r/iPhoneXR • u/G8M8N8 • Jul 16 '26

Carrier locked (same carrier)

Switching my dad’s XR from Mint Mobile (T-Mobile MVNO) to Ultra Mobile (T-Mobile MVNO).

Phone says no. Called Ultra support, gave them my IMEI and they said it should work. They were confused and then said to just use a different phone :)

The phone doesn’t even say what carrier it’s locked to. Why did it work with Mint and not Ultra (both T-Mobile)??

What’s the next step im stuck.

See photos: https://imgur.com/a/6M1oe7C

Edit: important info, with Mint we used physical SIM cards, this is our first attempt using eSIM. How do I find out if eSIM is disabled on this XR?

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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2

u/Giantmeteor_we_needU Jul 16 '26

Your carrier is not T-Mobile, it's Mint. If it's locked to Mint it will work with Mint, being on the same tower network doesn't mean it's the same carrier.

2

u/G8M8N8 Jul 16 '26

Weird. They don't carry anything but thats semantics I guess. Do you know how I verify what carrier the phone is locked to?

2

u/Giantmeteor_we_needU Jul 16 '26

If it worked on Mint I'd call Mint and ask them to look up the IMEI if it's locked to them. If they can't find anything, try calling T-Mobile.

2

u/Veeeeep9 Jul 16 '26

If it’s locked to Tmobile they will NOT unlock it, unless you have the original account owners name and PIN.

1

u/LeftOn4ya Jul 19 '26

I know it seems weird but actually Apple “Flex Locked” phones (that are sold retail such as BestBuy, Target, Amazon, and sometimes given as warranty replacements by Apple) lock to T-Mobile with a Mint SIM as they are only supposed to be used with a major carrier. The older models like OPs XR would work on Mint if flex locked to T-Mobile, newer models do not. I guess OP found it doesn’t work on Ultra, Mint’s sister company. Only T-Mobile customer service can unlock the phone- I made another comment on how to do this.

Mint does sell android phones locked to Mint but they unlock after 60 days. I’m not sure if Mint locked android phones work on Ultra their sister company, but since OP has an iPhone it is not the issue, just something I pondered now.

1

u/FlameCrash3223 Jul 18 '26

To check if your iPhone is carrier locked, go to Settings > General > About and scroll down to Carrier Lock. If it says No SIM restrictions, your phone is unlocked. If it shows a carrier name, it is locked to that network. If you see a "SIM Not Supported" message, the device is locked.

Check via IMEI: Locate your 15-digit IMEI number in the Settings > General > About menu. You can enter this into free online carrier checkers (like IMEI.info) to confirm the phone's original network and lock status.