Pretty much impossible with Apple unless they know someone crooked within Apple or the locking carrier. It’s not like modem locks where calculating an NCK code

Pretty much impossible with Apple unless they know someone crooked within Apple or the locking carrier. It’s not like modem locks where calculating an NCK code is sufficient - here the phone will regularly check in with Apple and the response tells it whether the SIM is allowed. It’s enforced at the OS level, and ironically, the modem itself is never locked.