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AT&T Unlock Instructions Question

P

PTVMan

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
1,082
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I got the email last night from AT&T that the unlock request for my iPhone 6 Plus has been approved. The instructions say:

Please allow 24 hours upon receipt of this notification to complete the unlock process.

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC and verify that you have Internet connectivity.

2. Ensure the original SIM card that came with this device is inserted in your iPhone.

When they say "original SIM" does it have to be the SIM that was shipped with the phone or the AT&T SIM that I moved over from my iPhone 5S?
 
Only thing you have to really do is pop in a SIM from a different carrier and if it works then you're good. AT&T's instructions aren't necessary.
 
PTVMan said:
I got the email last night from AT&T that the unlock request for my iPhone 6 Plus has been approved. The instructions say:

Please allow 24 hours upon receipt of this notification to complete the unlock process.

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC and verify that you have Internet connectivity.

2. Ensure the original SIM card that came with this device is inserted in your iPhone.

When they say "original SIM" does it have to be the SIM that was shipped with the phone or the AT&T SIM that I moved over from my iPhone 5S?
Click to expand...

iOS 8 no longer requires you to go through the steps at&t has prescribed to you. You do not need the original at&t sim. To unlock the phone, simply put in a non-at&t sim card such as a T-Mobile, Verizon, etc. sim card into the phone. The phone will automatically go to activation mode and check with apple servers if the phone is allowed to be unlock. If its allowed to unlock the phone will ask you to put in your apple ID to make sure it is you who is unlocking and then the phone will be unlocked and it will return you to your home screen.

If you don't have another carrier's SIM card, you will have to follow the steps provided by at&t to have your iPhone unlocked.

Happy Unlocking!
 
titans1127 said:
Only thing you have to really do is pop in a SIM from a different carrier and if it works then you're good. AT&T's instructions aren't necessary.
Click to expand...

So, forget the iTunes instructions altogether? I can do that :cool:

----------
ineel said:
iOS 8 no longer requires you to go through the steps at&t has prescribed to you. You do not need the original at&t sim. To unlock the phone, simply put in a non-at&t sim card such as a T-Mobile, Verizon, etc. sim card into the phone. The phone will automatically go to activation mode and check with apple servers if the phone is allowed to be unlock. If its allowed to unlock the phone will ask you to put in your apple ID to make sure it is you who is unlocking and then the phone will be unlocked and it will return you to your home screen.

If you don't have another carrier's SIM card, you will have to follow the steps provided by at&t to have your iPhone unlocked.

Happy Unlocking!
Click to expand...

Ugghh, I don't have another carrier's SIM. And, when I'm in iTunes and click Restore iPhone nothing happens. Suddenly frustrated.

----------

Will the T-Mobile or Verizon nano SIMs that I have for my iPad Air 2 work to complete the unlock of my iPhone 6 Plus, even though they they are data accounts only?
 
Yes.
Stick the Tmobile data sim and it will activate and work.
If you dont have any other sims to test it you dont really need the unlock right now probably:D
But the phone is unlocked, you dont need to take those steps until you need to use it on another GSM carrier.
And like said above all you gotta do is connect to wifi and stick another providers sim inside.
 
we are no longer required to back up , erase and restore ???

I've lost unlocks because i did not complete them in the time allotted by AT&T

i figure u only have a 24 hour window to complete the unlock, and you may not have a nano sim on you, so for those people you should still backup , erase and restore?

do u have a link that says that backup , erase and restore is no longer necessary??


i imagine u would power down the iPhone,eject sim, power on. wait for it to say no sim, and then insert sim so it does its searching bit
 
rigormortis said:
we are no longer required to back up , erase and restore ???

I've lost unlocks because i did not complete them in the time allotted by AT&T

i figure u only have a 24 hour window to complete the unlock, and you may not have a nano sim on you, so for those people you should still backup , erase and restore?

do u have a link that says that backup , erase and restore is no longer necessary??


i imagine u would power down the iPhone,eject sim, power on. wait for it to say no sim, and then insert sim so it does its searching bit
Click to expand...


What?
An unlock is never lost and there is never a limit at when you need to activate with an unsupported sim.
Where did you get that?
The unlock is forever for a particular device and with no time limit on when you can use or activate it on another provider.
Sounds like you're very misinformed.
 
i said that because i tried to unlock an AT&T dumb phone, specifically it was a ZTE and AT&T gave me an unlock code. i waited too long and the code died
and it had to be resubmitted


from reading att's emails that i have gotten over the years i recall the dumb phones saying i had 7 days to unlock , and the iphone emails said 24 hours.

i hope i answered your question. i am just repeating what AT&T told me
 
rigormortis said:
i said that because i tried to unlock an AT&T dumb phone, specifically it was a ZTE and AT&T gave me an unlock code. i waited too long and the code died
and it had to be resubmitted


from reading att's emails that i have gotten over the years i recall the dumb phones saying i had 7 days to unlock , and the iphone emails said 24 hours.

i hope i answered your question. i am just repeating what AT&T told me
Click to expand...


iPhones are different.
 
rigormortis said:
i said that because i tried to unlock an AT&T dumb phone, specifically it was a ZTE and AT&T gave me an unlock code. i waited too long and the code died
and it had to be resubmitted


from reading att's emails that i have gotten over the years i recall the dumb phones saying i had 7 days to unlock , and the iphone emails said 24 hours.

i hope i answered your question. i am just repeating what AT&T told me
Click to expand...

I don't know about other dumbphones but as far as iPhones go what you posted is false.
There is no unlock codes for iPhones and the unlock never expires and nothing has to be performed to the phone as long as the unlock has been submitted and approved by AT&T.
Learn and put out accurate info and not what you thought or guesses.
 
Applejuiced said:
I don't know about other dumbphones but as far as iPhones go what you posted is false.
There is no unlock codes for iPhones and the unlock never expires and nothing has to be performed to the phone as long as the unlock has been submitted and approved by AT&T.
Learn and put out accurate info and not what you thought or guesses.
Click to expand...


i have had 3 devices unlocked so far. I'm just repeating what AT&T said in their emails. they specifically say "please allow 24 hours to complete the unlock process". if you think those emails are wrong, then talk to them

if you wrote AT&T and told them flat out that those 24 hour windows in their emails are wrong, you would be doing a bigger benefit to the iOS community , then picking on a single person




i replied to a recent message on apple discussions, from some guy who
requested an unlock from sprint. and they gave him a MSL code. ahhahahha
he has no idea what to do with it.
 
Last edited:
rigormortis said:
i have had 3 devices unlocked so far. I'm just repeating what AT&T said in their emails. they specifically say "please allow 24 hours to complete the unlock process". if you think those emails are wrong, then talk to them

if you wrote AT&T and told them flat out that those 24 hour windows in their emails are wrong, you would be doing a bigger benefit to the iOS community , then picking on a single person




i replied to a recent message on apple discussions, from some guy who
requested an unlock from sprint. and they gave him a MSL code. ahhahahha
he has no idea what to do with it.
Click to expand...



I think you misunderstood the whole email communication.
The allow 24 hours part is on their end. Not yours.
Meaning give them 24 hours to complete your request.
It's not that you have 24 hours to stick a foreign carriers sim in or your unlock is gone:D
 
Applejuiced said:
I think you misunderstood the whole email communication.
The allow 24 hours part is on their end. Not yours.
Meaning give them 24 hours to complete your request.
It's not that you have 24 hours to stick a foreign carriers sim in or your unlock is gone:D
Click to expand...

you should get them to change the wording.
haha

i figured it was probably not 24 hours but that ZTE deal had to be resubmitted like 4 times

that new sim deal is great. i didn't know about it, thats a new feature to iOS 8
 
AT&T Unlock Instructions Question

Not to hijack the thread but ATT is giving me pushback on unlocking my iPhone 6. I purchased it through Apple with ATT next so I only paid ~$70 initially. After the first month passed I paid off the entire phone for full retail price and submitted an unlock request the next day per what the ATT rep told me to do.

I had not heard anything for several weeks and called 611 to check the status. I was told that I am not allowed to unlock the device because my line is under contract (from a prior subsidized phone purchased last year). The rep told me that even though the iPhone 6 was bought with next and is now paid off in full at retail price that ATT will not unlock it until my contract expires from the prior phone purchased last year?

Has anyone had experience with this? I didn't have time to keep escalating the call and I wanted some more ammunition before I called back. I cannot believe that this is truly their official policy.
 
MUBiomed said:
Not to hijack the thread but ATT is giving me pushback on unlocking my iPhone 6. I purchased it through Apple with ATT next so I only paid ~$70 initially. After the first month passed I paid off the entire phone for full retail price and submitted an unlock request the next day per what the ATT rep told me to do.

I had not heard anything for several weeks and called 611 to check the status. I was told that I am not allowed to unlock the device because my line is under contract (from a prior subsidized phone purchased last year). The rep told me that even though the iPhone 6 was bought with next and is now paid off in full at retail price that ATT will not unlock it until my contract expires from the prior phone purchased last year?

Has anyone had experience with this? I didn't have time to keep escalating the call and I wanted some more ammunition before I called back. I cannot believe that this is truly their official policy.
Click to expand...

That doesn't make much sense.
It's the phone you turned in to get this iPhone 6 still under contract?
I thought with next there is no contract.
I hate this next program.
 
MUBiomed said:
Not to hijack the thread but ATT is giving me pushback on unlocking my iPhone 6. I purchased it through Apple with ATT next so I only paid ~$70 initially. After the first month passed I paid off the entire phone for full retail price and submitted an unlock request the next day per what the ATT rep told me to do.

......snip.....

Has anyone had experience with this? I didn't have time to keep escalating the call and I wanted some more ammunition before I called back. I cannot believe that this is truly their official policy.
Click to expand...

I did basically the same thing. I paid off my 6+ immediately. Submitted an unlock request for my old 5s (under contract like yours) and my 6+. They told me to wait two weeks (after the return date). I resubmitted the request two weeks later. Both phones were unlocked within hours. Nothing to it. No issues or questions. Clearly there is no policy against it. Submissions were done using the online portal. Strange what happened to you.
 
MUBiomed said:
Not to hijack the thread but ATT is giving me pushback on unlocking my iPhone 6. I purchased it through Apple with ATT next so I only paid ~$70 initially. After the first month passed I paid off the entire phone for full retail price and submitted an unlock request the next day per what the ATT rep told me to do.

I had not heard anything for several weeks and called 611 to check the status. I was told that I am not allowed to unlock the device because my line is under contract (from a prior subsidized phone purchased last year). The rep told me that even though the iPhone 6 was bought with next and is now paid off in full at retail price that ATT will not unlock it until my contract expires from the prior phone purchased last year?

Has anyone had experience with this? I didn't have time to keep escalating the call and I wanted some more ammunition before I called back. I cannot believe that this is truly their official policy.
Click to expand...

I had the same thing happen last spring for an iPhone 5S and then re-submitted the next day on their website and the unlock was granted.
 
PTVMan said:
I got the email last night from AT&T that the unlock request for my iPhone 6 Plus has been approved. The instructions say:

Please allow 24 hours upon receipt of this notification to complete the unlock process.

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC and verify that you have Internet connectivity.

2. Ensure the original SIM card that came with this device is inserted in your iPhone.

When they say "original SIM" does it have to be the SIM that was shipped with the phone or the AT&T SIM that I moved over from my iPhone 5S?
Click to expand...

If you still need another sim.. go into apple store, and ask for a tmobile sim. I did that, after buying my ipad air 2. That way, I was able to test out my unlock on my 6, via iphoneunlockguys. Good luck.
 
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