Unlock an iPhone Free?

dirtychinchilla · 11 Oct 2016 at 09:10

Hi guys,

My iPhone has taken a bad turn so it's being repaired at the moment. EE have given me the worst phone I've seen in years, so a friend has lent me their old 5s, but it's locked to O2.

Is there any way that I can unlock it for free? I've looked around but haven't found a guide that actually works, and I don't fancy paying £20 for it.

cheers!

Feek · 11 Oct 2016 at 09:29

No. It requires a change to the master database and is best done through the carrier it's locked to.

dirtychinchilla · 11 Oct 2016 at 09:35

Ugh that's very tedious!

cheesyboy · 11 Oct 2016 at 09:37

Should be a £8.99 fee to get EE to do it:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/unlock-mobile-phone#smartphones

Need to fill in an online form, which your mate would probably need to do. Might not be much use to you, though, as it apparently takes 10 days to go through.

E:

Actually, it does say:

there is no charge to unlock a device once you are out of contract. This only applies to consumer customers. The charge to Small Business customers will be £8.99.

So free if he's completed any contract on it. And free for PAYG phones, I think.

Still 10 days, though

dirtychinchilla · 11 Oct 2016 at 09:54

Thanks for the link. It is now free (thanks EU!) to get the unlock, but you have to contact the provider still. My friend is trying to do it through O2 so hopefully it'll work!

But it seems very much like you have to still be a customer, so if you bought a phone on eBay, say, that was locked you basically have to be a customer of O2 to unlock it...weird.