In Short: The only way to unlock your iCloud account is to have an industry insider reset your iCloud lock status in their computer systems. Unless you know someone on the inside, you will need to pay a third-party provider to do this.
After more than 45 hours research scouring through a dozen high-authority review sites and testing 3 providers, I can confidently say that the best iCloud unlock provider is Apple iPhone Unlock.
My Pick: Apple iPhone Unlock
Positives: Only 100% successful unlock provider, great pricing, fast
Negatives: Website is a little difficult to navigate
Apple iPhone Unlock is the only iCloud unlock service I recommend because they’re the only company that actually unlocked all four iCloud accounts we paid for! Shocking, I know…
Whilst that would be enough to put them in the #1 spot, when you add in the fact that they’re also the cheapest AND the fastest of all providers, then they’re definitely my #1 choice.
The only negative to their service was that their website was a little clunky to access, but it’s only a slight negative when you consider they were the only company to deliver 100% on their promise.
If you need to unlock your iCloud account, go to Apple iPhone Unlock.
Runner-Up: IMEI Doctor
Positives: Solid customer service and 75% success rate
Negatives: 75% success rate
If for some reason, you can’t access Apple iPhone Unlock, the only other service I would consider using is IMEI Doctor. Whilst they weren’t successful all four iCloud accounts, three out of four isn’t bad, especially when they very quickly refunded our payment for the fourth device.
This wasn’t surprising as their customer service was responsive, helpful, and polite throughout every conversation we had (even when I intentionally asked dumb questions to see how nice they really were).
If you can’t access Apple iPhone Unlock, you can check out IMEI Doctor here.
The Research
- Why you should trust me
- Why this is necessary
- Who should do this
- How I picked
- How I tested
- My Pick
- Runner-Up
- The Competition
- Sources
Why You Should Trust Me
I spent 8 years sitting behind the desk of my smartphone repair store helping people with all kinds of iPhone issues. iCloud account locking wasn’t a ‘thing’ back then, but even though I sold that business, I’m still the person my friends turn to whenever they have an issue with their iPhone. This keeps me well versed with all iPhone issues and has resulted in me removing more than two dozen iCloud locks.
To make sure that I kept my test results as unbiased as possible, I’ve recruited the new owner of my former business and 3 other owners of smartphone repair shops to advise on their experiences and strategies for removing Apple iCloud passwords.
Why This is Necessary
At the start of 2014, Apple added a slight wrinkle to their iPhone activation process – a tricky little safety feature called an iCloud activation lock (or just iCloud lock).
This little pain-in-the-behind allowed users to lock their iPhone remotely using their iCloud account details and was designed to provide an additional layer of safety and security to their beloved and adoring fans.
In reality, what it really did was create a massive headache for roughly 3% of users who buy their iPhones secondhand.
Instead of being able to get your ‘new’ iPhone, slip your sim card in, and start your new life, you now need ensure that the original owner has removed their iCloud account password from the iPhone because if they haven’t, your ‘new’ iPhone is nothing more than an expensive paperweight – locked to their account and forever in their control.
Who Should Do this
Unlocking your iCloud account is for anyone who has an iPhone that is locked to an iCloud account. Pretty simple, eh? 🙂
There are a number of ways this could happen with the most common one being buying a second-hand iPhone from eBay or some other service only to find that it’s locked to an iCloud account and have the former owner demand money to unlock it.
There are other more sinister situations where this can be necessary but I’m going to assume you’re a fine, upstanding citizen of this great country.
How I Picked
Picking the winner started with an easy one: did they actually unlock all iCloud accounts and remove the old owners password? Given that only one company did this, it wasn’t exactly a tough test. Others came close, but really, close enough isn’t good enough when it comes to being able to use your iPhone!
If there was more than one winner, I would have used these criteria:
- Success – was the unlock successful?
- Price – how much did the unlock cost?
- Speed – how long did the unlock take?
- Support – did anyone answer my questions?
- Ease – how easy was the process?
But I didn’t need to. I just needed to look at the success rate and the winner was clear.
How I Tested The Services
The testing process involved three stages:
Stage 1: Eliminate unreliable solutions
There are a number of potential ways to unlock iCloud accounts listed on various websites that claim you can do it without having access to the Apple database.
I tested all these methods and consulted with the owners of the smartphone repair shops who’re helping with this review and they all confi