Unlocking new phone

[Nelmore]

If I buy an iPhone  16 from  Walmart that is locked by straight talk but I do not want to activate it with straight talk I want to keep my current phone service which is visible by Verizon ,can  I do that

[DeanKevin64]

From my understanding no, that will not work since the phone will be locked to Straight Talk, the eSIM won't work with Visible or other carriers until the phone is unlocked. You would need to use it on Straight Talk for however long their unlocking policy is then you would be able to use it on Visible once unlocked.

[VisiblyPresent]

FWIW, there have been some recent discussions over at the Visible subreddit that it is possible. Whether true or not or limited to certain phones, remains to be seen but could be related to Verizon value brands. Might want to ask over there. See:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Visible/comments/1oowbfn/50_moto_stylus_deal/

With Walmart's return policies might be worth a shot (providedd they'll accept open box return)

[DeanKevin64]

I think the issue would be eSIM because of the locked phone. I think one could use a phone with a pSIM if it was activated in another phone but since the iPhone 16 is eSIM only I think would be a problem where the IMEI would not pass in order to activate or even transfer service to that phone. But, I could be wrong.