How to check if factory unlocked iPhone is genuine?

no, you got ripped off...it isnt factory unlocked. it is jailbroken and unlocked with blacksn0w. get your money back and give him bad feedback. you can keep it but u may encounter wifi problems. go to blackra1n.com. plug in the phone, run the software. it will tell you that this software is free. you need to do something because you paid much more than its worth. i can unlock my iphone in 30 seconds...and with those 30 seconds, he charged you an extra few hundred bucks when you could have done it on your own. dont fall for scammers, and dont let them get away with it.

pcs are junk said:

no, you got ripped off...it isnt factory unlocked. it is jailbroken and unlocked with blacksn0w. get your money back and give him bad feedback. you can keep it but u may encounter wifi problems. go to blackra1n.com. plug in the phone, run the software. it will tell you that this software is free. you need to do something because you paid much more than its worth. i can unlock my iphone in 30 seconds...and with those 30 seconds, he charged you an extra few hundred bucks when you could have done it on your own. dont fall for scammers, and dont let them get away with it.

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Now wait a second, just because it has blackra1n installed does not mean it's not factory unlocked. Best way to check that I know of is to restore and set up as new. Then see if it works with any SIM card you put in it. If it does work with any SIM card then it is definitely factory unlocked, if not then well you got scammed.

Nonetheless, it will still work with any carrier the only difference being is when Apple updates the OS it is very possible that your iPhone would be locked to 1 carrier again.

Vandam500 said:

Now wait a second, just because it has blackra1n installed does not mean it's not factory unlocked. Best way to check that I know of is the restore and set up as new. Then see if it works with any SIM card you put it in it. If it does work with any SIM card then it is definitely factory unlocked, if not then well you got scammed.

Nonetheless, it will still work with any carrier the only difference being is when Apple updates the OS it is very possible that your iPhone would be locked to 1 carrier again.

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You're absolutely right. It doesn't matter of how it has been unlocked, just so long as it is. However, when Apple updates the firmware (currently at 3.1.2), it may reorder the carrier baseband back to it's original or update the baseband to carrier specific information.

Currently, I know of no way to check the validity of factory unlocks. What I do know is that AT&T has a very lengthy contract with Apple to propietize the iPhone with AT&T. The length of the contract is termed "propietary information" and has not been disclosed. Otherwise, your would see the iPhone being sold with other cellular providers.

tamachan3 said:

Thanks - I will try restoring back to factory settings. If it is in fact jailbroken can I re-jailbreak once restored? Is the latest iphone firmware jailbreakable?

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It is doubtful that a factory phone would be jailbroken or unlocked. However, since you are deciding to restore to factory settings, yes, the latest iPhone firmware is jailbreakable and you can always jailbreak your iPhone ... even if it is already jailbroken. Search for Blackra1n jailbreak instruction on this forum. I'm sure you will find what you need.

If it is factory-unlocked, iTunes will give you a message at the end of the restore saying -Congratulations, your iPhone is now Unlocked- or words to that effect. If it doesn't, it's not.

Vandam is absolutely right. A factory-unlocked iPhone may certainly be jailbroken, and there really is no way to prove that it isn't factory unlocked without restoring, setting up as a new phone, and seeing whether it works with a foreign SIM. Please not that

It is true that the presence of blackra1n is suspicious, but you should definitely not leap to conclusions and make accusations and leave negative feedback based only on suspicions.

Moi un Mouton - the message you refer to is actually given any time the phone is activated, whether factory unlocked or not. My AT&T-locked phone gives this message any time I restore.

Lodge a complaint through Paypal, try and negotiate at least a partial refund. You are more than likely covered. If he fails to negotiate or reply, paypal will refund you and you get to keep the phone!

I sell factory unlocked iPhones through my website and on eBay and people like this give sellers like myself a bad reputation.

I'm with eshroom. If it was advertised as factory unlocked you need to lodge a complaint and if you aren't satisfied get your money back. People can't be allowed to get away with false eBay listings.

Too bad to hear that it wasn't factory unlocked. Like the others said, definitely file a complaint through Paypal/eBay. But while you do that, remember you can still unlock it and use it to make calls and all that.

thelatinist said:

Moi un Mouton - the message you refer to is actually given any time the phone is activated, whether factory unlocked or not. My AT&T-locked phone gives this message any time I restore.

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Far as i know, you only get this message on factory unlocked phones:

Moi un Mouton said:

Far as i know, you only get this message on factory unlocked phones:

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Yuppers. Correct. My phone was originally locked but as I work for a specific branch of the govt, we negotiated a contract with the local operator that ALL phones we purchase have to be unlocked. After a month, I paid the balance and they unlocked the phone.

You should get a screen informing you that you now have an unlocked phone. Good luck dude.

tamachan3 said:

Thanks for the replies guys. I restored it, didn't see any message about it being unlocked in itunes, and inserted my T-mobile sim and I can't seem to make any calls, network is 'not available' as well.. so seems like it was jailbroken!

I will definitely leave negative feedback. I ony paid about £450 for it though, so not as annoyed as I could have been!

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Are you sure you aren't in a no-coverage area? If you did not encounter an Activation screen after restoring (USB cable icon pointing to an iTunes icon on your iPhone) then it's factory unlocked (ie you were able to go directly to the homescreen after restoring).

Oh boy

tamachan3 said:

Hi,

I just bought a (supposedly) factory unlocked iphone from ebay. However, when I switched it on, I can see an app called blackra1n on the 2nd page. Does this mean that it is actually just jailbroken?

As I understand - blackra1n is used to jailbreak iphones but not to unlock them, so is it possible that the phone is factory unlocked and jailbroken with blackra1n at the same time? Is there any way I can check if its actually factory unlocked?

There aren't any other apps like Cydia on there, just blackra1n.

Thanks!

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Oh boy, too bad I didn't see this before many of these people jumped to conclusions.

The one commenter is right, just because it's jailbroken doesn't mean it's not a real unlock. But any claimed factory unlocked iphone with cydia installed on it would not make me feel very confident about authenticity. I'd expect a wiped device.

Next time or if anyone else comes across this, you should first check cydia to see if a software unlock has been applied. (open cydia--> manage tab -->packages, then check to see if ultrasnow or any other software unlocks are applied.) If so, uninstall and try a foreign SIM to see if it works without the software unlock (of course if you find that a software unlock is applied, you probably have been ripped off) and double check that you just got ripped off.

This way if you did get ripped off, at least you can reapply the software unlock and still have a functioning phone. Plus the seller probably would less willing to take it back if the phone can not be unlocked anymore from an updated software install.

An easy way to check is to look at the iOS version and the bb. If they don't match up, you know it's software unlocked. For example, the highest unlockable bb is 1.59 on iphone 4. That corresponds with 4.0.2. Any other higher OS clues you in. The only good thing about the devteam not having an unlock now is that it's easy to separate the scams from the real deal.
Factory unlocks can have the latest bb and still be unlocked.