Unlocked iPhone?
November 3, 2022 9:10 PM Subscribe
My wife needs a new iPhone, but I have a question about unlocking.
My wife's beloved iPhone 8 Plus is about to die, and she needs a replacement. For reasons, we need to buy this phone at Best Buy, using our Best Buy credit card, and for reasons, it needs to be an iPhone. Those two things are not negotiable.
But! Best Buy doesn't sell unlocked iPhones, they have to be tied to a carrier. We're both on Visible.
As I understand the rules, a phone can be unlocked by a carrier once it is paid off. So my question is, does buying a phone at Best Buy with a Best Buy card count as "fully paid for" in the eyes of Verizon (the carrier we'd need to buy to be compatible with a Visible plan) and thus, as soon as she unboxes the phone, can we contact Verizon and have them unlock it? Or would she need to actually get a Verizon account for a month or two and then switch back to Visible?
Again: For a lot of reasons, we can't buy an unlocked phone from Apple directly, or from Swappa, or from anywhere that's not Best Buy.
My wife's beloved iPhone 8 Plus is about to die, and she needs a replacement. For reasons, we need to buy this phone at Best Buy, using our Best Buy credit card, and for reasons, it needs to be an iPhone. Those two things are not negotiable.
But! Best Buy doesn't sell unlocked iPhones, they have to be tied to a carrier. We're both on Visible.
As I understand the rules, a phone can be unlocked by a carrier once it is paid off. So my question is, does buying a phone at Best Buy with a Best Buy card count as "fully paid for" in the eyes of Verizon (the carrier we'd need to buy to be compatible with a Visible plan) and thus, as soon as she unboxes the phone, can we contact Verizon and have them unlock it? Or would she need to actually get a Verizon account for a month or two and then switch back to Visible?
Again: For a lot of reasons, we can't buy an unlocked phone from Apple directly, or from Swappa, or from anywhere that's not Best Buy.
On the Best Buy website, I’m seeing a selection of unlocked pre-owned iPhones—is ordering online an option?
posted by needs more cowbell at 2:08 AM on November 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by needs more cowbell at 2:08 AM on November 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: It’s the carrier that locks the phone, when the phone is paired to the phone service. So, Visible will most likely lock the phone for 60 days when you activate the new phone with them. You won’t be required to buy a Verizon phone plan when you buy the phone.
(Yes, it’s stupid that a phone you bought outright is still getting locked for 60 days, but that’s how this retail program tends to work in practice. You can get it unlocked right away via Visible customer service.)
The requirement to purchase from Best Buy is unfortunate. Hopefully you can get out of it.
posted by michaelh at 3:56 AM on November 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
(Yes, it’s stupid that a phone you bought outright is still getting locked for 60 days, but that’s how this retail program tends to work in practice. You can get it unlocked right away via Visible customer service.)
The requirement to purchase from Best Buy is unfortunate. Hopefully you can get out of it.
posted by michaelh at 3:56 AM on November 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: @michaelh - if it's locked to Visible, that's fine, because that's our carrier. I just wanted to make sure that we don't have to have it locked to Verizon first for a time.
You can get it unlocked right away via Visible customer service.
That's the key, and the info I was looking to confirm. and...
You won’t be required to buy a Verizon phone plan when you buy the phone.
As long as that's the case, I think we're good.
posted by pdb at 7:53 AM on November 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
You can get it unlocked right away via Visible customer service.
That's the key, and the info I was looking to confirm. and...
You won’t be required to buy a Verizon phone plan when you buy the phone.
As long as that's the case, I think we're good.
posted by pdb at 7:53 AM on November 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Yes, you should be good. It should go something like:
1. You say which phone you want and say you need a Verizon one (for Visible) when asked.
2. You pay and they give you the phone box.
3. They may or may not ask if you need help setting it up. Or get a sales pitch for a Verizon new line promo or something. Decline if so.
4. You go and activate on Visible on your own.
posted by michaelh at 8:47 AM on November 4, 2022
1. You say which phone you want and say you need a Verizon one (for Visible) when asked.
2. You pay and they give you the phone box.
3. They may or may not ask if you need help setting it up. Or get a sales pitch for a Verizon new line promo or something. Decline if so.
4. You go and activate on Visible on your own.
posted by michaelh at 8:47 AM on November 4, 2022
(Have you considered buying Apple gift cards at Best Buy? Maybe you have a deal on iPhone which is specific to your Best Buy CC, but if you just need to put a charge on that card for like 0% financing or something, that’s a possibility.)
posted by tubedogg at 10:39 AM on November 4, 2022
posted by tubedogg at 10:39 AM on November 4, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
Whether that works on Visible, and it's considered "on Verizon's network", I don't know.
posted by Merus at 10:09 PM on November 3, 2022