(WE HAVE NEW TESTING RESULTS FOR 2019 – UPDATED)
SUMMARY:
iCloud Unlock -Is it possible?
Did you recently purchase a used iPhone and realized that the phone is locked to the previous iCloud account? If your iPhone has an iCloud lock on it, it means that regardless of how much you paid for your second-hand phone, the previous owner can still block you from using it. They can do this by keeping the device locked to their iCloud account and not allowing you to log into the phone.There are two ways to get an iCloud unlocked by having the previous owner unlock it or by using a service that specializes in unlocking iCloud locks. The service frees your phone from the previous owner’s account and allows you to setup your own unlocked iCloud account on that phone, meaning you can start making calls, sending messages, and using apps.
Of the 9 iCloud activation unlock services we found and 2 we tested, the fastest, cheapest, and best supported provider is AppleiPhoneUnlock. They unlocked all 12 accounts we sent them, for the least money, and did it in the fastest time.
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At the start of 2014, Apple added a quirk to iOS7 that changed the way that iPhone accounts were made available. It was a little thing called iCloud Bypass Activation Lock. The change made to iOS 7 (and carried through to iOS10, iOS11 and iOS 12) is that your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch is now locked to your personal iCloud account.
This means when you restart your Apple device you have to enter your iCloud username and password to access the features, functions, and files.
It’s not a big problem when you’re just using your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, but when you buy a second-hand device from StarGazer77 on eBay, and he doesn’t either remove his iCloud details or give you his access details, the phone is useless. Literally, useless.
It doesn’t matter if you reset it, jailbreak it, allow the battery to run completely flat, or pay someone to hack into it, you couldn’t use the phone. That means your $400 is down the drain, and you’re left with most expensive paperweight you’ve ever purchased.
In response to the massive demand that suddenly sprung up from disgruntled consumers who’d legitimately bought an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch and couldn’t use it, clever providers started investigating ways to bypass this barrier.
There were a lot of false starts and loopholes closed by Apple, but eventually, a fool-proof loophole emerged. And now, you can get the iCloud activation lock removed and use the iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch you paid your hard earned money for.
How to Choose The Right iCloud Unlock Provider
With all the providers flooding the market, it became difficult to tell who could legitimately unlock your iCloud account and who was just a scam shopfront setup to rip you off.
After being scammed three times by ‘Official’ unlock solutions, I decided to test and review them to find out who was the most reliable.
Click here to skip testing methodology and go straight to the reviews
Why I’m qualified to help tell you about iCloud Lock for you phone
There are no degrees available in bypassing the iCloud lock so there are no technical qualifications I could hold to make me more qualified than the next guy to tell you about iCloud activation unlock, but there is one thing that makes me more of an expert than anyone else: testing.
I’ve reviewed 9 providers and tested 3 providers on all active iPhone models. And the simple fact that I’ve actually tested these providers with all models makes me the expert in the space.
There are other reviews available but most of them have never reviewed even one carrier, let alone reviewed all nine. That’s why I’m qualified to tell you this.
It’s easy. The steps to iCloud Unlock for an Apple Device
Step 1 – Visit the one of the recommended services we review found below in this article
Step 2 – Enter your IMEI or Serial Number of your phone or device
- If your iPhone is active: Dial *#06# to get your IMEI or go to Settings -> General -> About -> then Scroll down to find the IMEI number
- If your device is not active: Located on the activation screen, there will be a little “i” icon on the screen. Tap to that button and you will get your IMEI number
Step 3 – Wait for confirmation that your iCloud Lock has been unlocked!
Step 4 – Now create a new account and start using your device
This service works on all iPhone 7, 7 plus, 6, 6 plus, 5S, 5C, 5, 4S, 4 and iPad 4, 3, 2 Air 2.
Test Methodology For Removing iCloud Lock
The way I conducted these tests was simple. First of all, I Googled iCloud unlock providers and drew up a list of everyone I could find. After removing services that didn’t look like they were still active, I was left with nine services.
The next step in the process was to cull that list down from nine operators to my top three. I wanted my test of each operator to be comprehensive and complete and it wasn’t possible to rigorously test all 9 operators. To do this, I jumped onto review websites such as TrustPilot and RipoffReport to weed out any obviously dodgy operators.
I read the reviews and tallied up the average score of each service provider giving me an average score for each. I cut the lowest scoring six services and was left with three to test.
To make sure I had enough devices to thoroughly test each provider, I put the call out to all my readers to get iPhones that need unlocking. I wanted to get people in a variety of countries and using a variety of models.
Of the 73 who responded, I chose 12 to test (12 for each provider):
- 1 x iPhone X
- 1 x iPhone XS
- 1 x iPhone XS Max
- 1 x iPhone 8
- 1 x iPhone 7
- 1 x iPhone 7 Plus
- 1 x iPhone 6
- 1 x iPhone 6 Plus
- 1 x iPhone 6s
- 1 x iPhone 6s Plus
- 1 x iPad Pro 2018
- 1 x iPad Air
The chosen applicants then sent me their IMEI codes and I placed the orders.
Activation Lock – Testing Criteria
The iCloud providers were judged based on 4 criteria:
Criteria 1: Price
Price range varied greatly between providers. Some were as little as $15 whilst others were as much as $149. There are very few people on this earth who can purchase services without being price conscious so this is where we started our assessment.
Criteria 2: Customer service
Handing over your device details and a chunk of cash to an unknown website to perform a service you know very little about can be a little nerve-wracking, but having a supportive and understanding person on the other end of the customer support line can help calm those nerves.
We tested each service provider three times during the course of the unlocking process:
- Before the purchase
- After the purchase but before the unlock was complete
- After the unlock iCloud service was complete
This was to get a comprehensive understanding of who was really there to help and who was there just to take your money.
Criteria 3: Success
What the point in great prices and caring customer support if they can deliver on what they promised? Because of this, the third criteria is: success. It’s a simple pass/fail criteria. If the iCloud account was unlocked, it was a success. If not, then no.
Criteria 4: Speed
Getting your iCloud account unlocked is great, but waiting can be frustrating. To compare apples to apples, we didn’t assess the sites on how long they said it would take to free the iCloud account, just how long it actually took to unlock them.
After processing all of this data, we can confidently say that the following two providers are the best.
The Top 2 iCloud Unlock Providers
As with anything in life, not all iCloud activation unlock providers are the same. Some have low prices but no customer support. Some will answer your email within five minutes, but take four weeks to unlock your iPhone.
After assessing 9 providers and testing them, these are the top two providers:
1. AppleiPhoneUnlock – 9.5/10 (Best Unlocking iCloud Activation Lock Provider)
They are my number 1 choice for iCloud unlocks. We’ve tested them based on the above four criteria and they came out top in all four.
PROs:
First of all, they unlocked every device we sent them. They were assigned versions of iPads and iPhone models from 6 to XS to unlock and completed every single one of them (the only one to do so). That’s always a good place to start.
Secondly, they unlocked them all quickly. The total time for completing all twelve iPhones was only a TOTAL of 24 days. This is the breakdown:
- 1 x iPhone X – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone XS – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone XS Max – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone 8 – 3 days
- 1 x iPhone 7 – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone 7 Plus – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone 6 – 1 day
- 1 x iPhone 6 Plus – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone 6s – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone 6s Plus – 1 day
- 1 x iPad Pro 2018 – 3 days
- 1 x iPad Air – 2 days
When you consider that most iCloud unlock providers take at least a week, this is stellar.
Thirdly, their customer support rocks. I contacted them before, during, and after the service was completed and the most I ever had to wait to hear back was forty-five minutes.And even better than that, when I did contact them, they were polite, helpful, and answered my questions completely.
And finally, they’re the cheapest of the bunch. They might only be $1 cheaper than our #2 recommendation, but we live in a world where every dollar counts and it’s better to have it in your pocket than someone else’s!
CONs:
Unfortunately, there’s nothing really to write here. I try to make my reviews as unbiased and even-handed as possible and I don’t have anything to add right now. Could their customer support have responded in less than 45 minutes? Sure, they could have, but it wouldn’t have made that much difference. Could they have unlocked all the iCloud accounts in less time? Possibly, but it wouldn’t have made that much difference.
Without nit-picking for the sake of it, there’s nothing to really add here.
OVERALL:
AppleiPhoneUnlock was the only provider to unlock all 6 accounts and because of that, they’re my #1 choice. And if that wasn’t enough, they have great customer service, the cheapest prices (even if it’s only by $1), and they’re the fastest of the group.
If your iPhone is locked to an iCloud account and you need to get it unlocked –> iCloud Unlock.
2. DoctorUnlock – Alternative Bypass iCloud Lock Service 7.5/10
DoctorUnlock is my second choice. Not because they’re a terrible provider, but simply because they’re not as good as AppleiPhoneUnlock..
PROs:
DoctorUnlock mostly do what they say they’re going to do. I purchased 12 iCloud unlocks and they managed to unlock 11 of them. 11 out of 12 isn’t bad when you consider that most providers have less than a 50% success rate, but it’s still not 8 out of 8.
The total time it took to unlock the iCloud accounts was longer than advertised (30 days total), but they still delivered. Here’s a breakdown of how long it took to unlock each iCloud account.
- 1 x iPhone X – 3 days
- 1 x iPhone XS – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone XS Max – 3 days
- 1 x iPhone 8 – 3 days
- 1 x iPhone 7 – 4 days
- 1 x iPhone 7 Plus – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone 6 – 2 day
- 1 x iPhone 6 Plus – 2 days
- 1 x iPhone 6s – 3 days
- 1 x iPhone 6s Plus – 1 day
- 1 x iPad Pro 2018 – 3 days
- 1 x iPad Air – N/A
Their customer support is efficient and will answer your questions, but it might take a few days. And as I said above, they’re only $1 more expensive than AppleiPhoneUnlock.
CONs:
Firstly, they failed to unlock 1 iCloud account. Yes, they gave us a refund straight away, but they still failed to deliver.
Secondly, their unlock times are a slower as well. DoctorUnlock was unlocking iCloud accounts in 1-2 days, these guys are more like 3-4 days. It’s not a HUGE issue, but it’s still twice as long to wait without a phone you’ve already paid for.
And finally, whilst their customer support responded in a few days, their responses were always curt and specific. There was nothing in the email other than the only information they needed to answer the question. Whilst they technically did their job, it was very cold and clinical.
OVERALL:
DoctorUnlock are a solid provider and there’s a better-than-average chance your iCloud account will be unlocked, but why take the risk when AppleiPhoneUnlock are more reliable and cheaper?
You can check out their website for unlocking iCloud here: Remove iCloud
In Conclusion
Having an iPhone locked to someone else’s iCloud account sucks. They can effectively hold you ransom and make you pay whatever they wanted to get access to the phone you’ve already paid for. And nobody wants that. If you have your icloud locked, there are many available services and you can beat their scams without having to pay them a cent.
Of the 9 iCloud unlock providers we found and the 3 we tested, the winner was clear: AppleiPhoneUnlock.
They’re the fastest, cheapest, have the more responsive customer support, and were the only provider who successfully completed all 6 iCloud unlocks we sent them.
Other similar unlock, bypass and activation removal guides for other Apple or Samsung devices here:
iPhone 8
Samsung Reactivation or Bypass Lock