I spend a lot of time in Italy. My long term solution for phone use is that I bring an old, unlocked iPhone 5 that I no longer use in the USA, that has an Italian SIM. I was in Venice a couple of weeks ago, and lost it.

My current phone is an iPhone 6 bought in September. It is locked, and AT&T won't unlock it.

I bought an iPhone 6 in May, dropped it in July, and the glass cracked. I don't live near an Apple store. A colleague said that there was a place that fixes iPhone screens for $150, so I went there. It was cheap junk and the screen broke for no reason, within two weeks. I took it back, and they said, "no warranties." I took it to Apple to get it done right. They said, "Because you took it to a 3rd party, we can no longer have anything to do with your phone," and they wouldn't fix it.

I went to a different 3rd party store and paid $200 for a new screen. That was also junk that broke in a few weeks just from walking around with it. That's when I decided that going to 3rd parties for a broken screen is a big mistake, and I just bought a new iPhone in September.

My question is, since my current iPhone is locked and I can't change the SIM, and the one with the 3rd party broken glass is unlocked, should I pay another $150 to get another cheap, breakable 3rd party glass then buy a SIM when I get to Italy in 10 days, or is there another way to buy an unlocked iPhone that makes more sense?

I tried Apple upgrade, but I'm not eligible.

Couple ways to unlock your current phone: pay it off and then ATT will unlock it... Alternatively, google "iPhone unlock" and there are some services that will do it... I've done it in the past (way past) and it seems a bit sketchy but whoever I ended using managed to unlock it... that all being said, it can be quite pricey especially for an iPhone 6...

FDW

They want $700 to do it.

Are you within the return period on your new iPhone? Bring it back and cancel your service if you can do it without an ETF. Get Verizon instead, and if you don't want to buy your own iPhone at retail and instead want it subsidized from the carrier, theirs is SIM-unlocked. That is, their model has both CDMA and GSM hardware - it is CDMA carrier locked to Verizon, but is SIM-unlocked for GSM service. Use Verizon service in the US and whatever carrier you use in Italy.

Personally, I prefer to just buy my hardware factory unlocked. My iPhone 6 was ~$800, but it's unlocked and allows me to go with whatever (generally prepaid) carrier is offering the best deal. I've been using Straight Talk for a long time, which runs on ATT towers and is $45/mo for unlimited service. When I go to Italy, I just pop in my TIM SIM before landing. Doing the math, it's cheaper to buy the phone and use the lower cost plan than it is to get a cheaper subsidized phone but pay the higher rates on the locked carrier. Plus, factory unlocked phones have a strong resale market if you decide to upgrade.

It's money that you'll end up paying one way or another....

FDW

You can buy a 6s directly from Apple.

Those come factory unlocked and are absolutely identical in every way to a 6s you would buy locked from a carrier. And the price is the same too.

Technically speaking there are 2 models of 6s, but the only difference is that one of them adds support for an obscure LTE band that AT&T uses or will use in some markets. If that concerns you then buy the "AT&T model" 6s from Apple. It will still be unlocked and priced the same as the identical phone purchased from AT&T.

Strange how you had so much trouble with repairs.

I've taken iPads to a store here in town a couple of times--no problems.

I wish I had done that: just paid full price for the phone, without having to lock into a specific carrier for two years, and having freedom. I didn't do it because I purchased a new iPhone 6, which was expensive, then when two replacement glass screens broke twice for $350 and my only choice was a new, unsubsidized one for $700, or take a new 2 year contract at a lower price, I took the latter.

I'm seeing unlocked iPhone 4's on Amazon for $60. Unlocked iPhone 5's for 150-300. Tempted to do that, or spend another $150 on a 3rd party screen for the broken phone in the closet.

Not sure how much you travel outside of SFO, or other major cities, but I have a few friends there with Tmoible who are very happy with the service and it provides free data & text in various places.

I think also right now they will pay your termination fees for you. Just an option. You can also just buy an iPhone outright from Apple that is unlocked. A 3rd option is to buy another cheaper phone. I did that with a "Blu" phone for a 29 day trip to Europe. Phone cost me ~120$ on Amazon (was smart with Android) and when I returned I sold it for 90$.

       

No, that's what I wish I had done. I bought it in September with a 2 year contract with AT&T. It was the only choice, because the one that I bought six months or so earlier was broke, and under a 2 year contract. If I had purchased an unlocked one, I'd be making payments for a year and a half for a non-working phone.

My choice now is, get the one that doesn't work fixed with a new screen for the third time, or find a way to buy an unlocked phone for when I'm in Italy, without having to pay $700. I leave in a week.

iPhone warranties are country specific and there are limitations for getting repairs done in a different country from where the phone was purchased.

iPads are global warranty in the same way as other Apple products such as the Macbooks.

Honestly, at this point, I'm not even sure what you are asking from this forum. Your choices are pretty clear and all them cost you money; only you can decide how much you are willing to spend in order to accomplish your desired use case. Nobody here can decide that for you.

People already told you the options you have for "getting around iPhone lock" which is your threads title. If you want a carrier to subsidize your phone because you don't want or can't afford the upfront cost, than that is the deal you made. There really isn't a "way around it"

So, the options have been laid out and the ball is in your court. Good luck

Regards

^^

1. If you decide to buy new phone, get it from apple directly. That way guaranteed factory unlocked - although Vz sells theirs factory unlocked, others don't automatically. The most versatile iphones with max bandwidth coverages are either the Vz or ATT model.

2. If you go with 6s, get at least 64 gb, whatever you do, don't buy the 16gb models.

3. Used and unlocked iPhone 5, 5s, even 4s are available for very reasonable prices. 4s can be had for $100 or less depending on condition, 5s under $250. If you buy from eBay, make sure seller has perfect 100% rating and is a private rather than mass seller. I've bought and sold BB, iPhones for friends and families on both eBay and CL without ever a problem.

Good luck!

When my brother took his iPhone 6 with cracked screen back to Apple store, they asked $109 to fix it. After he agrees to that, they told him the glass repair machine was broken, so they gave him a brand new phone instead.

When you took your original iPhone 6 to Apple store, did you tell them everything or they found out themselves? If they don't have it in the system, you could just try another apple store. Just tell them you crack the screen and want to repair it. It is only $109 and you may get a new phone instead.