iPhone 5s unlock on AT&T

your best bet is to call ATT and explain what is going on. They have, in the past, waived the contract requirement and unlocked phones for good long term customers.

Maybe paying the ETF will be worth it.

Do you have multiple lines on your account?

The data sharing plans discount for paid off phones.

I just had a thread about this last week, and I hate to tell you, but they made no exception for me. The ETF is $325, minus $10 for each month you've been on contract. So for me it was 10 months, making the ETF $225. I opted to pay it.

To do this, you have to call AT&T customer service, tell the rep you want to pay the ETF and unlock the phone but keep your line of service open, and they will manually open a case for you, take a credit card over the phone for the ETF, and email you once the process is complete. You then backup and restore your iPhone through iTunes, and once restored you'll get the message that the phone is unlocked.

If you go to a corporate store in person and request the same service, they'll tell you it cannot be done because their only means of collecting an ETF is by simultaneously canceling your line of service. I obviously didn't want to do this because I plan to continue using the number, but the store claimed it was the only way to pay the ETF. When I called AT&T customer service they confirmed that it was something that had to be requested over the phone because the case has to be opened manually with their backend support.

You can also buy a cheap, used iPhone that's already unlocked, but since I wanted to take my phone with all my contacts/data/etc. I opted to just pay the $225 and be done with it.

Or pay for an imei unlock for it without chasing AT&T.

gaanee said:

Which are reliable unlock sites and how much do they charge?
As I mentioned above, if I put my friend's SIM card and restore then does my 5s now gets activated on her account and can she then request unlock using 5S IMIE and her phone number?

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No, even if your put obamas sim inside AT&T will not unlock it unless the contract it's tied into is up.
You can purchase an imei unlock for it for around $30-40 I think.
Look on eBay or swiftunlocks and chronic unlocks are popular also I heard.

gaanee said:

So, is the unlock tied with the IMIE and not the phone number requesting it? Also, just for my info.. I see people selling their phones within contract, so how does that work? Does contract locked phone work with a different SIM on the same network?

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The IMEI unlock sold by gray marker vendors is not done officially by the carrier but by others who have access to enter imei's into the AT&T/Apple iphone database.
So its going around the official carrier and paying a 3rd party middle man to do the dirty work
About people selling contract locked iphones Im not sure. They might be blacklisted from the carrier if the contract is not fulfilled or the ETF not paid in full. You'd have to ask them for more details.

Swiftunlocks is a perfect solution. Choose the AT&T guaranteed 100% success $45.
Just used them ordered on a Sunday afternoon and the iPhone 5S was unlocked on Tuesday morning. After Labor Day. So it was incredibly fast and relatively cheap. Link below is the one you want.

https://www.swiftunlocks.com/unlock/premium-at-t-iphone-5s-or-5c-guaranteed-method-100-success

iOz said:

Swiftunlocks is a perfect solution. Choose the AT&T guaranteed 100% success $45.
Just used them ordered on a Sunday afternoon and the iPhone 5S was unlocked on Tuesday morning. After Labor Day. So it was incredibly fast and relatively cheap. Link below is the one you want.

https://www.swiftunlocks.com/unlock/premium-at-t-iphone-5s-or-5c-guaranteed-method-100-success

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thanks. i did this and my 5s was unlocked within a day.