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AT&T unlocked my phone, any rush to restore?

I

Iamgort

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 27, 2011
121
4
I request AT&T unlock my iPhone 6+ since it was fully paid for. Is there any reason I should rush to do a restore? The instructions they give you when the request is granted is to restore the phone to factory and you will get an unlock success message.

I don't particularly feel like doing a full setup again on my phone right now, does it matter if I don't reformat it right now?
 
As I said in the OP, the instructions they give you when the request is granted is to restore the phone to factory and you will get an unlock success message. I was asking if this was actually necessary to complete the unlocking.
 
Iamgort said:
As I said in the OP, the instructions they give you when the request is granted is to restore the phone to factory and you will get an unlock success message. I was asking if this was actually necessary to complete the unlocking.
Click to expand...

It's not anymore. If you put a new SIM in it and it says 'Unauthorized', then restoring thru iTunes will fix it. But for every case I've seen in the last year or so, once the carrier unlocks it, you're good to go.

See here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5014
 
Interesting that you had to request an unlock for the phone that you purchased full price.

I mean I purchased my AT&T 6 Plus full price and it was unlocked out of the box (well technically I had to plug it into itunes, and got the congrats your iphone has been unlocked message).
 
Shadowbech said:
Interesting that you had to request an unlock for the phone that you purchased full price.

I mean I purchased my AT&T 6 Plus full price and it was unlocked out of the box (well technically I had to plug it into itunes, and got the congrats your iphone has been unlocked message).
Click to expand...

You're right. If OP bought it outright, then it's not locked. The whole "request unlock" is only for devices that were under contract but have now been paid in full.
 
I bought it on the release day preorder through Apple using AT&T next. I immediately paid the next payment plan off as soon as I had the phone.
 
Wow, a lot of misguided folks here who think they know what they are talking about.

In answer to your actual question, no you are not in a hurry. As supersalo said, you may not need to restore it at all. Sometimes it works fine, but if you do, you can just restore when you are ready to use it with another carrier. There is no hurry.

Warning, though. If you're going on a trip to Europe or something and you will NEED an unlocked phone, I would personally just go ahead and restore, or at least test it with a SIM from a friend with T-Mobile or something. You don't want to get stuck and have it not work.

Also, keep in mind that it's a restore, but as long as you do a backup right before it, you will get all your settings, apps, etc. back right as they were. You don't have to set it up as a new phone. Just restore the backup.
 
Unless you want to see the "Congratulations" screen, you shouldn't need to restore. When you insert a different SIM the first time, the iPhone will try to reactivate itself. At that point it will pull an activation ticket that is valid for all SIMs.

That said, to activate over the air, you'll need an internet connection of some sort. So I would use any other SIM (doesn't have to have active service) right now so the phone pulls the unlocked ticket
 
Shadowbech said:
Interesting that you had to request an unlock for the phone that you purchased full price.

I mean I purchased my AT&T 6 Plus full price and it was unlocked out of the box (well technically I had to plug it into itunes, and got the congrats your iphone has been unlocked message).
Click to expand...
For some reason I had to and even had to fight it a little before it was approved. It could be because I bought the phone from apple.com so the phone was linked to my number even though there was no contract extension. But no restore was needed, put in a T-Mobile SIM in to test and the phone went right to the activation screen and all I needed to do was enter my T-Mobile info and it was all set.
 
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