Understanding 'locked'

[john0124]

Hi, I wondered if someone could possibly answer what is hopefully a simple question; A friend of mine has bought a second hand iphone 4. It says ‘no service’ when he inserts his SIM. He’s asked me if I can help. I know nothing about iphones, but I google’d around and it seems that Apple makes it as difficult as possible to unlock!
Anyway, my question is; when referring to an iphone as being ‘locked’ does this mean simply that is locked to a particular network, or does it mean locked to an individual SIM card? I am hoping it's the former so I can simply advise him to get a PAYG SIM from the carrier that it is locked to.
Thanks a lot.

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[thewitt]

The phone was most likely sold locked to a carrier under contract. If the contract is paid in full, the phone can be unlocked. Contact the initial carrier.

If the phone was ever reported stolen, it cannot be unlocked...

[bab2010]

Hi, I wondered if someone could possibly answer what is hopefully a simple question; A friend of mine has bought a second hand iphone 4. It says ‘no service’ when he inserts his SIM. He’s asked me if I can help. I know nothing about iphones, but I google’d around and it seems that Apple makes it as difficult as possible to unlock!
Anyway, my question is; when referring to an iphone as being ‘locked’ does this mean simply that is locked to a particular network, or does it mean locked to an individual SIM card? I am hoping it's the former so I can simply advise him to get a PAYG SIM from the carrier that it is locked to.
Thanks a lot.

a locked iPhone is one which is locked to carrier, not to a particular SIM Card. But it can be worse than just locked to a carrier in certain cases where the IMEI is black listed for example. One way to find out is either to buy the original carrier sim card and try on it see if the phone will work or not, if not then try contacting the carrier services for more information.

[john0124]

a locked iPhone is one which is locked to carrier, not to a particular SIM Card. But it can be worse than just locked to a carrier in certain cases where the IMEI is black listed for example. One way to find out is either to buy the original carrier sim card and try on it see if the phone will work or not, if not then try contacting the carrier services for more information.

Okay, That answers my question.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply.