If you are wondering what exactly a locked iPhone means, then you have come to the right article. Today I will tell you the types of locks and what ways to get around them.
Of course, I won’t go into details, such as sites to use or who to contact in this or that case. Purely general information to help you understand what a locked iPhone means.
What is a locked iPhone?
If you want to buy an iPhone for yourself, then it is best not to chase too low a price, because there is such a thing as Locked iPhone.
There are actually two types of such iPhones:
- locked to the operator: in America, phones are often made purely for one operator, that is, you cannot use any other SIM card;
- iCloud: If a user forgets their iCloud password and then sells their device, they subsequently end up with a useless brick.
Both options come across to many buyers quite often, and to avoid this, it is best to buy a smartphone only from trusted sources.
And of course, the ideal option is when you buy a device directly from the official Apple store - this is an option that will never let you down.
How to find out if your iPhone is locked or not?
If Locked SIM. In the first case, you will have to check the phone simply by inserting your SIM card. If the network is available and you can make calls, then everything is fine. 
And by the way, we carefully look at the SIM card slot, because sometimes they can insert a chip. Some craftsmen have now begun to solder them, and this makes it impossible to check the account in the usual way.
If iCloud Locked. Here everything is much more complicated, because we get a phone that is not suitable as a smartphone at all, because you won’t be able to download anything for yourself. 
We also make sure that you are logged out of iCloud before purchasing. Reboot your device and immediately enter your details. If everything shakes, then everything is ok.
Also, if there is a new update, then it is best to try updating. This may appear at this stage too. So be careful.
What to do if your iPhone is locked?
It’s quite a shame when you finally buy yourself an iPhone, and then there’s such a setup. There are, of course, a couple of ways and they may well fit some options. 
If this is the case with a SIM card, then you need to unlock the phone and now there are quite a lot of craftsmen who are actively doing this. Of course, there are options when he is not able to help.
Usually just buy special code activation, or simply insert a chip that will help you fully use your iPhone.
In the case of iCloud everything is much more complicated. The easiest option is to try to find out your login and password to log out of your old account, but this is just ideal.
In practice, usually the processor is simply changed or the phone is simply used as an iPod. Also, people simply sell their device for spare parts.
Previously, people tried to find out passwords and e-mail, but the process is quite labor-intensive and many simply do not want to take on this.
Conclusions
Now you know a little more about a locked iPhone and what it actually is. It is best not to get into such a situation, but if this happens, then you will have to get out of it as soon as possible.
There are ways to solve this problem and many work quite well. Of course, try to buy either through good friends or just in normal stores.
When buying an iPhone, even a new one, secondhand, it is important to remember that it may be tied to a specific mobile provider. Selling an iPhone “tethered” is practiced in many countries - under the terms of the contract, users receive Apple smartphone at a low price, but undertake to pay for a certain period of time (up to two years) cash for the right to use the device. In order not to get into trouble and not run into a similar iPhone, users must be able to check the current status of the device.
An unlocked iPhone, in turn, allows you to use the SIM card of any operator without resorting to various tricks. Sellers of locked iPhones most often keep silent about the status of the iPhone they are selling, wanting only to quickly get rid of the “defective” device. You can find out all the ins and outs of an iPhone within a few minutes - for this you need to use the help of a special service.
Step 1: Go to Menu Settings -> Basic ->About this device
Step 2. Find the IMEI item and rewrite the specified numbers
Step 3: Go to iphoneox.com
Step 4. Enter your IMEI in the “Enter IMEI here...” line and click Check
Step 5: Wait for the scan to complete
Step 6. Check the iPhone status in the Contract status line
Unlocked status means that your phone is not locked and you can safely continue to use it. Unknown - can mean different things: from the fact that the smartphone is unlocked, to the inaccessibility of information about your device to the service. Status, which is a title mobile operator, for example, TMeteorele - Ireland IRL says that the iPhone is locked to that specific operator.
Please rate:
Not all future iPhone owners are familiar with the concept of "locked iPhone". Let's talk about this in detail today. First, let's decipher this concept.
Locked iPhone– this is a phone tied to a specific telecom operator.
For example, if you bought a locked iPhone linked to the American operator AT&T, this means that you can only use it if you use a SIM card of this operator. SIM cards from other operators will not work in such a phone, and therefore you will not be able to use the phone.
How not to buy a locked iPhone
If you buy new phone from an official reseller, then before purchasing you should check the condition of the lock. If he sim free– this means that the phone is unlocked, but if locked, it means the phone is tied to a specific operator.
Usually, official resellers (not telecom operators) have unlocked phones.
If the seller cannot give you an answer, then the only way out is to insert your SIM card into the phone and try to call somewhere. If you succeed, then the phone is unlocked, but if not, then most likely the second one.
In my case, after opening the SIM card slot, I saw a SIM card from the AT&T operator inside, which aroused my suspicions. After inserting my sim, my phone required re-activation, which I simply could not do with my sim.
If you decide to buy a phone online and not on the official Apple website, then the only way to find out the status of the lock is to punch it using IMEI. But the guarantee of such verification is void. Therefore, I would categorically not recommend buying such equipment on the Internet.
How to find out if iPhone is locked by IMEI
There are many free sites on the Internet that are ready to provide you with this information, but not all of them work. One of the sites where you can get a phone number by imei is http://www.imei.info/.
First, you need to find out the IMEI of your phone. There are several ways to find out:
- If you have the phone in your hands, then unfold it and on the back cover you will see a 15-digit number, this is the IMEI.
- Dial the combination *#06#, then press the call button. The IMEI will appear on your screen.
- In the phone menu, go Settings –> General –> About this device, in the table you will see the IMEI number.
- Ask your dealer. But it is important to remember that you can be deceived by calling it from another phone.
If everything was done correctly, you will see basic information about your phone. For example, this is what information about my phone looks like, see photo below.
To find out whether your phone is locked or not, you need to press the button "SimLock & Warranty", I circled it in a red rectangle. IMPORTANT! You must be registered on this site in order to carry out such a check.
After clicking this button, the phone scan will begin, and after a few seconds the result will appear on your screen.
As you can see, the status SIM lock: Unknown, which means “unknown”. In my case, it is not clear whether the phone is locked or not. If the phone is not locked to an operator, then you will see the Unlocked status, otherwise Locked.
As practice shows, by the end of 2013, almost all websites stopped providing reliable information about the status of the phone.
How to find out where your iPhone is from and what operator it is locked to
To do this, you need to look at your phone model. This can be done in two ways:
- Look for symbols like these on the back of the box: ME303LL/A
- Go to the menu Settings - General - About device, in the model field, find similar symbols, as shown in step 1.
Now pay attention to the last two letters, I have this LL. We look for them in the list below and it becomes more or less clear to us where the phone comes from and which operator it may be connected to. In My case, this is the USA AT&T.
List of country name abbreviations
- AB - United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia (Mobily, etisalat operators)
- B - UK and Ireland (Operator O22)
- BZ - Brazil (operator Claro, VIVO)
- C - Canada (Fido and Rogers operators)
- CR - Croatia (T-Mobile operator, blocked)
- CZ - Czech Republic (operators O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone, unlocked)
- DN - Austria, Germany, the Netherlands (T-Mobile operator, blocked)
- E - Mexico (Telcel operator, blocked)
- EE - Estonia (EMT operator)
- FD - Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland (operators One (Aust), Orange (Liech, Schwe), Swisscom (Liech, Schwe).
- FB - France (operator SFR)
- GR - Greece (Vodafone operator)
- HN - India (Airtel and Vodafone operators)
- J - Japan (operator SoftBank)
- KN - Denmark and Norway (operators Telia (Dan) and NetcCom (Nor)
- KS - Finland and Sweden (operators Telia (Sw), Sonera (Fin)
- LA - Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador (operators Comcel (Col), Claro (Gond, Gua, Peru, Sal), Movistar, Porta (Eq), TM SAC (Peru)
- LE - Argentina (operators Claro, Movistar)
- LL - USA (AT&T operator)
- LT - Lithuania (Omnitel operator)
- LV - Latvia (LMT operator)
- LZ - Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay (CTI operators Movil (Par, Uru), Claro (Chile), Movistar (Uru), TMC (Chile)
- MG - Hungary (T-Mobile operator)
- NF - Belgium, France (Mobistar (Bel) and Orange (Fr) operators), Luxembourg (Vox Mobile operator)
- PL - Poland (operators Era and Orange)
- PO - Portugal (Optimus and Vodafone operators)
- PP - Philippines (operator Globe)
- RO - Romania (Orange operator)
- RS - Russia (operators VimpelCom, MegaFon, MTS)
- SL - Slovakia (Orange, T-Mobile operators)
- SO - South Africa (Vodacom operators)
- T - Italy (operator TIM and Vodafone)
- TU - Türkiye (operator Vodafone, TurkCell)
- TA - Taiwan (operator Chunghwa Telecom)
- X - Australia and (operators Optus (ABC), Telstra (ABC), Vodafone)
- X - New Zealand (operator Vodafone)
- Y - Spain (operator Movistar)
- ZA - Singapore (operator SingTel)
- ZP - Hong Kong and Macau (operator Three)
- TH – Thailand
Video - locked iPhone
That seems to be all, I hope I didn’t miss anything, I’m waiting for your edits and questions in the comments.
We will talk about how to unlock an iPhone in the following articles.
Write by email: press(at)website and get solutions to problems related to the operation and operation of Apple devices.
Reader question:
Hello, how can I check if my iPhone is locked to an operator? Which operator is it connected to?
Our answer:
Produce checking iPhone possible by IMEI code, it is located:
- on the device body or SIM card tray;
- on the box;
- in the device itself (Settings - General - About this device - IMEI).
The code will tell you whether the iPhone was stolen or blocked by the former owner, the country of manufacture of the gadget and the connection to the operator cellular communication, if there is one.
There are other options to determine whether a device is bound to an operator:
- A substrate circuit is installed in the SIM card tray. This Gevey-SIM, which allows you to bypass binding to a specific operator.
The thing is very demanding on the iOS version and requires constant updating in case of firmware upgrades (costs around 10–30 dollars).
- iPhone supports latest version firmware (at the time of writing this is iOS 9), but the seller is categorically against updating. About whether the device supports the latest iOS version you can find out at official Apple website(scroll to the bottom of the page).
- Open Settings – General – About this device. Please note the point Operator.
This place should contain the name of the operator whose SIM card is currently installed in the iPhone. If only Beeline and MTS work in the country, then the Verizon or Carrier sign automatically means that the device is locked.
- You can understand that the device is locked even during a reboot. Ask the owner to restart the smartphone and pay attention to how long it takes to connect to the network, and whether you need to call a number to activate it.
If you have questions that the official Apple support didn’t take it, write to us by email: press(at)website. Or ask them directly from our section.
90% of the Russian iPhone market are unofficial devices imported to us from another country. Most of them are locked to the operator of the country from which they were imported. Naturally, such phones cannot work in Russia. But now there are many services that allow you to unlock locked iPhones, for example.
The first thing the owner of an unofficial iPhone needs to know before contacting an unlocking service is: where does the iPhone come from and what operator is it locked to?
The first question is resolved quite simply. In order to find out where the iPhone is from, you need to go to the iPhone in Settings - General - About device and at point Model look at the last two letters.
If the phone is not activated and there is no access to the menu, then the phone model can be checked on the box of your iPhone (model information is located on the back of the box). If you don’t have a box and your phone won’t let you into the main menu, then write to us, we’ll sort it out. You can contact us via
For example, MC318LL. We are interested in the letters LL. These are the ones you need to look for in the list below. According to this list, the iPhone model MC318LL is from America and is affiliated with AT&T.
AB— United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia (Mobily, etisalat operators)
B— Great Britain and Ireland (operator O2)
BZ— Brazil (operator Claro, VIVO)
WITH— Canada (Fido and Rogers operators)
CR— Croatia (T-Mobile operator, blocked)
СZ— Czech Republic (operators O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone, unlocked)
DN— Austria, Germany, the Netherlands (T-Mobile operator, blocked)
E— Mexico (Telcel operator, blocked)
E.E.— Estonia (EMT operator, blocked, but with the possibility of removing the SIM lock under additional conditions)
FD— Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland (operators One (Aust), Orange (Lich, Shwe), Swisscom (Lich, Shwe), blocked, but with the possibility of removing the SIM lock under additional conditions)
FB— France (SFR operator) blocked, but with the possibility of removing the SIM lock under additional conditions)
GR— Greece (Vodafone operator)
HN— India (Airtel and Vodafone operators)
J— Japan (operator SoftBank)
KN— Denmark and Norway (operators Telia (Dan) and NetcCom (Nor)
KS— Finland and Sweden (operators Telia (Sw), Sonera (Fin)
L.A.— Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador (operators Comcel (Col), Claro (Gond, Gua, Peru, Sal), Movistar, Porta (Eq), TM SAC (Peru)
L.E.— Argentina (operators Claro, Movistar)
LL— USA (AT&T operator)
LT— Lithuania (operator Omnitel)
LV— Latvia (LMT operator)
LZ— Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay (CTI operators Movil (Par, Uru), Claro (Chile), Movistar (Uru), TMC (Chile)
MG— Hungary (T-Mobile operator)
NF— Belgium, France (Mobistar (Bel) and Orange (Fr) operators), Luxembourg (Vox Mobile operator)
P.L.— Poland (operators Era and Orange)
P.O.— Portugal (Optimus and Vodafone operators)
PP— Philippines (operator Globe)
R.O.— Romania (Orange operator)
R.S.— Russia (operators VimpelCom, MegaFon, MTS)
SL— Slovakia (Orange, T-Mobile operators)
SO— South Africa (Vodacom operators)
T— Italy (operator TIM and Vodafone)
T.U.— Türkiye (operator Vodafone, TurkCell)
T.A.— Taiwan (operator Chunghwa Telecom — unblocked)
X— Australia and (operators Optus (ABC), Telstra (ABC), Vodafone)
X— New Zealand (Vodafone operator)
Y— Spain (operator Movistar)
ZA— Singapore (operator SingTel)
ZP— Hong Kong and Macau (operator Three)
iPhone models locked to an operator (locked)
Germany - T-Mobile
MC603DN/A – 16GB Black
MC605DN/A – 32GB Black
Japan - Softbank
MC603J/A - 16GB Black
MC605J/A - 32GB Black
Spain - Movistar, Orange, Vodafone
MC603Y/A – 16GB Black
MC605Y/A – 32GB Black
USA - AT&T
MC608LL/A - 16GB Black
MC610LL/A - 32GB Black
MC318LL/A - 16GB Black
MC319LL/A - 32GB Black