I have an old iPhone 7+ that I purchased from AT&T years ago. I switched service from AT&T a few years ago and went with Consumer Cellular. I have now stopped using this phone and bought a new iPhone [11] , but not from any carrier. I was told, since I paid for the phone at purchase, it would be "unlocked". When I went to settings, it was noted as "locked." I called Consumer Cellular and was told it will remain locked for 6 months. When I asked Consumer Cellular why, they couldn't explain why it would be locked for 6 months except to say "that's just the way it is," or words to that effect. Any suggestions regarding what's going on? I wanted to get an eSIM for it, but if it is locked this is a no go.
Subject Change: As an alternative to the above, I thought I'll just use my old iPhone 7+ [noted above] and purchase a physical pre-paid SIM to use the phone in Europe. I called AT&T, even thought it is no longer the carrier and the phone was paid for long, long ago, and the AT&T representative said t he unlocked the phone--after I gave him the IMEI number. All well and good. But, when i turned the phone "off" waited a while, then turned it back "on" [as the AT&T% rep. suggested] and went to settings, it still indicted the SIM was "locked". So, is it locked or unlocked?
Jon