Pixel phones are sold with bootloader unlocking disabled
> connect the device to the Internet before they are allowed to install the operating system they wantPhoning home before undertaking such an activity takes away the ownership rights from the customers. They do not actually own these devices even after they have purchased them.The reason is that an important part of their ownership rights, i.e. the freedom to use the software of their choice, has been withheld from them. With a promise that it will be given to them on request. Unless, of course, the manufacturer changes their mind.Unfortunately, there are cases when the manufacturer did not even make such a promise and disabled bootloader unlocking permanently with no way of enabling it again. On Pixel phones.This used to happen (and perhaps still happens) to some Pixel phones purchased in the USA from Verizon. They have been known [0] for disabling the bootloader unlocking and for giving their customers no way to enable it. Not even after phoning home.Some people claim [1] that they paid someone from China to unlock their Pixel 1 phone remotely using some shady approach. I assume that someone with inside information from Google has leaked some software and instructions for doing so. It is unclear whether later Pixel phones sold by Verizon with locked bootloaders could be unlocked in a similar way.As a result, it seems like the only way to have a chance at unlocking such Pixel phones, which have been made by a US company and purchased from a US carrier, is to pay someone in China and hope for the best. It has gotten that far.[0] https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/how-to-unlock-bootloader-...
[1] https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/how-to-unlock-bootloader-...