iPhone 15 Pro Max Unlocked iPhone 15 Pro Max replaced with Carrier Locked iPhone by Genius Bar

[sstiwari]

In India only unlocked iPhone are sold. I bought my iPhone 15 PM 256 Black through one of India's Official retail channels.

It was dimming too aggressively on load and heating also. Demonstrated the same to Genius Bar and got it replaced with a brown box iPhone 15 PM.

When the Genius handed over the new phone, the Genius Bar Manager specially came to meet me and told that the phone will show Carrier Lock as "SIM Locked" and the same will be mended by back-end team in few days. Although I can verify by changing SIM that there is no SIM or Carrier Lock; but in the About section, it is still showing as SIM Lock.

Since, the Carrier Lock is still there, Genius Bar has not closed the repair and hence, my Apple Care+ plan has not migrated to new phone. I am paying for AC+, without being protected, the same was confirmed by AC+ telephone support.

I am curious whether it is even possible for Apple to remove the carrier lock status from iPhone from the back end. I know this is not an issue in terms of functionality, but, if I decide to sell it after one year, people might not buy it.

Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

[Cruncher]

I never heard that they give you a locked device. Normally if they give you a replacement they will add it to the same configuration and it will be ok. Normally the carriers are putting the IMEI into an unlock DB from Apple and the phone will be unlocked then.

Normally if you use a SIM from a different Provider or if you do a full restore it fetches the data from apple`s unlock server and shows the correct status.

For AC+ it is correctly set in the Apple DB and will reflect within a few days normalls. So no worries about that.

 

[sstiwari]

I never heard that they give you a locked device. Normally if they give you a replacement they will add it to the same configuration and it will be ok. Normally the carriers are putting the IMEI into an unlock DB from Apple and the phone will be unlocked then.

Normally if you use a SIM from a different Provider or if you do a full restore it fetches the data from apple`s unlock server and shows the correct status.

For AC+ it is correctly set in the Apple DB and will reflect within a few days normalls. So no worries about that.

Yes that was my understanding also, but the Genius Bar Manager came to meet me and specifically told that the new phone will show "Carrier Lock as SIM Locked", and his back end team will take care of the same. But he did not give any time frame.

Even though I am using the replacement phone, the Repair ID is still open, since carrier lock could not be removed.

And since, Repair is not closed on the old phone, the Apple Care+ migration to replaced phone is pending.

So, my new phone has Limited Warranty only, and No Apple Care + protection, if some accidental damage occurs to new phone, Apple is not going to repair/replace it. That's the larger issue.

 

[SumYoungGai]

You need to call Apple support to get them to unlock the phone; the unlock policy from the old phone didn't carry over and they can unlock this from their end

 

[sstiwari]

You need to call Apple support to get them to unlock the phone; the unlock policy from the old phone didn't carry over and they can unlock this from their end

I am in continuous conversation with Apple. Today, they confirmed that Apple Care + has transferred to new phone, it will reflect in 02 day. Regarding unlock, they are saying it might take up to 30 days. I will have to wait.

But, I am still curious whether this Carrier Lock (EMEA Service Lock), can be removed by Apple.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I am in continuous conversation with Apple. Today, they confirmed that Apple Care + has transferred to new phone, it will reflect in 02 day. Regarding unlock, they are saying it might take up to 30 days. I will have to wait.

But, I am still curious whether this Carrier Lock (EMEA Service Lock), can be removed by Apple.

My GF had her iPhone 5 replaced via Apple because of a battery issue, back when it was the newest model, and she received a locked replacement. Apple was able to quickly unlock it from their end.

 

[sstiwari]

My GF had her iPhone 5 replaced via Apple because of a battery issue, back when it was the newest model, and she received a locked replacement. Apple was able to quickly unlock it from their end.

Thanks. That resolves my concern.

 

[SumYoungGai]

I am in continuous conversation with Apple. Today, they confirmed that Apple Care + has transferred to new phone, it will reflect in 02 day. Regarding unlock, they are saying it might take up to 30 days. I will have to wait.

But, I am still curious whether this Carrier Lock (EMEA Service Lock), can be removed by Apple.

Yes, it can be removed by Apple but you may need to escalate past the first line representatives (but it sounds like they gave you a 30 day timeframe already).
I successfully did this with an AppleCare ERS 13 Pro Max a couple of years ago.