AT&T Will Unlock Off-Contract iPhones Starting Sunday, April 8

[zztt1234]

Well I tried to talk to AT&T Tech Support through online chat. I got through, and they asked me for the IMEI number and how I bought it. I told them I got it from my out-of-country friend. However, they said that the phone was ineligible. The phone was actually bought from CL from somebody who had canceled their AT&T account a week ago so I'm pretty sure I should've been eligible. What can I do now?

Just all again. different CS handle it differently. My 1st call was turned down saying the phone did not served for two full year. in 2nd call they did not ask any question but the IMEI number and a week later it is all set.

 

[fullmanfullninj]

yeah i checked that!! but that is temporary as it only works with one sim! i want a permanent unlock! thanx anyways

If you want to ditch the Gevey now in the mean time as you wait for an official unlock, this is pretty good. It's temporary - yes, but you can reboot as often as you want so long as you don't take out the SIM.

Now with my iphone 4 unlocked by Apple/AT&T, should I or can I upgrade it to iOS5.1? it kept reminding me all the time.

If you are jailbroken, stay on whatever you're running - if you're jailbroken at all. If you upgrade to 5.1, you will have to use a tethered jailbreak...if you're JB'd at 5.0.1 or lower, you'll be able to have, if not already jailbroken, untethered jailbreak.

 

[viperGTS]

Absolutely rediculous. This is the response i got from AT&T.

"Dear AT&T Valued Customer,

We recently received your request for the unlock code on the following device:

EMAIL:
CASE: *removed*
MOBILE: *removed*
MANUFACTURER: Apple
MODEL: Iphone_3GS
IMEI: *removed*


Due to the age or the brand of your device, the unlock code is no longer available in the AT&T database. Device unlock codes are programmed into the device at the time of manufacture. If the unlock code is not in our database, AT&T must contact the manufacturer of the device to obtain the unlock code.

Accordingly, we have attempted to contact the original manufacturer of your device to obtain the unlock code on your behalf. Unfortunately, our efforts in obtaining the unlock code from the manufacturer were not successful. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused.

Please reconfirm the first 15 digits of your IMEI by typing *#06# on your device’s keypad. If the IMEI number listed above does not match, please contact AT&T Customer Care at 1-800-331-0500 and reference the case number shown above.

For information about upgrading to a new AT&T device please go to att.com/wireless or call Customer Care at 1-800-331-0500 or 001-916-843-4685 if outside of the U.S.

Thank you for contacting AT&T Mobility. We appreciate your business."

And yes, the IMEI matched. But they can still unlock 1st generation iPhones right?

 

[Jameswest09]

Yes AT&T unlocked my older 2g iPhone

 

[saud0488]

I see quite a few people are getting it unlocked who are not customers. What do you say exactly?

I tried today and they made a case on it. The second CSR did anyways. The first said it was never used on AT&T. They said there's a lot of people trying to unlock so it could be a awhile.

 

[terraphantm]

And yes, the IMEI matched. But they can still unlock 1st generation iPhones right?

I wonder... maybe it depends on when that particular iPhone 2G was manufactured? When the iPhone 1st launched and was exclusive to AT&T, it seemed pretty certain that neither party wanted to unlock the phone. As such, they might not have bothered creating a database with the NCK codes at that time. Later on when the 2G launched in other countries, including some where an unlock was legally required, Apple may have started keeping track of the NCK codes.

 

[psejcf]

I see quite a few people are getting it unlocked who are not customers. What do you say exactly?

I tried today and they made a case on it. The second CSR did anyways. The first said it was never used on AT&T. They said there's a lot of people trying to unlock so it could be a awhile.

You just tell them you don't have an AT&T account and that you'd like to have your iPhone bought at the no commitment price (full price) unlocked. If one CSR doesn't help, try later and talk to another. Once the case is created, just wait for several days (or a couple of weeks).

 

[MuGeN PoWeR]

If you want to ditch the Gevey now in the mean time as you wait for an official unlock, this is pretty good. It's temporary - yes, but you can reboot as often as you want so long as you don't take out the SIM.

yeah i know abt this! i have tried this and it works!! but it cant beat factory unlock

 

[miss.manson]

Just got my 4s unlocked. I had a very helpful CSR that told me my request had not been processed and that she was going to process it - 5 minutes later I receive an email from AT&T giving me instructions on how to complete the unlock. I did a restore in iTunes and got the "Congratulations you're unlocked" screen(see pic) and I do not have an At&t account, nor have I ever.

 

[tivoboy]

done

unlocked finally. From the 9th.

 

[TimeArrow]

Got my iPhone 4S unlocked today

For those interested, full story:

Submitted a case (case 1)on April 9 with an ATT prepaid account. (was told my IMEI is eligible)
Waiting time 48-72hrs.
Waiting time extends to April 17.
Got nothing on 17. Called in twice.
rep 1 said a new case (case 2) was submitted. She could do nothing. I told her that I DO NOT want a new case , but rather an answer from my April 9 case. She said OK, she sent a "follow up" to the unlock team about my case , and no more info.

rep 2 said alright, he would follow up this case. and he said there had already been a "follow up". In this situation, he said he would try submit the unlock right now using my IMEI directly ( without the concern of case number) via "his tool".
(obviously ATT has the instant unlock tool for ATT-customer/ deadline ones, for those doubt, see other posts in this threads). Then he said the request of unlock was denied, due to policy restrictions. Well, fair enough, I am not able to provide the proof of purchase at full price.

April 20 , received an Email with a PDB attachment called "ineligibility past due"

"Thank you for contacting AT&T Customer Care about unlocking your iPhone.
We are unable to complete your request at this time due to the following reason:
The account for which the request was made has a past due or unpaid balance."

This is not possible. I requested the unlock with a prepaid. Since I gave the same emails for case 1 and case 2, chatted online and got a confirmation that it is from case 2. The agent "reopen" my case under the permission of her manager and added the notation "this account is a prepaid and cannot have a past due" to my case. She also confirmed that case 1 is still "solving".

April 23 12:28 PM CET, got "a message from ATT" with an attachment "•Completing Authorized iPhone Unlock"

April 23 12:54 PM CET additional "message from ATT" with an attachment "•Completing Authorized iPhone Unlock"

I guess now both cases with the same IMEI have been resolved.

Last--- for the unlock procedure:
1)
If you have an non-ATT sim w/ or w/o service, just put in and wait to iPhone to lock you out of the system. connect to iTunes and you got the message..

2)
If you were not locked out of the springboard, install "SAM" if you are jailbroken, and go to Utility and click "deactivate" then connect to iTunes.

3)
********* ultimate technique*******

If you only have an ATT sim in hand, just delete the "Lockdown" directory in your iPhone under /var/root/Library. You can install "ifile" on your iphone to complete this operation in 5 sec. Or use other method " iFunbox" to delete it from your PC.

After the deletion of the lockdown dir, turn off your phone and restart( to let the deletion take effect). After rebooting, the phone finds no "lockdown" ( thus no activation ticket" and has to go online for the Apple server. Contact it to the itunes *EVEN* with an ATT sim card inside. You still got the "congratulations" message because you are actually doing a fresh activation. iTunes checks your IMEI , which is unlockable ( thanks to ATT) , and do not even care if the SIM inside is ATT ,provided the Lockdown dir does not exist when the time of reboot.

Feel free to shot me messages should you have any questions guys.

 

[VSA1977]

Finally unlocked.

i'm totally lost here, i started on 9/4 via calling the CSR they reply gave them all my information and the guy said you will hear from us before 17th he never even gave a case number, i was wondering if something goes wrong so i called again on 12th and the other guy was much nicer and filed case for me which turns out that it wasn't created by the previous rep , and gave me a resolution data by 20th, i used the chat twice today the 1st time a lady came up with proof of purchase thing which i refuse to adapt with and left her waves her hand for air to breath, 2nd time i decided to ask for my previous case and the guy was chatting to me said that we already submitted your request to apple and it will be processed soon,

lest hope for better luck, what i've been through i figured one thing, AT&T doesn't have the skills to be an international mobile operator.

My case is the same as your's. Filed it on Apr-09 with a resolution date of 48 hours. It got moved to 17th Noon and from there... in limbo. I called them every day. Every CSR giving me another excuse. No one was able to give me a correct answer. Finally today I received my unlock email. I had two cases filed. Only one got completed today. Will wait for the other one.

I was told every day... will get processed soon... maybe even before the end of day... and it took over a week after the first CSR told me to wait till end of day

I did not try with a non ATT sim, but iTunes gave the unlocked message. Now I will be able to use it on my international trip next week.

Hope others get their unlock soon. Or get lucky to get a very friendly CSR.

 

[memrtn]

I've had it. Submitted my first case on the 9th and should be resolved on the 17th but got extended to the 19th ("ultimately" according to the rep). I gave AT&T the weekend and yesterday for clearing up the problems, but still got nothing. I'll be calling them as lines are open and no matter what, I want it resolved today.

 

[Andrew83Ga]

Yeah I'm still locked after started a case on the 10th. Originally 24-48 wait, was revised for the 18th, here it is 2 weeks later and nothing. I'll call today too. I've been really nice, and "oh well don't worry, I understand" but today, while remaining polite, I'll demand to speak to someone higher up like a supervisor or something. I don't know. One way or the other, I want to it unlocked immediately.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Is an ATT or other working SIM required to unlock?

I just got the unlock email from ATT. Right now it has a non-working Vodaphone SIM in it (The phone is unofficially unlocked right now and the SIM is a left over from a trip to Europe last year). I have no idea where the original ATT SIM is... probably long gone.

What is the proper procedure here? Do I need to go get a working SIM? Or can I just remove the Vodaphone SIM before plugging into iTunes?

UPDATE: I found the PIN for the Vodaphone SIM and official unlock was pushed though. (One note if you used Tiny Umbrella in the past... make sure to go back in, go to the "advanced" tab and uncheck Cydia as host option if its checked).

 

[GreenMonster13]

F
********* ultimate technique*******

If you only have an ATT sim in hand, just delete the "Lockdown" directory in your iPhone under /var/root/Library. You can install "ifile" on your iphone to complete this operation in 5 sec. Or use other method " iFunbox" to delete it from your PC.

After the deletion of the lockdown dir, turn off your phone and restart( to let the deletion take effect). After rebooting, the phone finds no "lockdown" ( thus no activation ticket" and has to go online for the Apple server. Contact it to the itunes *EVEN* with an ATT sim card inside. You still got the "congratulations" message because you are actually doing a fresh activation. iTunes checks your IMEI , which is unlockable ( thanks to ATT) , and do not even care if the SIM inside is ATT ,provided the Lockdown dir does not exist when the time of reboot.

Feel free to shot me messages should you have any questions guys.

Great Reference, Thanks...

Works like a charm, and I love that I didn't have to install SAM or use redsn0w to deactivate... Already have iFile.

Still no unlock for me, and my resolution date was the 17th. Guess I'll have to call them and see what's up.

 

[Tinmania]

Finally got the unlock message for my iPhone 4 (my original iPhone was unlocked first).

I had AT&T SIM cards in both iPhones. The reports about "needing" a non-AT&T SIM are false.



Michael

 

[memrtn]

Just got off the phone with AT&T and all they could say (incl. supervisor) was that they were behind, very sorry, but couldn't do anything for me at the moment. I'm just happy about one thing and that's I don't have to deal with this kind of crappy service normally.

 

[chagla]

Just got my 4s unlocked. I had a very helpful CSR that told me my request had not been processed and that she was going to process it - 5 minutes later I receive an email from AT&T giving me instructions on how to complete the unlock. I did a restore in iTunes and got the "Congratulations you're unlocked" screen(see pic) and I do not have an At&t account, nor have I ever.

lucky you. how exactly were you able to do this? did you call or submit request online? ih ave a 4s locked, i'd love to get it unlocked. not att customer.

 

[ffvans]

Just to let all of you know: I am not an at&t customer and did buy my iphone 4 locked to at&t for the full retail price in september 2010. After the news on 8th april i tried to call at&t on the 9th an request my iphone unlock.

The representative opened a case for me and i had to fax a proof of purchase. My resolution date was the 17th of april. Did never get an email till today (24th) or any information regarding my case. Tryed to call them twice. Only thing they told me was that my case is still open and in process but they can not tell me how long i will take to be resolved.

After many hours of frustration i did try to deactivate my iphone with redsnow for one more time and reactivate it with itunes. And what a suprise, i got the Congratulation message for unlocking my device.

So long story telling short: I think every one will get there unlock if you are eligible. Only thing you have to do is wait. They are really just overwhelmed by many many unlock request.

Ps.: Did never recieve an confirmation email though.

 

[MuGeN PoWeR]

Just to let all of you know: I am not an at&t customer and did buy my iphone 4 locked to at&t for the full retail price in september 2010. After the news on 8th april i tried to call at&t on the 9th an request my iphone unlock.

The representative opened a case for me and i had to fax a proof of purchase. My resolution date was the 17th of april. Did never get an email till today (24th) or any information regarding my case. Tryed to call them twice. Only thing they told me was that my case is still open and in process but they can not tell me how long i will take to be resolved.

After many hours of frustration i did try to deactivate my iphone with redsnow for one more time and reactivate it with itunes. And what a suprise, i got the Congratulation message for unlocking my device.

So long story telling short: I think every one will get there unlock if you are eligible. Only thing you have to do is wait. They are really just overwhelmed by many many unlock request.

Ps.: Did never recieve an confirmation email though.

thats great if you are unlocked!! tell me one thing did you fax the proof of purchase?

i am asked for the proof of purchase! i dont have any proof as the device was gifted to me!! what will happen if i dont send the proof of purchase?? and what is included in the proof?? can some one tell me please thankyou!

 

[ffvans]

Yes i did send a fax with my proof of purchase, although i am not sure if they really need it. It was the reciept back from the day i bought the phone.

The layout of the fax was like this:
The reciept, my name, my phone number, my email address and the case number. Make also sure to write "iphone device unlock request" on the top of it.

Hope i could help you.

 

[gillboyzz]

Which number did you fax the proof of purchase? Did you simply write your case no on the top of the fax or some other info ?

Finally unlocked from 9th. I was never asked to fax the POP but still faxed it as i just wanted to validate my claims that i own an at&t iphone and haven't bought it on a subsidized price.

Here are my case details.

1. Never been an AT&T customer
2. New iPhone 4 bought on ebay last year for $410.
3. Told them that i am calling from overseas and i bought it on ebay while placing the request.
4. Never did follow-ups since 9th.
5. Faxed the ebay POP on 23rd and unlocked today.
6. Got a plain text unlock email from AT&T Subsidy Dept with no attachments and not the regular Unlock Authorization email from tech support.
7. Was never asked to fax the POP.
8. Didn't get any "Congratulations, Unlock Message in itunes".

 

[gillboyzz]

I had faxed to 800-328-1677 with a cover page before. Over chat, the following were the specific instructions given (I've formatted it for better readability here):



I faxed it with a cover page stating "Device Unlock Request for iPhone 4", along with the name, email address, IMEI number and case number.

Thanks Mate ! This really helped

 

[miss.manson]

lucky you. how exactly were you able to do this? did you call or submit request online? ih ave a 4s locked, i'd love to get it unlocked. not att customer.

I did both. I called first to submit my request, they told me it would be unlocked the 24th. On the 23, I did the online chat(I'm not a customer, I used the link that was posted in this thread) and told them that I would be traveling overseas in a few days and they told me that my request had not been processed and that they were going to go ahead and process it. If I were you, I would try what I did.