You can't unlock bootloaders on Samsung Galaxy devices anymore
What's the story
Samsung is removing the option to unlock bootloaders from its Galaxy devices with the One UI 8 update. The change has been noted by SammyGuru, who found evidence of the missing facility in beta builds on Galaxy S25 Ultra, and pre-installed versions of One UI 8 on Galaxy Z Flip7 and Fold7. The "OEM Unlocking" developer option has disappeared in these cases.
User impact
Most users won't care about this change
The removal of the bootloader unlock option will not affect most Samsung buyers. This is because most smartphone users do not even touch half of the advanced options on their phones, let alone do anything that would need an unlocked bootloader. However, enthusiasts who like custom ROMs, kernels or rooting their devices for more functionality may be disappointed by this change.
Company position
Samsung still has a way to unlock bootloaders
Despite the removal of user-accessible bootloader unlocking, Samsung will still have a way to do it when needed. This change is part of a broader trend among Android manufacturers in recent years. The move is similar to Xiaomi's decision in China to disable bootloader unlocking, which led users to take extreme measures to circumvent the restriction.