this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2024
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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Wait so when if I bought a Sony phone from then directly they wouldn't fucking let me unlock it??
Just to be clear, I'm talking about bootloader unlock (so you can root it and install custom ROMs) not carrier unlock. Normally Sony offer bootloader unlock codes on their website, but not for US models.
Carrier (network) lock and unlock is done by the carriers, manufacturer doesn't care.
Oh bootloader was exactly what I was talking about. Would this be the case if I bought it directly?
Yes, sorry. The way you bought it makes no difference. The unlock code is generated on the Sony website based on the IMEI of the first SIM slot. They can tell when it's the IMEI of an US model and will refuse to give out the code.
Wow what assholes. Thanks for telling me as I was considering Sony as a replacement. Not anymore
Wow what assholes. Thanks for telling me as I was considering Sony as a replacement. Not anymore
Wow, I did not realize this! Thank you for the heads up. That should absolutely be illegal imo.
If you're in the US (or Japan, they also restrict some models there) you can visit the unlock pages (select a model from the list on the page I linked) and see what they say. Maybe they don't restrict all models, or maybe they don't restrict older/cheaper models. I'm not in the US so I never get to see the message directly, I've only seen in other people's screenshots.
Also I'm not 100% if they give you the message if they see you have an American IP, or wait until you enter the IMEI to slap you down.
I am in the US and went to Sony’s bootloader unlock page and they say that the US variants of the 1 iv and the 5 iv cannot be unlocked. It doesn’t mention other models until you enter your model from the dropdown list.
INTERESTING NOTE! For anyone interested in the new xperia 1 vi, selecting it from the dropdown list brings up a note that the US and JP variants cannot be bootloader unlocked. Does this mean the 1 vi is coming to the US after all?
GSMArena only lists European and Asian band combinations for the 1 VI, and no US model.
Doesn't mean they won't come out with an US model though. The 5 VI is not out yet either.