OEM unlock on Pixel 8 6KWS6 (mmWave version)

matthewu1201

I tried out grapheneOS on an old Pixel 5 and I love it. I bought a open box pixel 8 6KWS6 version that has the mmWave Verizon modem and I can't get the OEM unlocking ungrayed out from the developers menu. I read somewhere that the Verizon versions, even if they were originally bought from the google store, could not be OEM unlocked is that true?

I've tried factory resting a couple of times
I've tried dialing the checkup function to force the phone to communicate with google servers
I've tried using an active AT&T sim card in it, I've hooked it to my wifi.
I enabled USB debugging.

The only thing I haven't tried is waiting from a couple of hours to a couple of days for the phone to magically OEM unlock feature to be ungrayed out. Also my AT&T sim card works just fine, so I'm assuming its not carrier locked to Verizon.

Has anyone successfully OEM unlocked this version of the pixel 8?

Thanks

GrapheneOS

matthewu1201 Carrier Pixels can be locked by the carrier, which is done by Verizon for all Verizon Pixels and they provide no way to remove the lock. Other carriers are generally less strict but you should still avoid buying a carrier device unless you know you're going to be able to unlock it.

flighty_sloth

Unfortunately it is true that Verizon specific phone models notoriously can't be OEM unlocked.

matthewu1201

GrapheneOS Point of clarification, I didn't buy this phone from Verizon directly. I bought it from ebay as an open box unlocked phone. And seeing that I was able to put an AT&T SIM card in it and successfully use my AT&T service on it, I'm assuming it is not carrier locked to Verizon. But I understand your general message. Thanks for the response. I'm going to be returning that phone to the seller. Not sure if I'm going to get another non-EOL pixel (that is not the mmWave version) or just keep using my EOL pixel 5 until October when the pixel 9 is released. I now understand why it was so hard to find the mmWave version of the Pixel 8, at least for the loading of custom OS's, it is useless.

Edit: I'm only clarifying so that future GrapheneOS enthusiast will have this post to look at if they fall in to the same hole I just did. If I had been bright enough to ask this forum before buying the phone I would be in a better position right now. But all I did was search this forum and the GrapheneOS reddit forum for previously asked questions about the mmWave version of the pixel 8 and came up with nothing. So I just assumed everything would work fine.

de0u

matthewu1201 Point of clarification, I didn't buy this phone from Verizon directly. I bought it from ebay as an open box unlocked phone.

Regardless of where the second or third buyer buys the device, if it was first sold as a Verizon device, that is permanent.

And it appears that so far Verizon has an exclusive deal with Google in the U.S. with respect to mmWave Pixels.

matthewu1201 And seeing that I was able to put an AT&T SIM card in it and successfully use my AT&T service on it, I'm assuming it is not carrier locked to Verizon.

Verizon is less aggressive about carrier locking than they used to be. But they are quite adamant about not doing OEM unlocking.