Those wondering why they cannot unlock their Pixel 6a currently, you (most likely) need to wait for Google's servers to begin authenticating Pixel 6a OEM unlocking. Hopefully should happen soon!
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That's ridiculous.
Huawei started the same way, they just turned off the required service leaving people guessing and a few months later they actually announced it.
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It checks the service to determine if the Pixel is unlocked. Hardware, firmware and software is identical across all Pixels whether or not they're locked by carriers. That's the point of the service. It allows the same hardware to be sold as unlocked or as locked carrier devices.
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But why not implement that in firmware instead? A carrier locked device wouldn't allow bootloader unlocking, so users couldn't remove the carrier lock.
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The approach they use works fine without having to have a separate OS or firmware for phones that are locked by carriers. Why would they want to have carrier specific operating systems and firmware for their devices? Instead it's all the same hardware, firmware and software.
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It's far simpler and easier to update / maintain. There is one set of firmware and OS images for a device like the Pixel 6. There are a few minor variants for regions (US vs. International vs. Japan, for example) due to radio band differences but all use same OS/firmware images.
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They used to take the approach of flashing a carrier id at the factory. They originally only had a deal with Verizon for Pixels, so Pixels either had a non-Verizon carrierid (0) or a Verizon carrierid (1) determining if enabling OEM unlocking support was allowed.
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The new approach means that Pixels still don't need separate firmware/software for devices locked by carriers and also don't need to be designated as a carrier-specific device for a specific carrier at the factory. They can simply send a batch of regular Pixels to a carrier.
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It also means that carriers can remove the bootloader locking on a device if they choose. For example T-Mobile will remove the bootloader locking for the original owner of a Pixel sold as a T-Mobile Pixel after they make a certain amount of payments. No special firmware/software.
T-Mobile just sends an update to the info used by the OEM unlocking service which permits it for the device where they approved it. A carrier Pixel has the same software and firmware. T-Mobile doesn't control the software / firmware. They just control an entry in a service db.
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It would certainly be nice if devices locked by carriers didn't exist, but Google not doing business with them wouldn't change anything. The approach used by Pixels makes things less bad by having a single set of OS / firmware images without any messed up carrier phone variants.