What is Unlock? in iOS. Entrance ticket to the world of unlocking

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I've been doing it for a long time unlocking iPhone, update software and many other issues related to Apple products. Therefore, in my instructions I will try to help in choosing gadgets and reveal some professional secrets. My instructions will consist of 4 parts.

I think many people often ask themselves this question: “Which is better to buy iPhone Factory unlock or Loced?” before purchasing a gadget from abroad. Or, when buying a phone “hands-on”, how can you check whether the phone is unlocked and how exactly this phone was unlocked. If someone does not know the difference, then I will briefly describe the concepts of Factory unlock and Loced.

Blocking Wisdom

"Factory Unlocked" translated from English - “Factory Unlock”. If the phone is unlocked from the factory, it will work with SIM cards from any operator cellular communications. By inserting a SIM card into this new iPhone and after activation you can fully use the device, and you can also update the software without any problems. Factory Unlocked is sometimes called SIM-free or Neverlock; such models are also free and they are also officially unlocked when they come off the production line. A list of countries that officially sell phones unlocked from the factory is available on the website Apple. You can find out for which country your iPhone was released by reading my next review “Where does your iPhone come from” (part 2). The cost of such iPhones is higher than locked ones.

Locked- the phone is locked to a specific operator. If someone was looking for an iPhone, for example, on ebay, then in each product description it is indicated which operator the phone is locked to or whether this phone has factory unlocking. This phone will only work with the operator to which it is blocked. If you insert a SIM card from another operator, the network will naturally not pick up such a phone. If you update the software or your phone asks for activation, then you will not be able to activate it without a “native SIM card”, i.e. SIM card of the operator to which your phone is locked. To unlock these phones, you will need to spend more money. Unlocking will cost from $1 and above, there are no specific limits, but it can reach $200. Therefore, before buying a phone, first check how much it will cost to unlock it. It may cost you more than buying an iphone factory unlock right away.

Popular questions and succinct answers

I also often get asked what Bad ESN is and whether such phones will work for us.

ESN- This unique number devices (as IMEI). If you fail to pay under a contract in the USA, your phone is blocked for other operators by ESN number, and it becomes with a bad ESN. Therefore, a device with a damaged ESN cannot be used in the USA. If the ESN is not damaged, they usually write clean ESN. For our operators, ESN does not matter, and the phone, even with a damaged ESN, will work in both GSM and CDMA networks.

How can you find out whether your phone is locked or not? I will tell you the methods that I know, perhaps there are others.

1. After you insert your SIM card and the phone catches the network, this means the phone is unlocked BUT!

Exist different types unlock:

1.1. Software unlock (this applies to iPhone 3g and 3GS). What is the disadvantage of this unlock? The downside is that after flashing, updating or restoring the software, your phone will be locked again and you will need to unlock this gadget again; this is not very convenient. How to distinguish software unlock from factory unlock. The first and easiest way is to go to Settings -> General -> About this device and find the “modem firmware” item. If the numbers 06.15.00 are indicated there, then an iPad modem is installed. And this means that you have software unlock on your phone. If you don’t know how to unlock your phone, then it’s better not to update the firmware on your phone, but contact a specialist, because your phone will be blocked after flashing it.

The second way is to check using IMEI check.

1.2. Unlocking using gevey, r-sim, GPP. With this type of unlocking, it is not advisable to update the software; if you still had to do this, then you will need to purchase a new Gevey.

1.3. Factory unlock 2. If the phone can be activated using any SIM card, this means that it is factory unlock 3. What to do if you don’t have a phone or haven’t bought it yet, but want to check the unlock status. There are many things for this online imei checkers, mostly now all are paid, but there are also a few free ones (but if the phone is locked, then they will not show which operator the phone is locked to). If you want to find out the operator to which your phone is locked, you will need to pay.

Here are my favorite free checkers:

For this you only need Phone IMEI! Be sure to look at the IMEI of the phone only: in Settings -> General -> About this device or dial *#06#!!! Do not look at the IMEI on the box or SIM tray! Because the SIM tray or box may be from another phone.

I will tell you in what ways you can unlock an iPhone that is locked to a specific operator in the continuation of my review (Part 3 and Part 4)

P.S. Here is one of my stories that happened a couple of months ago. My friend called me and said. “Julia, please help me figure this out. I don’t know what to do(((Yesterday I came back from a business trip, bought myself an iPhone 5 there in the store...." (I won’t divulge the name of the store, but it’s very large store, with a wide network of branches in all cities). I can't get network reception. Warranty card in hand. I went to a branch of this store in our city, and they told me to go to the same branch where I bought the phone. Naturally, I won’t go there, because the journey in my car will take more than 12 hours.” I say, “Let’s meet, maybe you haven’t activated your phone or you don’t have a working SIM card.” We met, the phone won’t activate with our SIM card. We checked the phone by IMEI and it turned out to be blocked by the American operator AT&T. To be honest, I was shocked. I haven’t heard of locked phones being sold in stores. I say, “Show me the guarantee, I don’t believe that you bought it in this store.” Indeed, in "The warranty card matched everything with the phone data." I told him that you were very lucky. You're lucky because your phone is locked to AT&T, because tomorrow you'll be able to use your SIM card))). I rewrote his iMEI, unblocked him and the very next day he called joyfully from his phone. Thanked me for my help).

After this incident, I always check my phone before buying!

Friends, do you know how to properly shop in online stores? Then tell other shopaholics! Create your own collection of instructions on foreign online shopping! This will help you become an expert and get bonuses!

Send your ideas and suggestions to or post materials by clicking on the button “Add instructions”. We are sure that at Shoptema you will find like-minded people and new friends!

Articles and Lifehacks

Often users mobile technology are faced with terminology that is completely incomprehensible to them. Our article will tell you What does "phone locked" mean?, and also how you can find out. If future owner The device owner is short on funds and decides that he just needs to make sure that the gadget he is purchasing is not locked.

What does it mean if the phone is locked?

If mobile device locked (English “lock” - “close”), this means that it can only work with a SIM card of a certain mobile operator. Without special equipment, we will not be able to do an unlock.

Why is this happening? According to the internal policy of the mobile equipment manufacturer, the company agrees with the mobile operator to work exclusively in its networks.

Today, many “specialists” offer unlocking services for about $10 or less. It should be kept in mind that an incorrectly unlocked device means a high risk of problems in the future. For example, the network signal may often disappear, the device will “slow down”, and incomprehensible information will appear on the screen. In addition, lock under a certain operator means high level protections that will be destroyed after the phone is unlocked by one of these “experts”. We simply cannot enter security code. Often this will be accompanied by problems with Russification. True, this will not become a permanent message on the gadget’s display.

So, we found out what “phone is locked” means. Most often they are locked Apple devices, and we are faced with this as soon as we see an iPhone brought from the States. The fact is that in the USA and a number of other developed countries they practice binding to a certain mobile operator. When purchasing a smartphone under iOS control at a certain “subsidized” price, we undertake to pay for another one or two years cash for the right to use the device. In fact, we spend it on paying for cellular services. Lack of unlock - the main problem so-called “gray” smartphones.

How to find out if iPhone is locked?

You can find out whether there is a binding to a specific operator in one of several ways. For example, the information we need may be in the “About device” item (you can go there through the main phone settings).

Another simple way is to dial *#06#, after making sure that the SIM card is removed. To begin with, we will see various data in 16-digit format. Next, click on the navigation button (it can be either on the left or on the right, depending on the firmware version). All subsequent information should contain words like "UNLOCK" or "Unbarred". If we see something different, most likely the device is locked. In the event that we purchased new phone and we were not warned about this when purchasing, we have the right to exchange it for another one with unlocking.

Now the third way. Go to IMEI.info in the “Enter IMEI” line and enter the corresponding identifier in 15-digit format. Click the check button and see various information about the device. Next step: click “Free simlock status check”, after which the site should check iPhone linking according to the base. If the device is locked, we see “Locked”; if it is unlocked, we see “Unlocked”.

Find IMEI number possible next to serial number under the battery, in the warranty card or on the phone packaging (must match everywhere). In addition, you can view the ID in internal memory device by dialing the above combination *#06# (must also be identical to the IMEI on the package and under the battery).

The community of iPhone maniacs is growing, there are more and more questions, and the questions themselves are getting worse. The purpose of this FAQ is to make sure that there are as few questions related to unlocking as possible.

I want to immediately warn you that if the moderator gave you a link to this fact, then after that you will have to play in silence for at least another week. I will mercilessly ban for questions from this thread. Forever and ever, without pity or doubt. Amen.

So let's get started.

What does it take for my iPhone to work with any carrier?

As you probably know, everything sold by the company Apple phones tied to a specific operator. In the USA it is AT&T, in France Orange, in Germany T-Mobile and finally O2 in the UK.

This is due to Apple's business model. Under the contract, the operator is obliged to deduct a certain percentage of the revenue from the Apple subscriber. It is not known for certain exactly how much, but there are rumors that up to 20%.

In this regard, you can only use the phone with a SIM card from the above operators. And nothing else. Scheme for “legal” iPhone user as follows:

In the operator’s company store or in Apple Store buy a phone
The subscriber comes home and enters into a contract with the operator via the Internet
After signing the contract, after some time the phone is activated and you can use it

Therefore, in order for the device to work in the network of any other operator, you need to perform the following steps:

Activate phone
Bypass SIM card verification

The first step, as you might expect, is called activation. Its essence is to gain access to the main functions of the device.

The second step is called unblocking, in the world - unlock.

What is unlock?

Unlock is a modification of the GSM module software that allows you to use your iPhone like a phone with a SIM card from any operator.

There are several methods:

Software (soft unlock)
— when, without interfering with the phone’s hardware, the radio modem is modified, removing the check for whether the SIM card belongs to the operator. Typically, AnySim (iUnlock) or iPhoneSimFree programs are used for this. How this process occurs, in detail, can be read in the paragraph: “Bootloader, secpack, OTB and that’s all.”
Hardware (hard unlock)
- when the phone is opened and, using the Test Point closure, access is obtained to modify the software part of the radio modem.
Sim Clone (MultiSIM)- in fact, is not an “unlock”. This method uses some features of checking that the SIM card belongs to the operator, with the help of which the phone is “deceived” - the iPhone believes that the SIM card belongs to the AT&T operator.
When using this method, the information necessary for authorization in the operator’s GSM network (IMSI, ICCID and The secret key Ki) and is written to special smart card, which will emulate the operation of SIM.

The main problem with this method is that the secret key Ki can only be read from the first generation of SIM cards (SIMv1). Requires special equipment and takes a lot of time.
Sim Proxy (TurboSIM, StealthSIM, NextSIM, X-SIM and others)— a logical continuation of the SimClone method. Only using a hardware “spacer” (proxy) between the phone and the SIM card. When a phone requests information in order to verify its affiliation with an operator, Sim Proxy returns the AT&T card metric; in other cases, it redirects requests to the subscriber’s SIM card.
It is very easy to use - you simply cut your SIM card and put an adapter on it, and then insert this design into the phone. Does not require special equipment.

In order to understand the essence of the process, let's look at how the phone works.

How the iPhone works

The phone you hold (or will hold) in your hands does not represent anything exclusive in terms of its device as a whole. Its only difference from its classmates is the absence of a keyboard and a display that recognizes two points of touch simultaneously.

I will not give a specific list of “hardware” that is located in the phone, but in a simplified form I will tell you how it all works, so that there is no confusion of concepts and all sorts of crazy stories on the forum.

Hardware

At the hardware level, it is important to know that the phone actually has two processors:

ARM processor that runs the operating system
Infineon SGOLD 2 which is responsible for working with GSM network(this is what is called a radio modem, baseband, gsm modem, bb).

The first processor (we'll call it CPU) is actually the heart of the phone: it is responsible for the operation operating system(by the way, your phone actually runs almost real MacOS X), it is responsible for the operation of absolutely all your applications.

The second processor (we will call it baseband, abbreviated BB) is responsible for communication capabilities telephone: GSM, EDGE/GPRS, WiFi and Bluetooth. Like the CPU, it also has some kind of operating system, which consists of several components: boot loader (bootloader), flash (firmware) and eeprom (data). All this stuff is stored on a special memory module (Intel Wireless Flash Memory, a separate chip on the board), it is also called NOR flash.

***
Software

Now let's talk about things that are closer to us - software. If you look at the previous section, it becomes clear that the phone has two types of programs: for the CPU and for the BB.

All this gets into the phone using a software package, usually called firmware. This is where the first confusion usually arises, so let’s look at this point in more detail.

When enough fixes are collected, Apple releases an update - an IPSW file about 150 megabytes in size, containing an image of the phone's operating system and sometimes an update for the GSM part. Therefore, one update can contain two “firmwares”: for the software part of the phone (updating applications) and for the GSM part.

This package has its own version (1.0.0, 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc.), but the GSM part has its own numbering (03.01_13G, 04.02_13G, etc.). It turned out that the programs installed on the phone itself are characterized by the version of the update package, for example the latest one has version 1.1.3. This is what is commonly called the “phone firmware version”.

It just so happens that you can install any of the currently existing updates on your phone, and the firmware version of the GSM part will not change. You can have GSM part firmware version 04.03_13G and phone firmware 1.0.2.

Now re-read the previous 2 paragraphs several more times. From them we derived two main terms: phone firmware and GSM part firmware. A lot depends on their versions.

But in the light latest events, another term appears on the scene: bootloader version. This issue deserves a separate discussion.

Bootloader, secpack, OTB, unlock and all, all, all

With the release of update number 1.1.2, one very unpleasant fact was revealed. All phones that went on sale with this firmware (as they say 1.1.2 out of the box - 1.1.2 out the box, OTB) have a different bootloader from the previous one. The version of the new bootloader is 4.6, while the previous one had version 3.9.

In this Apple versions fixed many vulnerabilities and changed the secpack verification algorithm.

Secpack— the area contained in the update package in which the digital signatures to a specific firmware version of the GSM part of the phone. Required to modify the GSM modem software.

If in the bootloader version 3.9 it was possible to perform operations with the GSM part with a secpack from the current or next version firmware (>=), then in bootloader 4.6 such operations are only possible with secpack from the next firmware version (>). Plus, writing to the area in which the bootloader is located, after its initialization, has become impossible, which makes “rolling back” it impossible.

This small nuance ruined everyone's life. Why? Let's now see what a software unlock is.

How does unlock work?

IN GSM firmware parts there is a check to see if the SIM card belongs to to a specific operator. To be precise, the unique IMSI code of the card is checked. This code consists of MCC (Mobile Country Code), MNC (Mobile Network Code) and subscriber identifier MSIN. In the GSM modem, the MCCMNC number is checked, if it is in the allowed table (this list is called the lockstate table), then the phone is registered in the operator’s network, if not, then GSM operation parts are blocked.

Accordingly, in order to use the phone with any operator, this check must be bypassed. The only method is to find a place in the GSM part firmware and modify it in such a way that, regardless of what MCCMNC code is contained in the ICCID, the verification is always successful.

For this, it is done full copy firmware of the GSM part (dump), which is unloaded and contains an area that needs to be modified, this area is modified. After which the existing firmware is deleted, and the modified one is written back.

Voila, your phone is unlocked.

It would seem, what does the bootloader have to do with it?

The key points in the unlocking process are erasing old version and recording a new one. If earlier, this could be done using secpack from the existing one, now you need to have secpack from the next version. Those. The unlock will always be one step later.

By the way, another obvious blow: updating the modem firmware makes it impossible to unlock it. Those. if you had 1.1.2 working, and suddenly updated to 1.1.3, in order to make calls you will have to wait until the next update comes out, containing an update to the GSM modem.

Yes, by the way, “good” news: Pioneer of the unlock movement Georg (geohot) Hotz has released detailed instructions How to hardware downgrade the bootloader version. A very risky operation, I tell you. On the well-known forum hackint0sh.org, great amount stories about a failed attempt. According to the results of the last vote, every third one was unsuccessful.

Well, the educational program on the basic concepts can be considered completed. There are a few more points left to cover.

The Shawshank Redemption

Applications. You probably noticed that in the previous paragraphs we only talked about “native” phone applications. As you most likely know, the matter is not limited to native applications.
Certainly, Steve Jobs made it possible to write applications for the phone, but only within the framework Safari browser. But this was not enough.

Quite quickly the community of iPhone hackers found the opportunity to write native applications for phone. Just a few months passed and the number of applications began to number in the hundreds, increasing every day. Today, you probably can’t imagine your life without at least a Russian keyboard (Hello, Slavik!). But this is a third-party application.

And life third party applications impossible without jailbreak.

Jailbreak (literally “prison escape”) is the process of gaining full access to file system phone. The concept of jail came to us from the depths of the *nix community and means “locking” a user in a certain directory when he cannot access everything that is located “higher” in the file system tree.

Initially, the user only has write access to the /var/root/ directory (where all the user’s settings and media content is stored) on the phone. Everything would be fine, but apart from everything else, it is forbidden to run applications in this directory.

Jailbreak allows you to get full access to all folders and files on the phone (read, write and execute).

Now, with the release of each update, all users (including “legal” ones) follow the news and wait for jailbreak to become possible.

By the way, the Installer application has become the de facto standard, the name of which speaks for itself - it is an installer for third-party applications. Undoubtedly the most popular and in-demand iPhone application ever created outside of Apple.

About the dark past, virgins and bricks

Many people remember the times of the first phones, when unlocking took 40 minutes, during which we watched the lines running in the terminal. Then the air was cleaner and the grass was greener.

As a gift from these times, we received the term virginization. This is where all this came from: old versions of AnySim (iUnlock) mistakenly removed a small area from the GSM-part firmware - seczone. This area contained a table with a list of “allowed” MCCMNC codes and a certain key unique for each.

As it turned out, when updating from 1.0.2 to 1.1.1, the phone stopped accepting even the native AT&T SIM card, turning into a beautiful brick. The explanation for this is simple: when updating the firmware, the area in which seczone is stored is not updated. Therefore, the firmware is trying to check for the presence of MCCMNC in a table that does not exist.

Then the concept of virginization appeared. Speaking in Russian: bringing the phone to a virgin state, when the original version of the firmware is returned (without unlock) and the lockstate in the season is restored.

Therefore, virginization is needed if and only if the phone is unlocked with older versions of AnySim (up to 1.1) and iUnlock.

About officially unlocked phones

As you know, European legislation does not take a very good look at the idea of tying a phone to a specific operator. As a result, even in the whole of France there is such a beast as a phone that is officially disconnected from the operator (in Germany, T-Mobile won a lawsuit and stopped selling such phones)

But there is a small catch - such phones can only be used in the country in which the operator is located. Those. If you bought an officially unlocked phone in France, you can choose any French operator, nothing more. Such phones will not work with SIM cards from operators from another country!

P.S. Dear copypastors, if you suddenly decide to post this work on your website, try to make sure that the author’s nickname and a link to this article appear there (preferably at the very beginning). Moreover, I will be very glad if you take a couple more seconds to send a link to the copypaste to me in a personal message through the forum. Thank you.

Every person planning to purchase the first iPhone in their life goes to forums and consults with friends to determine which model is best to buy. Of course, everyone wants to make do with “little blood” and get a newfangled phone at a minimal cost. This is where they fall for the tricks of scammers who sell iPhones that do not quite meet the requirements of users.

In order not to make a mistake when choosing, you need to figure out what NeverLock is, and why you need to purchase devices with this particular marking. Otherwise, you may be left with a phone that is nearly impossible to use. Let's consider this issue in more detail.

NeverLock: what is it?

Before purchasing any equipment, you must not only study the characteristics of the selected device, but also pay attention to the product labeling. In our case, NeverLock means that the device will work with any SIM card. If translated literally, it is “not blocked” for cellular operators. It is still not clear what NeverLock is.

Everything is very simple. There are several types of phones available for sale. NeverLock iPhones are sold through Europe, where the devices undergo a flashing procedure. Accordingly, such iPhones work with European operators mobile communications, and with the Russian ones.

As you know, everything is made in the USA. The American manufacturer “sharpens” devices exclusively for its mobile operators. Such devices are labeled Locked cell phone. But such phones can be used in any country, and they will cost 30% less. There is one huge caveat, though. In order to use Locked cell phone, you will have to pay for the services of American cellular operators for 2 years. If you terminate the contract with the provider, you will have to compensate for the damage, which will still amount to the same 30%. Accordingly, buying such devices is completely unprofitable.

Having figured out what it is - NeverLock - let's move on to another marking, which is often found on modern devices.

Soft Unlock

If the phone has the words “softlock” on it, this means that the device has been software hacked and “unlocked”. Usually such phones are sold in Ukraine.

However, you should buy “softanlock” only in exceptional situations. The fact is that very often “unlocking” is done using an almost artisanal method, which can make access to iTunes difficult. As a result, the user will constantly be faced with the fact that the iTunes update process will fail. As a result, you will have to look new firmware, which sometimes comes out only after a week, and the phone will be impossible to use.

Therefore, it is worth buying only NeverLock. Let's consider how to correctly distinguish it from fakes and other models.

What to look for when purchasing NeverLock

When choosing a phone, you first need to turn it on. If you have a real Neverlock in front of you, then the well-known company logo should appear on the loading screen.

Locked cell phones usually display a scary image of a skull. This means that the smartphone is classified as locked, and you will have to pay extra to use it American operators. Accordingly, there is no point in buying a device that came directly from the USA.

In addition, let's look at a few more ways that will allow you to find out whether the iPhone 4S Neverlock is actually on display in the store or not.

How to quickly find out if your phone is locked?

If the buyer is in a store, then the easiest way is to insert any SIM card into the iPhone and wait until the device catches the Network. If everything is fine and it works, then you can safely buy the phone.

You can also dial a combination of numbers to check your balance. If the phone gives out the balance on the account, then it is a Neverlock, and in the case of beeps and incomprehensible manipulations of the device, it is not worth buying it at all.

Check by IMEI

Another simple way to check your iPhone. To do this you need:

Go to your phone settings.
Select the “About device” section and go to the “IMEI” tab.
Copy the received code and enter it on the official website of the service.
Click “Check” (a lot of information about the phone will appear on the page after this).
Click on green button"SlimLock&Warranty".
Get technical information, where at the very end it will be written whether the phone is locked or not.

In this case, the word false will mean that the smartphone has been flashed, and true confirms that it is Neverlock.

As you can see, knowing what Neverlock means, you can purchase quality phone, which will work with any SIM card.

Recently there has been some confusion on blogs about unlocked phones. Perhaps you need to unlock it, or we're talking about about the SIM card, maybe you can’t unlock it bootloader because it is encrypted? It always takes a while for users to figure it out. But you got into right place. There are no problems here. Let’s start with a short excursion and inside the post we will understand in detail what it means to be “unlocked” in different cases and contexts.

Unlocked bootloader

In the US, this is most likely what you will encounter. Every smartphone is the owner of what we call bootloader. This is a set of instructions and actions that are run before the work starts Android OS. If bootloader is missing, then there is no phone. 99.99 percent Android smartphones hit the market with locked bootloader-ami. They are locked so that you do not write any files there that could damage the operation of the system, either accidentally or intentionally, if you like to delve into your device. This is also a safety measure. You can't unlock bootloader without deleting all data from your phone. In practice, it looks like this: if someone stole your phone, unlocked it bootloader and tries to get to the bottom of your data, he will be disappointed - the data was deleted in the process. Now, seeing the news that some phone went on sale with a locked bootloader-oh, take it calmly, since almost everything Android phones are like that and it is beneficial for you. The question is not whether it is unlocked or not, the question is whether you can unlock it. And why would you do this anyway? The answer is simple, you can flash a new kernel, , . Bootloader is the gatekeeper to all these processes, keeping your phone safe from you (or anyone else) accidentally breaking it.

Decryption bootloader implies that it requires a key. No other way. Users want to dig into their devices, and it doesn’t matter whether the manufacturer or seller encrypted bootloader. On the one hand, an encrypted phone leads to fewer breakdowns and, accordingly, fewer calls to the support service, which turn into additional monetary costs for the company. On the other hand, you buy a phone and have the right to do whatever you want with it.

But not all phones have such a barrier. Ruler Nexus can be unlocked within 30 seconds by writing three words in command line: oem unlock. Lots of new ones NTS easy to unlock with special tools provided by the company itself. Sony developed their own method. All this takes a little time and effort, but is quite possible. So unlocked bootloader- This open access into the depths of your phone.

SIM cards

Another type of what we call unlocking involves the use of SIM cards. If your operator supports the standard, then you must have heard about it. All phones GSM standard use SIM cards for calls and data. Now they are also required for use LTE networks. As for the phone, they can be either unlocked for any SIM cards or locked (it is possible to use a SIM card from only one specific operator). The latter option is beneficial to mobile providers, since you use their services exclusively, and when crossing the border, your costs increase. If your phone is unlocked, then you can temporarily install a SIM card from a local operator, which will save you money.

A locked phone will ask you for a code if you start it with a different SIM card. The latter can be provided to you by your operator, or you can use some free online services.

Root-access

Don't confuse these two processes with gaining -access. Unlocked bootloader will make the process of obtaining superuser rights easier, but a locked one will not become a significant obstacle.

And so, in a nutshell: unlocking the bootloader is necessary for serious hacking. In turn, you need to unlock your phone for SIM cards in order to use SIM cards from other operators.

Android from A to Z: What does “unlocked” mean?:
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