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Is it legal to unlock your iPhone?
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With your telephone company, unlocking your iOS is legal and free. The only condition? Have subscribed to a subscription at least three months before.
It is advisable to make your unblocking request before the end of your subscription. For good reason, some consumers have complained about the lack of goodwill of their former telephone operator (all brands included) in the context of unlocking their telephone, once their subscription has ended. However, they must do so if you have been subscribed for more than three months.
To unlock your iOS, avoid going through a third-party website. Unlike other phones, iPhones cannot be unlocked with a “magic code” and neither site is really safe.
Related: How to know if an iPhone is unlocked?
Procedure to unlock an iPhone
It is possible to unlock your iPhone in 2 steps. First, as explained previously, get closer to your operator. To do this, take:
- your IMEI (15 digit code you get by typing * # 06 # on your phone)
- your phone number
- Your billing address
- the exact model of your iPhone
You can request an unlocking either in the store, by calling your customer service, or directly on your operator’s website (as is the case for Orange).
Second, you need to restore your iPhone with Music.
For this you will need:
- your macOS (connected to WiFi)
- your iPhone
- your new SIM card
Then:
- Insert your new SIM card into your iPhone and connect it to your computer.
- Your iPhone will be recognized automatically, launch Music.
- Click the iPhone icon and then click Sync Settings.
- Go to Restore iPhone.
- A pop-up will appear asking you if you want to keep your settings. Click Save.
- Another pop-up will open asking you to confirm restoring your phone, click Restore.
- Restoring iPhone takes a few seconds. If your SIM card has a PIN code, be aware that it will be required.
- Don’t have a Mac? Note that the process is the same on your PC via the iTunes application.
- Once the application is open, click on your iPhone icon at the top left of the iTunes window and then select Restore from this backup.
Related: How to Set Up an Apple WatchOS 7 for Your Kid
Unlock your Bouygues, Free, SFR, or Orange iPhone
French mobile operators (and even Sosh which is in fact a virtual mobile network operator) operate in two ways.
At Orange and SFR for example, the iPhone is blocked. You will therefore have to contact them to authorize its unlocking or go through their sites.
On the contrary, at Bouygues and Free, some iPhone models are already unlocked, you just need to restore your iOS by following the process mentioned above.
Unlock a used iPhone
Did you buy your iPhone from an individual? So, we advise you to first try to restore the smartphone with your SIM by following the tutorial of the first part of our article. If that doesn’t work, then it confirms that your phone is locked.
If you have the contact of the seller, ask him to reach his customer service to allow the unlocking of the iPhone you just bought him.
There are many shops that offer their unlocking services. It costs around 20 € or 30 €, but the result is not guaranteed and you may end up with an iPhone that has not been officially unlocked and whose capacities will be limited.
