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HitchHykr

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2007
542
1
Virginia
Got on the phone with ATT, went pretty smoothly. CS rep asked me if it was for my current iPhone 4s and I said it was for the 3Gs that it replaced. The she asked me for the IMEI, verified a couple of things like when the phone was first in service, etc. After everything checked out she sent me an email with the instructions and all I have left to do is to finish the back up and do a restore. Let's hope that it works.

I bought the 3Gs through AT&T and finished my two year contract, i.e. no early upgrade. The 3Gs does not have service and I'm still with AT&T.
 

braddick

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2009
3,921
1,018
Encinitas, CA
Got on the phone with ATT, went pretty smoothly. CS rep asked me if it was for my current iPhone 4s and I said it was for the 3Gs that it replaced. The she asked me for the IMEI, verified a couple of things like when the phone was first in service, etc. After everything checked out she sent me an email with the instructions and all I have left to do is to finish the back up and do a restore. Let's hope that it works.

I bought the 3Gs through AT&T and finished my two year contract, i.e. no early upgrade. The 3Gs does not have service and I'm still with AT&T.
This first hand information, if accurate, is a game changer.
Please let us know how it turns out.
 

terraphantm

macrumors 68040
Jun 27, 2009
3,814
663
Pennsylvania
I got a confirmation number for my 4S. It does not seem to be unlocked yet; the chat representative did not say how long it will take, but the impression I got is that AT&T's end of the process is done, and now it's on Apple to add me to the database. It seemed almost too easy, I'm having doubts.
 

HitchHykr

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2007
542
1
Virginia
This first hand information, if accurate, is a game changer.
Please let us know how it turns out.

Got through the restore and iTunes game me the "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked." screen. Haven tried it with a non-AT&T SIM yet....
 

cocacolakid

macrumors 65816
Dec 18, 2010
1,108
20
Chicago
When I called to unlock my 3GS, they asked which line I bought it on. Thats where they doubled check that I did buy it from them, and when I bought it. They wanted to make sure it was over 2 years.

Thanks. That's unfortunately what I was expecting.
 

0m3ga

macrumors 6502
Mar 1, 2012
491
0
Do not go to an AT&T store and ask about the unlock. They are completely clueless right now and had no idea about the April 8th unlock date.

Looks like calling CS is the only route to unlocking, and the CS says it can take up to 72 hours before you get the unlock from Apple. I just finished calling and started the process to unlock my ip4.
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
That's unlimited data for one month? Or per month? Read the fine print. Seems like they can change the terms anytime.

Aren't many if not all EU data plans metered including high sped home Internet? So it doesn't make sense to offer mobile true unlimited.

Listen, he asked for the plan because he couldn't find it. I sent a link tot he plan, which sounded like the plan he was referring to. Either way, it's about $15 USD... that's incredibly cheap, even if you only get a gig or two...
 

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
34
We're they bought on an upgrade, or on a non-contract basis?

He's probably just lying because his sig says Verizon iPhone and Verizon iPad.

That or he did not realize this is a thread about AT&T iPhones.

Verizon has different unlocking requirments than AT&T.
 

firerage101

macrumors newbie
Apr 8, 2012
6
0
Had my iphone 4s replaced by apple as my new one purchased by att went bad. When i called to see about unlocking my iphone she looked up the IEMEI number and said i cant see it on your account i explained i have gone through 6 iphone in my lifetime of ATT. Iphone 3g, Iphone 3gs ETC. i gave her my iphone 4s imei number she submitted it and it now says unlock on itunes after restore, so yup worked for me and on a phone in which im still on contract by technical terms. :D:D:D:D Keep in mind i never told her it was my newest contract i phone. Just provided an IEMEI number when asked.

What i found is be nice, give them the IEMEI # and let them research if they say they cant see it explain it has been replaced. Thats all i did i can confirm its been unlocked now just the whole waiting to restore all my pics etc :(
 
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terraphantm

macrumors 68040
Jun 27, 2009
3,814
663
Pennsylvania
Had my iphone 4s replaced by apple as my new one purchased by att went bad. When i called to see about unlocking my iphone she looked up the IEMEI number and said i cant see it on your account i explained i have gone through 6 iphone in my lifetime of ATT. Iphone 3g, Iphone 3gs ETC. i gave her my iphone 4s imei number she submitted it and it now says unlock on itunes after restore, so yup worked for me and on a phone in which im still on contract my technical terms. :D:D:D:D

What i found is be nice, give them the IEMEI # and let them research if they say they cant see it explain it has been replaced. Thats all i did i can confirm its been unlocked now just the whole waiting to restore all my pics etc :(

Did you try without restoring first? I submitted my IMEI a few hours ago and so far it's still coming up as locked when I try deactivating it and then reactivating it with a foreign sim.
 

firerage101

macrumors newbie
Apr 8, 2012
6
0
I did just that called in at about 2, and just now restored about 9 and it said congrats your iphone is now unlocked. It went throught he whole restore process (Let it reboot and all) and then got the message.

In a nut shell im still on contract with this phone but not my others. The lady was super helpful (Tech line) and submitted it n e ways, it was the second time i called them today. so i guess for those wanting to unlock patience and all depends on who you get on the other end, I imagine they all are interpreting it differently. Makes me wonder if i obtain a verizon phone and redid this if in techinal terms works on both. I know it supposed to be impossible but if they can unlock a sim for foreign on a verizon phone and att can unlock for any sim, if they were to submit for an unlock what would happen????????

(Yes i know it wasnt unlocked before hand either, i restored many times before today and even in the past tried to install a canadian sim) i know it was for sure unlocked today
 
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grundy

macrumors newbie
Apr 8, 2012
2
0
Pending

I just called AT&T and spent a long time on hold. They are definitely a bit bogged down by this right now. The lady I spoke with was very nice, and she admitted we probably all know more than they do at this point and they are just following Apple's directions. She said she had 43 other people waiting after she finished with me, so they must be having a fun Easter!

Anyway, the steps so far:

1) Once you call AT&T, they will ask you to provide your IMEI number which is on the Settings > General > About screen. If you try and do this now, you will probably have to wait on hold for a while.

2) Once you get through AT&T confirms things on their end--this only takes a minute or two once you get past the hold queue. Then, AT&T submits a request to Apple.

3) At this point you are pending with Apple. She said it may take a few hours before the move on it. That is where I am, as I just got off the phone.

4) Then, you are supposed to do a Backup & Restore in iTunes, and hopefully Apple commits the unlock at that point and you are good to go.


I am just going to wait until tomorrow before I even try as I am not really certain how to tell if it works. I'm not really in a rush anyway, but I am stoked that this is finally happening.

EDIT: Well, I couldn't wait, so I just backed up and started a restore. The phone is in the process of restoring now, and there was a message in iTunes that says "Congratulations, your iphone has been unlocked." So, if that is any indicator, it doesn't take that long once you initiate the process with AT&T. There was no code, or anything like I saw on some other sites. I just called AT&T and started the process. They sent the approval to Apple, and after a bit of time a backup & restore should confirm.
 
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antman2295

macrumors 6502
Nov 30, 2010
366
1
So when they say they "Unlock it" Is it a FULL unlock, like you can take it to any GSM Service provider, or just US Service providers?
 

firerage101

macrumors newbie
Apr 8, 2012
6
0
Now on that one i dont know, i dont have another sim laying around. I know mine showed unlock during the restore process. I'll try and test it next week
 

eastercat

macrumors 68040
Mar 3, 2008
3,323
7
PDX
It's a real unlock with every gsm country in play--as opposed to Verizon and Sprint's wanna be unlock.
So when they say they "Unlock it" Is it a FULL unlock, like you can take it to any GSM Service provider, or just US Service providers?
 

GadgetGeek407

macrumors 6502a
Mar 26, 2009
994
61
florida
I have 6 iphone 4s all NOT on contract and i called in today and 4 different people gave me crap and were like oh we need you to fax in a receipt to show you paid full price n I'm like who keeps a receipt? I'm pretty sure all one has to do is send the imei numbers to apple n ill be good n nobody would get in trouble this is so annoying cause non of my lines are on contract i just want to unlock cause i travel outside the country a lot n it would be WAY cheaper to put in a local sim in that country than use att..
 

klo-mac

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2011
64
0
What about my case ?

I purchased the iPhone 4 on eBay, it's AT&T locked and I use Gevey sim to make it work with my vodafone card, everything work fine, except I can't update to ios 5 (which I need to sync with my iPad and iMac cloud)

Can someone suggest me what to do?

I never restored it through iTunes, or updated it. I don't own a AT&T card.

Thanks
 

bwrairen

macrumors 6502
Jun 23, 2010
345
2
Red Pocket Mobile or Straight Talk are others.

Im in Canada. I tend to use T-Mobile while in the US. Mainly because of the pay-per-day which works great. Only downside is EDGE spd.

You can use straight talk with an AT&T locked iPhone. Doesn't need to be unlocked.
 

jpiszcz

macrumors 6502
Mar 28, 2010
397
71
Could only get 3GS unlocked, iPhone 4 (when I got it) not 2 years old yet.
 

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