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AT&T iPhone Unlocking Process Detailed, Successful for Some
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Yippee for you in France. But US laws don't have the same requirements and it is totally legal for a phone even out of contract to still be locked to the original carrier and ATT used that to keep the iPhones locked to them. but they have gotten so much negative PR of late because they have this rule only for iPhones that they changed it.
Call the customer support line. They ask you questions about your account, so you can't really have someone else do it for you.
Why can't they simply unlock all the imeis that have been sold more than two years ago, they're making such a mess out of such a simple procedure, I hate this kinda waste of human energy and time that could be used somewhere else, making a good use instead of solving crap that shouldn't be here in a first place...
They didn't keep the full price only because of the requirement to sign a 2 year contract. That was the rule at the time and it wasn't a fair one since every other phone when you sign a contract, ATT would pay part or all of the upfront phone costs for you and you would pay it back via your monthly fee.
but with the original phone you were being asked to pay the full price, sign a 2 year contract with an ETF and pay the same rates as someone with a subsided phone when you have nothing to pay back for your actual phone device costs. Nothing was fair about any of that and it didn't fit ATT's handling of other phones. So they switched it.
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A few folks have and it is likely due to server overload. From the sounds of it they were flooded with requests yesterday and that means their server and perhaps iTunes were backlogging. Give it a try later day and if it isn't working then, try tomorrow and at that point call them back and see what they can do.
let us all chat/call their support, then ATT will realize how much of their support staff are spending time to unlock this damn thing.
i was with the chat for almost one hour from 6AM to 7.10AM PST this morning to unlock iPhone 3G/2G.
let us see what apple/att does next
Just because you're eligible for upgrade doesn't mean you're out of contract. It's a 2 year contract.
I don't know about at the ATT stores but if you paid full price at an Apple store it was never locked to begin with. Even if it wasn't one of the special 'unlocked' phones (which are really the same phones but with no sim card of any kind inside).
I know because my boss wanted us to all upgrade our iPhones to the 4s since we use them for work and about 6 of us weren't eligible for an upgrade so we bought them full price (and he paid for them). And none of them were locked we happily discovered after an article here tipped us off that they might not be.
Success
I can confirm that this works. When I finally got a hold of someone who knew what they were doing at ATT, it only took a few minutes. Here was the process:
1. Find someone who knew that I was eligible having cancelled my contract and paid all my bills and ETF in full.
2. Wait 5-10 minutes for rep to fill out ticket
3. After submitting the ticket he told me to backup and restore. What I actually did was go into Cydia and uninstall ultrasn0w and respring. (I kept my foreign SIM card in throughout the process)
4. Open up iTunes
5. Plug in iPhone. it actually said that my phone was not successful in activating, both in iTunes and on my iPhone
6. I then slid the unlocking bar on my iPhone screen and it took me to the typical first time setup screen for iOS 5.0.1.
7. After selecting my wireless network, it said, attempting to activate phone. After a few seconds it took me right to the home screen. All my data and apps were unchanged. Everything was the same except for having a legitimately unlocked phone. Because I have an old baseband, it shows as only having one bar of signal, but it works without ultrasn0w installed.
I am now in the process of restoring to a pre-stiched version of 5.0.1 so that I have the most up-to-date baseband, but still maintain the untethered jailbreak.
As a side note, I was also able to get a ticket submitted for my iPhone 3GS even though I don't have the IMEI number available because I sold it to someone else. I guess whoever has the phone now will have a pleasant surprise of having an unlocked iPhone next time they plug their phone into iTunes. The ATT rep was able to pull the IMEI number from my account.
Thank you ATT for doing the right thing.
I can confirm that this works. When I finally got a hold of someone who knew what they were doing at ATT, it only took a few minutes. Here was the process:
1. Find someone who knew that I was eligible having cancelled my contract and paid all my bills and ETF in full.
2. Wait 5-10 minutes for rep to fill out ticket
3. After submitting the ticket he told me to backup and restore. What I actually did was go into Cydia and uninstall ultrasn0w and respring. (I kept my foreign SIM card in throughout the process)
4. Open up iTunes
5. Plug in iPhone. it actually said that my phone was not successful in activating, both in iTunes and on my iPhone
6. I then slid the unlocking bar on my iPhone screen and it took me to the typical first time setup screen for iOS 5.0.1.
7. After selecting my wireless network, it said, attempting to activate phone. After a few seconds it took me right to the home screen. All my data and apps were unchanged. Everything was the same except for having a legitimately unlocked phone. Because I have an old baseband, it shows as only having one bar of signal, but it works without ultrasn0w installed.
I am now in the process of restoring to a pre-stiched version of 5.0.1 so that I have the most up-to-date baseband, but still maintain the untethered jailbreak.
As a side note, I was also able to get a ticket submitted for my iPhone 3GS even though I don't have the IMEI number available because I sold it to someone else. I guess whoever has the phone now will have a pleasant surprise of having an unlocked iPhone next time they plug their phone into iTunes. The ATT rep was able to pull the IMEI number from my account.
Thank you ATT for doing the right thing.
My guess is that AT&T had been feeling legal pressure to unlock the phones after the contracts ended. They knew they were pressing their luck and decided to do the right thing. I have a feeling that they may try to parlay this into getting people out of their unlimited data plans though.
Took me a half an hour. First rep had to confirm I met all the requirements (out of contract, used the iPhone exclusively with AT&T, no early termination, no excessive data usage). Then they transferred me to another rep who reconfirmed that I met all the requirements and pushed the unlock through. She said all I have to do now is restore the iPhone using iTunes.
After going through all those hoops, I think anyone who didn't buy the phone through AT&T or Apple will have a really tough time getting their iPhone unlocked.
After going through all those hoops, I think anyone who didn't buy the phone through AT&T or Apple will have a really tough time getting their iPhone unlocked.
Talking about the first and second gen iphones, they all should have been unlocked immeadeatly on sunday morning because there's not a single one that has been sold less than two years ago... But knowing that both att and apple know when you either bought or activated your phone it makes absolutely no sense for them making their customers to go through all this crap. However, someone made a decidion...let us all chat/call their support, then ATT will realize how much of their support staff are spending time to unlock this damn thing.
i was with the chat for almost one hour from 6AM to 7.10AM PST this morning to unlock iPhone 3G/2G.
let us see what apple/att does next
I called in yesterday twice. The first time, I was told that my phone was eligible and they unlocked it. No mention of an e-mail or unlock codes. The lady just told me to do a restore and it would be unlocked. I did that, but I have no idea how to tell if it is "unlocked" or not other than putting a non-AT&T carrier SIM card in it... But currently, I don't have access to one.
I called in a second time to try to get a different rep, and she just looked my IMEI number up and said that it was already unlocked. Again, no mention of an e-mail or unlock codes... I did a restore again to see if there as any message, etc... and nothing.
Is there any way to tell (other than using a non-AT&T SIM card) if the phone has been unlocked or not?
I called in a second time to try to get a different rep, and she just looked my IMEI number up and said that it was already unlocked. Again, no mention of an e-mail or unlock codes... I did a restore again to see if there as any message, etc... and nothing.
Is there any way to tell (other than using a non-AT&T SIM card) if the phone has been unlocked or not?
AT&T will probably turn around and inform anyone that requested that their phone be unlocked that their unlimited data contract with AT&T has been terminated and they are welcome to select a new (limited) plan.
I have a friend with an used iPhone 3G, buy from ebay from the owner. Anyone know if in this case the phone can be unlocked?
This will only boost the 2nd hand market
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In Settings, there should say Carrier, tap it and try to change from Automatic to another one.
This will only boost the 2nd hand market
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In Settings, there should say Carrier, tap it and try to change from Automatic to another one.
Not unlocking "Out of Contract" 4S Phone
I have an iPhone 4s that I purchased from my son when he moved to Verizon. I then went to the AT&T store with him and they switched my 3GS with his 4S.
Not that it matters, but he paid his ETF.
The rep at the store confirmed that my account is still "Out of Contract". The rep on the phone today also confirmed that I am "Out of Contract" yet when I got the Tech rep on the phone, she said AT&T is not unlocking 4s iPhones, period.
I have an iPhone 4s that I purchased from my son when he moved to Verizon. I then went to the AT&T store with him and they switched my 3GS with his 4S.
Not that it matters, but he paid his ETF.
The rep at the store confirmed that my account is still "Out of Contract". The rep on the phone today also confirmed that I am "Out of Contract" yet when I got the Tech rep on the phone, she said AT&T is not unlocking 4s iPhones, period.
That is simply incorrect. I know of a few 4S users who paid full price (before unlocked 4S' were available) and got it unlocked. Try another rep.
True, but that didn't account for how they saw those 2007 iPhones as not being on contract, thus the allowance for early upgrade. What was interesting was how they allowed the early upgrade to take place for two generations of iPhone (after the 2007 model) before switching back to what they did for other phones.
Got on the "chat" this time, and got some much better information...
Jody: We need to file a case on the unlocking of the Iphone 4.
Aaron: File a case?
Jody: Yes. We do not have the unlock code so a case is sent off to our device unlock team.
Jody: Process can take 24 - 72 hours to complete.
Aaron: Can you explain the process please?
Jody: This process goes off to the device unlock team and they look into unlocking the device by getting a code for it.
Jody: Do you have a valid email address?
Aaron: yes
Aaron: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx
Jody: I have your case id xxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxx for your request for the unlock code for your Iphone.
Aaron: Okay
Jody: You will receive an email with the unlock code and the instructions on how to unlock it.
Jody: We need to file a case on the unlocking of the Iphone 4.
Aaron: File a case?
Jody: Yes. We do not have the unlock code so a case is sent off to our device unlock team.
Jody: Process can take 24 - 72 hours to complete.
Aaron: Can you explain the process please?
Jody: This process goes off to the device unlock team and they look into unlocking the device by getting a code for it.
Jody: Do you have a valid email address?
Aaron: yes
Aaron: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx
Jody: I have your case id xxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxx for your request for the unlock code for your Iphone.
Aaron: Okay
Jody: You will receive an email with the unlock code and the instructions on how to unlock it.
I sense the cries of a billion iPhone users calling out for an unlock...
The Death Star strikes again...
I wonder if someone can sniff the exchange between iTunes and Apple when the unlock is performed, and reverse engineer the unlock process so it can be used on in-contract phones?
If they can do it this easily it shouldn't be that hard to crack, right?
If they can do it this easily it shouldn't be that hard to crack, right?
The representative you were speaking to is familiar with the unlock procedure for most other cell phones, but presumably they were not familiar with the true unlock procedure for iPhones. So they automatically (but mistakenly) assumed that the procedure that you follow for other phones (key in an "unlock code") also applies to iPhones,
For all I know, you may get an email telling you that the process is complete. But there certainly will not be any unlock code emailed to you. After AT&T's end of the process has finished, all you'll need to do is sync your iPhone through iTunes, and the phone will "call home" over the Internet to Apple's servers -- Apple's servers will automatically instruct your iPhone to unlock itself.
You may not get any positive feedback to prove that the process was successful until the next time you insert a non-AT&T SIM card.