Remember how the AT&T Nexus 6 comes with carrier branding on its backside and its boot screen? Well, it looks like the AT&T-ification of that Nexus 6 doesn’t stop there.
It’s been discovered that Nexus 6 models purchased from AT&T are SIM-locked, meaning that you’ll need to request an unlock code from AT&T to use the device on any other carrier. To get one, you’ll need to have completed your two-year contract or pay off your AT&T Next payments.
Additionally, AT&T Nexus 6 models check to make sure that your rate plan allows for tethering before actually allowing your to use your phone as a hotspot. And finally, AT&T’s custom ringtones will come included with the Nexus 6.
So what can you do? Not much right now, it seems, because while the AT&T Nexus 6 runs the same ROM as all other Nexus 6 models, all of the custom AT&T bits are built into parts of the software that you can’t erase simply by flashing a Google factory image. The good news is that since the AT&T Nexus 6 does run the same ROM as other Nexus 6 models, the same updates and images that are released to non-AT&T Nexus 6 units in the future should play nicely with the AT&T model.