Are there ANY exceptions to the rule of unlocking??

[rritterson]

Apple only allows carriers to request an unlock on a phone that has been synced to iTunes with their SIM in it. iTunes will only allow an AT&T iPhone to sync with an AT&T SIM, so O2 or Orange would simply be unable to unlock the phone.

What if I use ultrasnow to unlock and then sync with an O2 sim, then ask O2 to unlock it?

 

[Daveoc64]

What if I use ultrasnow to unlock and then sync with an O2 sim, then ask O2 to unlock it?

I think the database would still show that AT&T "owns" the phone in the system and so they wouldn't be able to unlock it.

 

[Carlanga]

What if I use ultrasnow to unlock and then sync with an O2 sim, then ask O2 to unlock it?

nope; that's not how it works

 

[mdlooker]

What I'm having a hard time understanding is why such a hold on iPhones and not others? After a contract is over, why place such a hold?

 

[old-wiz]

What I'm having a hard time understanding is why such a hold on iPhones and not others? After a contract is over, why place such a hold?

AFter the contract is over they make more profit if you stay with them. They are in the business to make as much money as possible.

 

[mdlooker]

AFter the contract is over they make more profit if you stay with them. They are in the business to make as much money as possible.

Oh no doubt about that but there are many other phones used as well. It just seems illegal to me. Why hold a piece of equipment like that? It's not like they're manufacturing these things.

This is why the JB and unlocking is going on. Everything has a 2nd and 3rd order effect.

 

[awadeee]

We also have T-Mobile in the US. And to the best of my knowledge, the "unlocked" Canadian iPhones, as well as from any country, are only "unlocked" to the carriers in that particular country, not just to that type of cell service.

Spike

T-Mo doesn't officially carry the GSM iPhone, only AT&T. What I'm saying is that we have somewhere between four and six official carriers, where you guys have one. I'm also saying that we have the ability to purchase factory unlocked directly from Apple because they don't have crazy exclusivity contracts in Canada.

 

[pika2000]

What I'm having a hard time understanding is why such a hold on iPhones and not others? After a contract is over, why place such a hold?

2 reasons I could think of:
1. We allow them to. Where's the outrage by the public? None. 99% of people in the US demand provider-locked and carrier controlled phones.
2. De la Vega still holds Steve Jobs' pancreas hostage.