topic Re: Unlock phone in Get Support

Unlock phone

Charity — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 10:01:39 GMT

Good morning

I just returned to Canada after 9 yrs in South America. I have an iphone my sister gave me to use. I am having trouble unlocking it so i can use the public mobile sim card..... any suggestions?

Re: Unlock phone

Anonymous — Tue, 21 May 2019 16:19:31 GMT

@Charity where is the phone from?

Re: Unlock phone

lukealex121 — Tue, 21 May 2019 16:31:56 GMT

You’ll have to contact the previous carrier of the phone, (who it is locked to), who will unlock it for you for free, per the CRTC Consumer Code (given that it is a Canadian carrier). If you are unable to determine this, you may be able to use an unlocking service online for a small fee. Some “phone repair” stores will also unlock phones for ~$10 or so.

Once you do this, you’ll be provided with a code, which can be entered when it prompts you to after inserting the PM SIM card and restarting the phone.

Re: Unlock phone

Charity — Tue, 21 May 2019 16:24:12 GMT

Canada

Re: Unlock phone

geopublic — Tue, 21 May 2019 17:38:00 GMT

@Charity wrote:
Canada

@Charity If the phone is from Canada then you can get ~~the unlock code~~ it unlocked from the provider that you sister was using. What type of iPhone is it?

Re: Unlock phone

hairbag1 — Tue, 21 May 2019 16:53:06 GMT

@Charity wrote:
Good morning
I just returned to Canada after 9 yrs in South America. I have an iphone my sister gave me to use. I am having trouble unlocking it so i can use the public mobile sim card..... any suggestions?

Some of the older iPhones are now obsolete and won't work on the Public Mobile network. Apple has even stopped support for some of them. Which model do you have ?

Re: Unlock phone

GinYVR — Tue, 21 May 2019 17:28:10 GMT

@geopublic There is no unlock code for iPhones. All iPhones' status (locked / unlocked and with which provider etc) are stored in a database by Apple (They verify when you setup the phone).

It cost more than $10 to unlock the phone via 3rd party, especially Canadian iPhones. The $10 is usually a small circuit board that slip beteen the SIM and iPhone.. those things can be pesky and usually get disabled once a new iOS comes out. Not to mention since the iPhones these days are very slim, if the PCB gets dislodged you will need to take apart the phone to retrieve it.

@Charity, you should get your sister to contact her cell provider (ie the provider she got her phone from). As long as she is current with her account, they should unlock the phone. It is usually very quick.

Re: Unlock phone

geopublic — Tue, 21 May 2019 17:48:05 GMT

@GinYVR wrote:
@geopublic There is no unlock code for iPhones. All iPhones' status (locked / unlocked and with which provider etc) are stored in a database by Apple (They verify when you setup the phone).

@GinYVR Noted. Sorry not part of the iHerd. Unlock code or having the previous provider update the Apple database server thus unlocking the phone same difference in my book.

Re: Unlock phone

JackQuint — Tue, 21 May 2019 18:00:42 GMT

@GinYVR wrote:

@Charity, you should get your sister to contact her cell provider (ie the provider she got her phone from). As long as she is current with her account, they should unlock the phone. It is usually very quick.

Not "should", they are legally obligated to unless the phone is blacklisted. It's a quick phone call to the carrier and all should be fine.

Re: Unlock phone

Anonymous — Tue, 21 May 2019 18:10:50 GMT

@JackQuint wrote:
@GinYVR wrote:

@Charity, you should get your sister to contact her cell provider (ie the provider she got her phone from). As long as she is current with her account, they should unlock the phone. It is usually very quick.
Not "should", they are legally obligated to unless the phone is blacklisted. It's a quick phone call to the carrier and all should be fine.

I think the legal part is only if it's a phone marketed and sold in Canada by a Canadian provider.

Re: Unlock phone

computergeek541 — Tue, 21 May 2019 20:16:52 GMT

@JackQuint wrote:
Not "should", they are legally obligated to unless the phone is blacklisted. It's a quick phone call to the carrier and all should be fine.

Try telling that to Bell if you aren't a customer. Sone carriers will tend to be more helpful if you are an existing customer. Some carriers also make it much easier for existing clients (Freedom Mobile comes to mind) to unlock devices by providing unlock codes in the self-serve accounts.