Just heard back from my friend. The phones he took back to Saudi were purchased at an Apple Store in Orange County, California. In his words, “I got a couple iPhone 6s & 6 plus. The T - Mobile version is unlocked, meaning you can use any GSM Carrier SIM Card.”
So, there you go. The phones were unlocked right out of the box.
Uh huh. I don’t know what you think that proves. You claimed that the Apple store sells only unlocked phones, which is false.