Verizon No Longer Plans to Sell Unlocked iPhones

Verizon plans to stop selling unlocked smartphones as a way to deter criminals from stealing the devices, the company told CNET.

As of today, Verizon devices will be locked to the Verizon network and unlocked as soon as a customer signs up for service and activates the phone. Later in the spring, though, smartphones will remain locked until unlocked by Verizon, and Verizon has not yet shared details on how long it will keep phones locked before offering to unlock them.

verizonlockediphones
Verizon previously sold all of its smartphones, iPhones included, unlocked, which means they were not tied to the Verizon network and could be used with any carrier right after purchase.

Purchasing a Verizon iPhone has long been a way to get an unlocked device right away, as Apple often does not sell its own unlocked models until several weeks to several months after a new iPhone launches.

With the iPhone X, for example, all Verizon models sold in November were unlocked and were able to be used across different cellular networks.

Going forward, the smartphones that Verizon sells will be locked to the Verizon network. Smartphones locked this way will not be compatible with other carriers until unlocked by Verizon, which is similar to how other cellular carriers in the United States operate.

According to Verizon, the new policy is aimed at preventing criminals from stealing unlocked phones that can be resold or used overseas. "We're taking steps to combat this theft and reduce fraud, Tami Erwin, executive vice president of wireless operations for Verizon told CNET in a statement. "These steps will make our phones exponentially less desirable to criminals.

Verizon has not yet shared details on how its unlocking policy will work, but if it's like other carriers, such as AT&T, the company will offer to unlock a smartphone after a waiting period. AT&T requires customers to wait for 60 days, Sprint requires customers to wait for 50 days (and then automatically unlocks devices), and T-Mobile has a 40-day waiting period, but does offer temporary unlocking for customers who need to travel.

AT&T and Sprint require smartphones to be paid off before being unlocked, but CNET says Verizon will allow customers to unlock their devices regardless of whether or not they're paid off once the waiting period has expired.

Tag: Verizon

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

iPhone 17 Pro Max Teardown Reveals Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 Modem for 5G

Friday September 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone Air is equipped with Apple's custom C1X modem for cellular connectivity, all of the iPhone 17 models are outfitted with Qualcomm modems still. A teardown video shared on Chinese platform Bilibili today (via Reddit) appears to confirm the iPhone 17 Pro Max is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 modem in particular. The same modem is likely used in the iPhone 17 and iPhone ...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...

Top Rated Comments

Glideslope Avatar
99 months ago
"These steps will make our phones exponentially less desirable to criminals." Like yourselves ? :rolleyes:
Score: 69 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazapple Avatar
99 months ago
Moved my whole family off of Verizon to T-Mobile (two 55+ year old parents with the two unlimited lines for $60 total with autopay) and my sister and I are on MetroPCS unlimited single lines ($60 a month for me for 50GB data + 15GB of hot spot data & $50 unlimited smartphone data for her line).

Was with Verizon since they were Airtouch Cellular. Most greedy company I've ever done business with. I'm so happy I've left them.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheIguana Avatar
99 months ago
Wow, Canada took one huge step forward this past year (finally) mandating all phones being sold be unlocked while the USA continues the tradition of lock it down...
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kabeyun Avatar
99 months ago
The FCC rules the following:

e)Handset locking prohibited. No licensee may disable features on handsets it provides to customers, to the extent such features are compliant with the licensee’s standards pursuant to paragraph (b)of this section, nor configure handsets it provides to prohibit use of such handsets on other providers’ networks.

Verizon as always with it's greediness.
Don’t worry. Corporate-friendly (and former Verizon Employee) FCC Chair Ajit Pai probably will get his hands on that bit soon enough. But it will all be with the consumer’s interests in mind. Riiiiiiiiiight...
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H.E. Pennypacker Avatar
99 months ago
Moved my whole family off of Verizon to T-Mobile (two 55+ year old parents with the two unlimited lines for $60 total with autopay) and my sister and I are on MetroPCS unlimited single lines ($60 a month for me for 50GB data + 15GB of hot spot data & $50 unlimited smartphone data for her line).

Was with Verizon since they were Airtouch Cellular. Most greedy company I've ever done business with. I'm so happy I've left them.
That’s fine and dandy unless you need cellular service nation wide.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Beenblacklisted Avatar
99 months ago
Wow, Canada took one huge step forward this past year (finally) mandating all phones being sold be unlocked while the USA continues the tradition of lock it down...
In the USA, Telecom companies have a very tight hold in Congress, Lobbyist are relentless when it comes to policies being favorable for them.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)