awfully annoying if a replacement phone came to me locked onto an old network that I no longer use.
Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Answer 1

Are you sure about this? I thought so too, but when I received my replacement iPhone 6, it was locked again.
I bought a carrier locked iPhone. Then it was replaced with another carrier iPhone. This second phone (first replacement) was then unlocked. Later the unlocked iPhone was replaced with a third phone (second replacement). To my disappointment the second iPhone replacement is locked.
The Authorized Service center said that Apple made a mistake and should unlock it remotely ASAP. Apple Support however, says that iPhones are replaced with specifications of the originally initially purchased iPhone. If the original was unlocked, they would replace it with unlocked, but if it was locked then replaced with a locked and then unlocked by carrier. The carrier should be contacted again to unlock future replacements. I know it sounds ridiculous and illogical.
If an iPhone has been unlocked (obviously by a carrier), why would you replace it with a locked iPhone and ask the customer to contact his carrier and request another unlock for the replacement iPhone? So inefficient and could be a problem if the carrier allows only one unlock per year per line like most do, or if you are no longer a customer of that carrier.
Interestingly I found the following on Apple's "Hardware Warranty". Retrieved from: https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/ios-warranty-document-us.html):
"Following warranty service your Apple Product or a replacement device will be returned to you as your Apple Product was configured when originally purchased, subject to applicable updates.”
What I understand from this is that replacements will be configured exactly as the originally purchased including any updates made to it. I believe unlock is considered an update.
Apple Support argues that the second device was unlocked (updated), but the original (initial / first) device was not unlocked. Therefore, I should deal with my old carrier to unlock this one.
How insanely ridiculous is that???