IOS 14 allows users to see if there are any SIM restrictions right from the phone’s settings. If you choose the latter, your device is already unlocked, and you can use any SIM card and pick up a full signal on any carrier. If you got your device from Apple directly, you had the choice to buy a model from a pre-selected carrier or purchase the phone outright with no carrier affiliation.

It’s safer to buy an unlocked device directly from the manufacturer, but you can find these cross-compatible cell phones at a lower price on eBay and other third-party seller sites. Your carrier can unlock your phone for you once specific criteria are met, or you can purchase an unlocked device. Older phones were not always compatible with other carriers because they featured carrier-specific attributes. Until that phone is paid off, it will remain locked to that company’s network. Most carriers will sell you a device on an installment or leasing program. While it certainly made sense that a carrier would want to lock down the features of their specific models, it made reselling or refurbishing smartphones a complicated process for anyone who wasn’t a high-level tech genius, resulting in tons of smartphone waste.

Once unlocked, the phone is yours to do with as you please, but until then, you’re stuck with the original network provider. If you’d like to use another carrier’s SIM card in your cell phone, you can verify that it is unlocked.

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