T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile devices are the second-biggest group of locked iPhones in circulation, and the failure mode is identical to AT&T's: the phone activates on Wi-Fi, refuses the new SIM with "SIM Not Supported", and Settings → General → About still says "SIM locked". If the device came from Metro, the lock is a T-Mobile lock — one company, one activation policy.
The lock lives in Apple's activation service against the IMEI, and T-Mobile controls the record. Metro devices are not a separate system: they are provisioned on the T-Mobile core, so a Metro IMEI has to be released by the same side that releases T-Mobile IMEIs.
T-Mobile's published requirements are more forgiving than AT&T's on paper — paid off, active for the minimum period, account in good standing, IMEI not reported — but the practical blocker is usually ownership: the phone was sold while still on someone else's account, or the account was closed with a balance after the sale. In both cases the free portal answers "not eligible" forever.
T-Mobile publishes the rules on its support site. In summary: the device must be paid off, it must have been active on the account for the published minimum period, the account must be in good standing, and the IMEI must not be reported lost or stolen. Prepaid devices have a longer minimum service requirement than postpaid ones. Business accounts must be unlocked by the account administrator.
When those conditions are met, T-Mobile removes the lock from the IMEI and the iPhone picks it up at the next activation — usually within two business days, no code involved. Metro devices follow the same process through Metro support.
Policies change without notice. The current wording is always on the carrier’s own page: T-Mobile device unlock policy.
The tiers below exist for the three states T-Mobile's free route cannot resolve: the device is still financed, it is attached to an account you do not own, or it is a Metro/Sprint-era handset that the retail portal cannot match to a record. Each tier is priced by model generation because that is how the supplier prices them, and each is refunded if the carrier refuses the IMEI.
| Service | Price | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile | Sprint | Metro| Cellular Fully Paid Eligiblity Check | $0.07 | Eligibility and paid-off status, $0.07 — the check that decides everything else. |
| US T-Mobile Fully Paid / Paid off / Eligible Unlock Clean - iPhone 13-14 Series | $30 | Clean, paid-off T-Mobile unlock by generation (4 → 17 series, priced per tier). |
| US T-Mobile | Metro Unlock Premium - iPhone 4-14 Series | $94 | Metro by T-Mobile premium unlock, including devices Metro will not release directly. |
| US T-Mobile | Sprint Unlock - iPhone 13 Series | $26 | Sprint-era records that the T-Mobile portal cannot find. |
| US Sprint Unlock - iPhone 11-12-SE Series | $16 | For IMEIs T-Mobile reports as “cannot locate / find”. |
| Remove T-Mobile SSN Service | $119 | Account-level removal for devices tied to an SSN-verified account — the most expensive case, and only worth it on high-value handsets. |
To T-Mobile. Metro is a brand on the T-Mobile core, so the activation policy is T-Mobile's and the release has to come from the same place.
Not through T-Mobile. The paid tiers cover it, priced by generation, and are refunded if the carrier refuses.
Not for the paid route — the IMEI is the only thing submitted. The free route does require access to the account.
Free route: about two business days. Paid tiers: usually minutes to a few hours for clean devices; account-level removals can take days.
Yes. It is stored against the IMEI at Apple, so it is re-applied at every activation.
Last checked 2026-10-28. Carrier rules are quoted from the operators’ own policy pages; if a rule has changed since, the carrier’s page wins.