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I recently purchased a used iPhone 7 to upgrade from a 5s. The new iPhone was on AT&T and I use Verizon, so I knew it needed to be unlocked before I attempted to use my current SIM card in it.

I also wasn't sure what the process would be for switching a SIM between phones (smart phones are a rather new territory for me, the 5s being my first), so I took both phones into the Verizon store, and asked what needed to be done. I was told that as long as the phone was unlocked, all that would need to be done would be switching the SIM card. The 7 had just been paid off in the AT&T store minutes before I took it to Verizon, so the information had apparently not yet been sent to it to unlock. Therefore, when the Verizon SIM was put in, it gave the SIM Not Supported error.

While the person at the Verizon store had the AT&T SIM out, he asked if I still needed it. I naively said no. So, that being said, I now have an iPhone 5s that still works on Verizon and an iPhone 7 that, more than likely would be carrier unlocked if it still had its AT&T SIM card; which is my problem...

How do I go about getting my 7 unlocked now that it doesn't have the rather important AT&T SIM in it? The friend that I purchased the 7 from did send AT&T an unlock request last week and hasn't heard back from them yet.

To recap... I have an iPhone 7 that probably would be carrier unlocked; however, due to a naive action by me, it is not... What do I do now?

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Unlocking an AT&T iPhone requires more than just AT&T to send the unlock command.

If they have granted the unlock request, they should have sent you an email telling you what to do:

Back up your phone to your Mac or PC. Then wipe and reset it (settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content And Settings) and then restore from that backup.

You should turn off find my iPhone first.

Once it has erased go through the setup procedure it will ask you how you want to set it up. Select the option to restore from an iTunes backup. Plug it into the computer you just backed it up to and restore the phone.

You are now unlocked.

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  • The person who should get the e-mail hasn't gotten anything from AT&T granting or denying the request (as far as we know).
    – L.B.
    Jun 29, 2017 at 23:11
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    then they need to call AT&T back with the phone. They'll need the IMEI number at least (Settings > General > About) to find out what is going on.
    – Steve Chambers
    Jul 1, 2017 at 0:14

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