Cell Phones

is my iphone 4s unlocked?

  • Last Updated:
  • Sep 10th, 2012 8:23 pm
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Member
May 25, 2003
209 posts
25 upvotes

is my iphone 4s unlocked?

i originally had a 4s locked to rogers that was recently replaced by apple. with the new phone, if i put in a Bell or Telus sim card the Carrier field under Settings will recognize the carrier the sim card belongs. however the screen will then turn black, go back to the start up screen and a pop up will appear saying "activation required". it will then go through the initial set up screen giving me a list of possible wifi connections to connect to. if i put the Rogers sim card back in i still get the same "activation required" pop up but it will allow me to skip the setup and my phone will return to normal.

i've had previous iphones replaced by apple in the past and know they will lock the phone to the carrier you were originally on. i've tried in the past with other sim cards on the older phone and have gotten a message saying something along the lines of carrier unidentified.

the model number of the phone is MD234LL
5 replies
Deal Guru
Sep 28, 2010
10950 posts
3262 upvotes
When you exchange through Apple, the locked/unlocked status of your old phone carries over to the new phone. So if you old one was locked, the new one should be locked too.
Member
May 25, 2003
209 posts
25 upvotes
unfortunately i never checked with previous 4s before it was replaced. if it was unlocked you should be able to switch between sim cards for different carriers. i'm just not sure cause of the "activiation required" prompt.
Deal Guru
Sep 28, 2010
10950 posts
3262 upvotes
fantastic_dan wrote: unfortunately i never checked with previous 4s before it was replaced. if it was unlocked you should be able to switch between sim cards for different carriers. i'm just not sure cause of the "activiation required" prompt.
I think your confusion stems from seeing the list of carriers in Settings. This will appear, whether your phone is locked or not. If your phone is locked and you insert a 'foreign" SIM, then you will get the 'Activation Required' message, AFAIK. Basically, there is no reason to think you have an unlocked phone.
Deal Addict
Sep 17, 2011
3885 posts
666 upvotes
IF the phone was unlocked it would work... I had the wifes Iphone unlocked... Using it on Att in the states right now and all I did was pop in att sim and it works no need to do anything
Banned
User avatar
Oct 15, 2005
12954 posts
1617 upvotes
North York
it's locked. if you need an unlock. read the signature below.

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