Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Australian iPhone 4 - is it factory unlocked or not?

ImNoSuperMan

ImNoSuperMan

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 1, 2005
1,221
66
imagegwc.png


My cousin bought an iPhone 4 from someone this weekend. The guy who sold it said its a factory unlocked phone (its bought from australia) but my cousin didnt have a micro sim handy to check it at that time. Anyways, he bought it and now it says "invalid sim" when he tries to use it with any sim (tried with a micro sim and a regular sim cut down to fit in an iphone 4). To the best of my knowledge, Apple only sells unlocked iPhones in Aus, so I'm not sure how can this be a carrier locked phone? I'm completely confused and not sure what I should do here. I dont even have the original sim which it came with so cant try restoring it as that'll turn it into a paperweight if it doesnt activate after the restore.

Any idea why this isnt working? Did the seller dupe my cousin? In which case, is there nothing else which can be done to get it working with other sims except waiting for the 4.2.1 unlock? :(
 
WhatAmI said:
MC603X should be an Aussie iPhone alright, http://store.apple.com/au/configure/MC603X/A

Has he connected the iPhone to iTunes w/ a verified working SIM in the phone?
Click to expand...

I have the phone with me right now. I tried connecting without the sim card and it doesnt behave any differently than it should. I can sync my apps/music in it too (thought that'd make it delete the previous apps, music installed in it). I'll try to connect it with my working sim (which iphone says is invalid) and see if that changes anything or not.
 
here is a long shot, it may have been mentioned before, but i was thinking if flashing the rom was an option as I have MC605J (Japanee version) which is locked, and re-flashing it to say an Australian rom setting?. Most likely has been tried but i dont know. :confused:
 
Not all Aussie iPhones are factory unlocked.

Only the ones purchased directly from Apple are unlocked. If the phone was purchased through one of the 5 carriers here then it is locked. It can easily be unlocked by the carrier though.

You can tell if it's unlocked if, during the restore process, you were presented with a page in iTunes saying "Congratulations, this iPhone is unlocked."
 
You have already been told what to do in post number "2"

You have to connect the phone to Itunes with a Valid SIM that is not from the original carrier in the phone. If it is factory unlocked it will unlock the phone and tell you congratulations your phone is now unlocked.

If it is not factory unlocked it will do nothing.
 
Does "your cousin" believe everything he hears? What's the number one rule about buying something? Caveat emptor.
 
hackthatphone said:
Here is the master list from Apple that shows which countries offer an unlocked device: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1937
Click to expand...

The list is useful. However, what a lot of people don't seem to realize is that even in countries where unlocked phones are sold, if a carrier subsidizes a phone they lock it. The reason is very simple they expect to recover the cost of the phone over the period of the contract.

They also have monthly rates for voice and data that reflect what you paid for the phone. In the UK with "3" for example you can get 600 minutes, 5000 text and 1Gig for data for about $22 per month if you own the phone. The same package on a free or highly subsidized phone can cost you up to $100 per month

In those countries you can buy an unlocked phone from apple at full price or in many cases from the carrier at full price. You can get the carrier to unlock the phone for you but the procedure is often different in different countries, and with different carriers.

Typically they will unlock it at end of contract or even immediately if they have a very tight contract that you are committed to and cannot walk away from.

In some cases they charge in others they don't.
 
Chundles said:
Not all Aussie iPhones are factory unlocked.

Only the ones purchased directly from Apple are unlocked. If the phone was purchased through one of the 5 carriers here then it is locked. It can easily be unlocked by the carrier though.

You can tell if it's unlocked if, during the restore process, you were presented with a page in iTunes saying "Congratulations, this iPhone is unlocked."
Click to expand...
Oh, didnt realize there were locked phones being sold in Aus too. Maybe its not an unlocked iPhone then :(

As far as restoring is concerned, I cant do that coz just in case it ends up being a locked phone, it'll get stuck at the activation process and it wont even be usable as an ipod touch.

I've asked my cousin to contact the guy and ask him to email the purchase receipt as that will leave no doubt about the phone being an unlocked version or not.

Thanks chundles and everyone else (except steven jobson) who tried to help here. :)

Steven Jobson said:
Does "your cousin" believe everything he hears? What's the number one rule about buying something? Caveat emptor.
Click to expand...

Blame apple for using micro sims. He didnt have any of those handy so couldnt check it at the time. Also the guy who sold it to him is not really some stranger. He's a client of his. Only problem is that he's based in australia and has already gone back so is kinda hard to get a hold of right now. Anyways, thanks for the "helpful" advice :rolleyes:
 
Restoring doesn't fix unlock or not.

The locking process is by the UUID, which is unique to every phone.

Every time you connect to iTunes that is checked, hence restoring doesn't do anything for locking or unlocking.

If you have a working micro-sim pop it in, if unlocked it should work.

If it doens't work your phone is locked to a certain carrier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back