Switching SIMs under contract

Hello everyone, I am new here and I just have 2 questions. So my grandma has a Google Pixel 7 that still is under contract with a remaining balance of $500. Anyways, she wanted to try an iPhone to see if she would like it so I gave her my old iPhone 6S Plus for her to try out and took the SIM from her Pixel 7 to the iPhone and it worked fine. A few days later, however, the iPhone became SIM locked. After that we put it back into the Pixel 7 and it has been working fine since. So my questions are why was it SIM locked (I am assuming because it is too old) and if I were to take the SIM from the Pixel again and buy a renewed iPhone 13 Pro Max and put it in there would it work?

Accepted answers

Verizon_Support

Got it, thanks! You can try going to a corporate Verizon store to pick up a new SIM at no charge vzw.com/stores, however if there is still a restriction you will need to contact the seller of the phone. https://www.verizon.com/about/consumer-safety/device-unlocking-policy

-Melissa

All comments

Verizon_Support

Hi Blake, thank you for reaching out to us about options for swapping SIMs. Are these both Verizon phones on Verizon accounts? If so, were the SIM details updated through the account as well?

-Melissa

blakerusso9

Hi Melissa, the iPhone 6S Plus that we used was bought off of Ebay so Im not sure but it did say no SIM restrictions on settings. And the phone did show up and replaced the pixel on the my verizon app.

Verizon_Support

-Melissa

SynthpopAddict

Hi, just some feedback:

1) I would not switch out the devices while under a contract. This is considered breach of contract and Verizon will then force you to pay off the remaining balance on the device immediately (or within the next billing cycle at the latest), plus there will likely be early termination penalty fees and any device credits being received before will be lost.

2) Moving SIM cards around between devices is no longer supported. Someone else reported it completely broke their new phone, even though it was the same manufacturer and only a newer model. I think Verizon has done this to prevent the fraud known as a "SIM swap" where criminals use old SIM cards to move a victim's service to the criminal's phone. Even if it is an eSIM, moving one of those around probably isn't supported either for the same reason.

3) The iPhone 6 generation is very old and has limited functionality at best on current network technology because Apple is no longer supporting it and it cannot be upgraded to the latest software. It also cannot run 5G.

4) Phones bought second-hand, especially from unknown sellers on eBay, Facebook, and the like, commonly have problems somehow. It's possible to make a phone look "clean" when it isn't, and the phone locking itself most likely has more to do with tampering or a shady past.

blakerusso9

So just to be clear, I can take the sim from the pixel 7 that is not fully paid off yet and put it into a renewed iPhone 13 pro max and I won’t have to pay anything extra?