There are countless sites and threads on Apple Community, Reddit, Quora, and similar forums about Straight Talk iPhone Unlock. I expected the questions to be from people who bought a used iPhone, I found that there are three categories:
- Those who bought the iPhone directly from Straight Talk (in most cases it’s iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE)
- Those who actually bought a used iPhone from an online market
- And to my great surprise, many who bought a Walmart Straight Talk iPhone, which was supposed to be unlocked
So, you bought a new or used Straight Talk iPhone but noticed it’s locked.
- You found a better plan through another carrier but your iPhone doesn’t accept the SIM Card
- You went on a trip abroad, found a cheaper SIM Card to use while you are abroad but again, you can’t use it. All you get is the SIM Not Supported message on your screen
- You gave your iPhone to a friend or just sold it to anyone but the next day, they want to give it back because they can’t use it with their carrier.
The problem is that you can only use it with Straight Talk in the United States. What you and everybody really want is to use it with any SIM Card whenever you want and no matter where you are.
Is it really that hard to unlock a Straight Talk iPhone?
Everything seems to be not so easy after all.
In my opinion, it is extremely easy as long as you know the real IMEI status of the device and which unlock method to choose depending on the situation.
Of course, with so many people asking for help around something goes wrong. So let’s see what problems they face.
Straight Talk’s Strict iPhone Unlock Policy
Usually, the first suggestion is to try unlocking the iPhone through the Straight Talk website. I will show you how to do it but the main issue is the Straight Talk SIM Unlock policy.
In general, all network providers have specific and unique SIM unlocking policies. Straight Talk requires the following:
- The iPhone must be locked by Straight Talk
- Straight Talk will unlock phones of current and former Straight Talk customers free of charge. If you are not a customer, you may need to pay.
- The Straight Talk iPhone should not be blacklisted
- There must be no outstanding financial balances
- It must be activated in their service for at least one year
- Military personnel must provide additional paperwork
Too many third party Straight Unlock services
Then, I will show you all third party services. In all sites and forums, you can tell that there are 4 paid or free Straight Talk iPhone Unlock alternatives. However, you will soon discover that only one of them is working.
Are Straight Talk phones unlocked?
Straight Talk provides a new iPhone to its customers for free, but these are older models (iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE).
Old or latest model, any Straight iPhone will remain locked in its services for at least a year from the time it is activated unless you use a third-party service to unlock it.
The big confusion stems from the used Straight Talk iPhones that are sold online even from official retailers like Walmart (always according to the complaints I’ve read so far).
The answer is no. Straight Talk phones are never unlocked until someone uses one of the services we will see below.
What are the unlock options?
In general, there are five ways to network unlock an iPhone. The process for each one of them is specific.
Also, the same goes with a Straight Talk iPhone:
- You can try by visiting Straight Talk website
- You can get a Straight Talk hardware unlock hack like RSIM
- You can download iPhone Unlock Software
- You can buy a Straight Talk unlock code online
- You can use an IMEI Unlock Service (Recommended)
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1. How to unlock Straight Talk iPhone through the network
Straight Talk like many other carriers gives you a chance to unlock your iPhone online by visiting their website.
Who can use it
Everyone.
It doesn’t matter if you aren’t a Straight Talk customer
The Requirements
Your iPhone must meet all the conditions of the
Straight Talk Unlock Policy.
Price
0$ – Small Fee
Usually $10 if you aren’t or never have been a Straight Talk Customer
Success Rate: 1%
Based on our 10-year experience, we have helped around 2,000 visitors make an unlock request to Straight Talk and only 22 iPhones were unlocked. Straight Talk’s unlock policies are extremely strict and usually reject almost all requests.
The process
The steps are very simple:
Go to their website to request an unlock
- Scroll down to the Serial Number field and fill in the IMEI number of your iPhone
- Tick the “I’m not a robot” captcha
- Click “Verify Eligibility”
After you have filled in the IMEI number, Straight Talk will inform you if your device is eligible to be unlocked.
- If your iPhone is good to go, they will ask for your Email and phone number to finalize the unlock process.
- If your Unlock Straight Talk iPhone Online Request is rejected, Straight Talk will not disclose the reason for the rejection. Instead, they will show you a page about their unlocking policies.
While you made your unlock request on the Straight Talk website, their message is actually showing TracFone’s policy.
But why is it showing TracFone’s Policy?.
You see, Straight Talk was bought by TracFone Wireless.
TracFone also bought NeT10 Wireless, Total Wireless, Telcel, SIMPLE Mobile, and SafeLink Wireless Connection.
All of these networks are now sharing TracFone’s SIM unlocking policies.
2. Unlock Straight Talk Phone Hacks
There are countless hardware unlock products out there otherwise known as unlock straight talk phone hacks.
Who can use it
The description in any of them says, everyone
but…
The Requirements
Each one of them works on specific iPhone model and iOS version and of course, Mobile Network.
Price
$10 – $40
Success Rate
0%
To date, there are seven Straight Talk Unlock Hacks for iPhone:
RSIM, GPP SIM, Turbo SIM, Heicard, XSIM, Gevey, and UnlockMySIM.
All of them have received a lot of negative criticism for many different reasons. To mention only a few:
- The Hardware Unlock SIM card is not working in all iOS and iPhone models
- It’s not a permanent iPhone Unlock solution
- iOS cannot be updated
- Some of the Hardware Unlock SIM Cards are defective
- Voids Apple Warranty
- Damages or even destroys iPhone
- Sudden call drops
- Weak service signal
We have decided to get these products and tried to unlock Straight Talk iPhone 6.
Unfortunately, bad reviews are true. Two of them were defective while none of them managed to achieve the desired result which is to unlock a Straight Talk iPhone.
The process
These unlock Straight Talk phone hacks almost look like any normal SIM card and this is why many people refer to them as SIM Interposers.
What you have to do is squeeze the SIM Interposer with the SIM card you want to use inside the iPhone’s SIM slot. Then, you have to go on iPhone settings and change them according to the instructions included in the box of purchase.
3. Download Straight Talk Unlock Software
To begin with, this method is no longer available. Any kind of unlocking software is a scam, not just for Straight Talk but for any network.
You are skating on pretty thin ice if you choose to download an Unlock Straight Talk iPhone online software. The ones that cost a few dollars aren’t going to work. The ones that are free usually have the ultimate goal of stealing your personal data mainly targeting your credit or debit card.
The only reason some people still try these products is that you could use this method to unlock up to Straight Talk iPhone 4s running on iOS 6.1.6 by jailbreaking the device and downloading Ultrasn0w software from Cydia. But all of this is ancient history.
There is no reason for more information. I would really be extremely wary of sites that still suggest this method.
Please stay away from any kind of iPhone unlock software.
4. Straight Talk Unlock Codes
Another common suggestion is to use an unlock code.
In fact, many, if not all networks, use this method to provide SIM Unlock (for free or for a few dollars) as long as the phone meets all the requirements of the unlock policy (again)!
Straight Talk is one of them.
On the other hand, there are third-party services that either somehow gained access to these codes or found a way to generate them themselves by imitating the algorithm used by each network.
Now, this alternative is available ONLY FOR ANDROID phones.
Unfortunately, I don’t know if and to what extent it works on Android phones since we specialize exclusively in iPhone Unlock.
However, let’s say you’re looking for a Straight Talk iPhone 6 unlock code. The problem is that you will find many companies providing them with prices ranging between $10 and $60.
Although there is no way it will work on iPhones, no company is going to give you your money back.
Please stay away from any kind of Straight Talk iPhone Unlock code.
5. Straight Talk iPhone Unlock through the IMEI Method
When everything else fails, there is only one tested and guaranteed alternative which is none other than Straight Talk IMEI Network Unlock.
How it works
It looks fairly easy if it is your first time to search for an IMEI Unlock Service. You will google for the service and go with one of the suggested suppliers.
As soon as you find a service, they will only ask for the IMEI number of the Straight Talk iPhone you want to unlock and an upfront payment.
Once you have submitted your IMEI and paid the service, the provider will submit your IMEI to a server that has access to Mobile Networks and Apple databases. The server will then change the SIM Lock status from locked to unlocked.
This won’t happen instantly and you will have to wait for a few days until your order is processed.
Sounds easy and promising. What can go wrong?
Unfortunately, many things can go wrong if you are not familiar with how IMEI Unlock services work and what it takes to guarantee success.
The Requirements
- Mobile Network
Unfortunately, there is no service that covers all networks. Each of them needs its own IMEI Unlock service. - iPhone model
Although usually affects only the IMEI Unlock price (it’s more expensive for the latest iPhone models) in some cases there are iPhone model limitations - Blacklist Status
Although you can unlock a blacklisted Straight Talk iPhone it requires a different service usually called Premium IMEI Unlock. - Financial & Contract Status
In case of any outstanding financial balance (such as unpaid contract bills or a pending device installment plan) or when the iPhone is still under an active contract, you will need a special service, usually called as Semi Premium IMEI Unlock. - Apple Warranty Status
It’s not an actual requirement but an active Apple Warranty or AppleCare+ can relock your device after a successful Straight Talk Unlock iPhone IMEI Service. - IMEI Replacement Status
Every service must be applied to the original IMEI. In many cases, networks or Apple might change it (for example due to a hardware replacement or an insurance claim). - iPhone Activation date
Sometimes you will need a different service depending on when the iPhone was activated with the network services.
If you are not 100% accurate about the status of your iPhone you will not know which service suits you or if your iDevice meets the conditions of the right service.
Straight Talk Unlock IMEI services are not always available
And when they do get online, the service only works for a limited time and only a limited number of IMEIs can be submitted.
The results are permanent. The question is IF the Straight Talk IMEI Unlock service is currently online or not.
Success Rate
Although all suppliers claim that the Straight Talk Unlock iPhone services with the IMEI method never fail, the truth is very different.
It always starts with a 100% success rate. Unfortunately, this percentage gradually drops and when it is zeroed, the service is shut down.
This is essentially the reason for the limited IMEI submission and as a result of service availability.
Of course, sooner or later, it will reappear following the same pattern, over and over again.
Price
IMEI Unlock usually costs between $50 and $200. If the device is clean, i.e. only SIM locked to a carrier and not subject to any of the sub-cases I showed on requirements, then it will be the cheapest possible.
Of course, each company charges differently and it is not unlikely that for the same service you will find huge fluctuations in prices between providers.
The big problem is that if you approach any unlocking company right now you will see that everyone offers Straight Talk IMEI Unlock services usually starting at $20 or $30.
Unfortunately, this is not a real service but a pre-order.
- If the service is immediately available they will ask you to pay at least as much to unlock it.
- If it’s not, they will notify you that once the service is activated you will have to pay whatever they ask for to continue.
Guaranteed Results
There are solid IMEI Unlock suppliers that offer superb services. However, they will not refund you if you have purchased the wrong service or your iPhone doesn’t meet ALL the conditions of the right one.
The same goes for pre-orders.
Although most of the time it is written somewhere with very fine print, you will usually not understand that you didn’t buy the real service but just paid a part of the final price.
Unfortunately, pre-orders are not refundable.
Here I should add that although they only ask for your IMEI, they do not know the status of your device and which Straight Talk Unlock service you will eventually need.
The only way to find out is an IMEI Check and it’s not a free service.
How to unlock a Straight Talk iPhone like a PRO
I presented everything exactly as it is without hiding the slightest detail.
We started with 5 different Straight Talk Unlock options but ended up with two options that may actually work.
- First, go to the Straight Talk website and request a SIM unlock. They will probably refuse but you have nothing to lose.
- IMEI Unlock is the only real alternative but from now on you have a lot to lose if you are not careful.
However, before choosing an IMEI Unlock Straight Talk iPhone online Supplier, it is crucial to know all the following:
- The exact IMEI status of an iDevice
- If the iPhone is supported by the IMEI Network Unlock service you need
- If the service is currently available
- If you are getting the right service at the right price and not a pre-order
- Make sure you will get your money back if anything goes wrong
You can easily achieve all of the above with a Complete IMEI Unlock iPhone Check. After all, this is what all IMEI Unlock suppliers actually do before submitting your IMEI number to a server.
Our recommendation for Straight Talk IMEI Check: iPhoneUnlock.Zone
After providing you with an instant and accurate IMEI Check report, iPhone Unlock experts will study your case in detail and offer all the available and guaranteed unlock solutions.
Of course, they are always available 24/7 to answer any questions about the report and the services offered.
In addition, you will have access to the lowest available prices at any time. The team checks daily for the best and cheapest services from more than 1,500 suppliers worldwide.
If they offer a service then, you are good to go. No matter what, your Straight Talk iPhone will be unlocked or you will get the unlock service money back.
Exactly the same goes for any iPhone, regardless of which network has locked it and whatever additional issues it may have.
No stress, no risk of losing your hard-earned money, full support at every step from now on.
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