A few quick questions about unlocking an AT&T iPhone via iTunes.

[Hal~9000]

I had a 6s on contract through AT&T, it had an unlimited data line so I was able to cancel the contract due to a $5/mo price increase without paying the ETF. Now that the contract has been fulfilled I put in an unlock request and got back the following:

Thank you for contacting AT&T about unlocking your mobile device.

Congratulations! Here are your unlock instructions:

For iOS 7 or later devices, please turn off Find My iPhone before unlocking your device.

Once you have received the email confirming AT&T has approved and processed your unlock request, follow these instructions to complete the unlock for your device.

Using a Non-AT&T SIM Card:
1. Remove your SIM card and insert the new SIM card.
2. Complete the setup process.

Using an AT&T SIM Card:
1. Back up your iPhone.
2. When you have a backup, erase your iPhone.
3. Restore your iPhone from the backup you just made.

I'd like to keep my iPhone on iOS 9.0.2 and restoring will upgrade me to 9.3... any way to unlock it without restoring?

Also, if I unlock my phone and get a replacement later on... with that phone be unlocked as well?

Finally, if I do use the iTunes method above... will I get some sort of message or confirmation that my phone has been unlocked?

Thank you for your help

 

[Givmeabrek]

You phone is unlocked without going through the iTunes process. That's old info.
Any replacement should be unlocked as well.
If you use the iTunes message you will get the unlock confirmation although it's not really necessary.

 

[vietalogy]

You can insert a non att sim to unlock. Also if you were to get it replaced your new phone would be unlocked since the one you had was unlocked.

 

[dave006]

I had a 6s on contract through AT&T, it had an unlimited data line so I was able to cancel the contract due to a $5/mo price increase without paying the ETF. Now that the contract has been fulfilled I put in an unlock request and got back the following:

I'd like to keep my iPhone on iOS 9.0.2 and restoring will upgrade me to 9.3... any way to unlock it without restoring?

Also, if I unlock my phone and get a replacement later on... with that phone be unlocked as well?

Finally, if I do use the iTunes method above... will I get some sort of message or confirmation that my phone has been unlocked?

Thank you for your help

+1 for what Givmeabrek said above but you asked for more.

If you get a warranty replacement for any iPhone from Apple, the replacement device will set to have the same status as the iPhone being replaced. The locked / unlocked status is maintained in an Apple database and is based on the Serial Number of the device.

For your iTunes question: To get the magic congratulation's Unlock message for your iPhone 6S, you would have to restore it as "New" and even then sometimes you don't get the "Unlocked" message.

Dave

 

[BentTable123]

Yes, I just did this on an at&t 6s a few days ago without updating the OS. Make sure your at&t sim card is inside the iphone during this whole process. Once you get the email that the phone is unlocked, then goto settings, general, reset, erase all contents and settings. Once the phone resets, there will be a point where you have to choose the wifi network and input the password. Don't do this. Instead scroll down and there will an option to connect to itunes instead. Tap this, then connect your lightning cable to your pc/mac with itunes open and just wait. You'll get a message that says congratulations, your iphone has been unlocked. Then you can either setup the iphone as new, restore from itunes, or restore from icloud.

I had a 6s on contract through AT&T, it had an unlimited data line so I was able to cancel the contract due to a $5/mo price increase without paying the ETF. Now that the contract has been fulfilled I put in an unlock request and got back the following:



I'd like to keep my iPhone on iOS 9.0.2 and restoring will upgrade me to 9.3... any way to unlock it without restoring?

Also, if I unlock my phone and get a replacement later on... with that phone be unlocked as well?

Finally, if I do use the iTunes method above... will I get some sort of message or confirmation that my phone has been unlocked?

Thank you for your help

 

[ecschwarz]

Personally, I've gotten lazy in terms of skipping the iTunes restore process and keep a few deactivated T-Mobile SIM cards around for unlocking AT&T iPhones. It's also less disruptive if it's someone else's phone (family members, work-issued phone). Additionally, it's easier since you don't need a computer and doesn't change anything (the phone will prompt you to get a carrier update sometimes). You can get an inactive T-Mobile SIM from Best Buy (maybe Walmart or Target, too?) for $5 if you don't have one. eBay is also a good place to find 'em.

 

[Hal~9000]

Thanks for your help guys, since I didn't have another carriers SIM card on me I ended up using BentTables suggestion which worked perfectly. Simply "erase all content and settings", then during the initial setup (at the 'choose wifi network' screen) I simply plugged in my phone to my Macbook and opened iTunes, after a few seconds it gave me the congrats screen and all is good

Cheers!