There are lots of conversations about iPhones being locked or unlocked. What is an unlocked iPhone mean? All cell phones are considered “locked” when they are purchased. Usually each cell phone provider will have their own line of phones and they are “locked” so that they cannot be used across other network’s services. Apple sales iPhones that are locked which means they can only be used on certain provider’s services. There are legal ways of unlocking the iPhone, but it will void the warranty provided by the Apple company.
When an iPhone is unlocked it means that it is now able to be used on networks outside of the ones it was designed for. The trouble with this is that all of the applications on that network do not always work well on the iPhone. Many users feel that if it is not fully functional on another network it is not really “unlocked.” Removing all of the restrictions on an iPhone is called, “jailbreaking.”
A lot of people prefer to use an unlocked iPhone so that they have the convenience of using the device while having the freedom to choose their service provider. This is totally legal but not always the best option.