And lots of them lock your phone for two to three years. These carriers lock your phone so you can’t switch networks, get out of your contract, or sell your phone until they’ve recouped their loss. You, or any consumer, sees an iPhone at a really low price at an AT&T or Verizon or T-Mobile store, and think “Wow! What a deal!” Then you buy it – and pat yourself on the back for saving big time – but you also have to sign a lengthy expensive contract which makes up for the price you paid. Locked phones are usually sold at a significant discount. Why would a wireless company sell locked phones?Įxcellent question. Don’t be fooled by someone offering to sell you a jailbroken phone and claiming, “It’s just like an unlocked phone!” It isn’t. A jailbroken phone is still connected to its particular carrier. It might sound like if you jailbreak a phone it would result in unlocking it, but it doesn’t. Jailbreaking a phone means messing around with its software and possibly installing a different operating system or tweaking the device so that, for example, apps that come loaded onto your phone that typically cannot be deleted, are deleted or hidden. Now what you need to know about a jailbroken phone is that it’s not the same as an unlocked phone and anyone who tries to tell you so is utterly incorrect. These carriers “lock” your device to their network to prevent you from using it on another one. On the other hand, a locked phone is a device that’s tied to a carrier like AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. One of the big benefits of this is that you can switch providers anytime you want – like when you find a plan that gives you the same kind of bells and whistles the pricey wireless companies promise at no cost to you. Terms like “locked,” “unlocked,” and “jailbroken” – what do they even mean and how, for the love of Pete, do they pertain to your smartphone?Īn unlocked phone is a phone that’s not associated with a particular wireless carrier.

It’s tough, not to mention confusing, to keep up with all the terms that surround technology today.

What’s the difference between a locked and unlocked phone? And does “jailbroken” refer to a cell phone that’s been in the slammer? Discover the freedom of an unlocked phone

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