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Can I unlock my AT&T iPhone for other networks?

P

Potatochobit

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2011
111
3
hello
I have a 4S with ATT
I heard it is now legal to unlock phones?
when I upgrade to an iphone 6 this fall, is it possible to unlock my iphone 4s to use on a different network?

i would like to use it as a prepaid virgin mobile phone which is the sprint network

I know they are already selling iphone 4s, but is it possible to use my current att one instead of buying the same phone from their network?
 
hi thanx for the reply

yes my contract expired long ago

but do you know if virigin mobile will accept the phone?
or must I use their branded version
 
Potatochobit said:
hello
I have a 4S with ATT
I heard it is now legal to unlock phones?
when I upgrade to an iphone 6 this fall, is it possible to unlock my iphone 4s to use on a different network?

i would like to use it as a prepaid virgin mobile phone which is the sprint network

I know they are already selling iphone 4s, but is it possible to use my current att one instead of buying the same phone from their network?
Click to expand...

You need to be an existing customer and the phone must be out of contract. If you are planning to Leave ATT make sure you get the unlock before you leave.
 
Potatochobit said:
hi thanx for the reply

yes my contract expired long ago

but do you know if virigin mobile will accept the phone?
or must I use their branded version
Click to expand...

If its an AT&T phone i'm not sure if it will work on Virgin Mobile since AT&T uses GSM (SIM Card) and Virgin uses CDMA (No SIM Card). Other than that if its unlocked then it will work on other networks as long as the network compatibility is there.

----------

Yeah just checked. Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network so no it won't work. You can try one of AT&T's MVNO's or T-Mobile/T-Mobile MVNO's. Right now i'm using my unlocked AT&T iphone with T-Mobile's prepaid plan. only $30. spotty coverage but not too bad.
 
Folks are getting so excited about the UNLOCK rules, but they forget two very important things.

1 - A contact is still a contract. Feds can not make those go away. You have to pay for the phone somehow.

2 - Technical reasons do not allow all phones to work on all networks.
 
hi guys
thanx for the replies

I didnt know tmobile had pre paid plans
thats fine too as long as I can do month to month for a small fee
 
Yes, I'd go with Tmobile.
Probably better service and cheaper than virgin mobile.
When you unlock an iphone its only unlocked for GSM networks.
Not CDMA such as Sprint, Verizon or any of their prepaid MVMO's. Just so you know.
 
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