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Confirm AT&T Unlock for Full Price Paid
- Thread starter Col Ronson
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I didn't set it up at all when I connected to iTunes. Just plugged it in, saw the "unlocked" message, unplugged it, swapped SIM cards, and restored from iCloud.
I bought my iPhone 5S (AT&T) at full price and plugged into my Mac when I got home. iTunes launched and immediately said that my iPhone had been successfully unlocked. So, while Apple is not officially selling factory unlocked iPhone 5S yet, if you pay full price on AT&T, iTunes will unlock it.
I didn't restore the phone, just plugged it in and let iTunes launch. Then I took out the SIM that came with it, put in my SIM, and it works great.
I didn't restore the phone, just plugged it in and let iTunes launch. Then I took out the SIM that came with it, put in my SIM, and it works great.
Mine also said unlocked... I paid $650 for the 16gb att from apple this morning..
I did too but I don't remember getting this unlocked message when connected at home :/
Edit: I got it at apple this morning.
Do a back up then have iTunes reload the firmware. You will see the unlocked message if your phone is unlocked.
I paid full price... Sorry I forgot to say that
Just backup your phone in iTunes (if you want), hit restore, and then you will get the message in iTunes once the restore is complete!
That was a waste of time. Didn't get the unlocked message. Restored the firmware then the backup. Don't get it.
I paid the subsidized price at the Apple store ($399 for a 64 GB 5s), but much to my surprise, I got the "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked" popup after I had to restore the phone this morning (my first attempt to update to 7.0.1 crashed iTunes, requiring a full restore). I guess I got very lucky!
Absolutely right on!
With a year left on my AT&T contract, I was going to pay a little more to get an unlocked T-Mobile iPhone 5s. But after seeing this thread, I decided to give this a try. The reps at the Apple Store and AT&T Store are totally misinformed. The Apple reps assured me that the AT&T iPhone 5s is locked even if I pay full price and that it's up to AT&T to decide whether to unlock it. I bought the phone anyway and drove down the block to an AT&T store. The reps there were 110% sure they would not unlock it until my contract is up.
I went home, did restore to factory on the iPhone 5s through iTunes, and the Congrats/Unlock message came up!
My experience dealing with the reps reminded me of this old joke:
What's the difference between a car salesman and a computer salesman?
The car salesman knows when he's lying.
With a year left on my AT&T contract, I was going to pay a little more to get an unlocked T-Mobile iPhone 5s. But after seeing this thread, I decided to give this a try. The reps at the Apple Store and AT&T Store are totally misinformed. The Apple reps assured me that the AT&T iPhone 5s is locked even if I pay full price and that it's up to AT&T to decide whether to unlock it. I bought the phone anyway and drove down the block to an AT&T store. The reps there were 110% sure they would not unlock it until my contract is up.
I went home, did restore to factory on the iPhone 5s through iTunes, and the Congrats/Unlock message came up!
My experience dealing with the reps reminded me of this old joke:
What's the difference between a car salesman and a computer salesman?
The car salesman knows when he's lying.
it doesn't matter. i had an inactive AT&T sim in the phone when i restored it, since i bought the phone "device only"
exactly what i said i did....
1] buy at&t iphone full price "device only" at apple store
2] "restore iphone" in iTunes
done.
restore phone, but do not backup from a saved backup. just reset as a new phone.
they told me the EXACT same thing in those very words. I think they're forced to say that or they don't know.
According to Apple, "The unlocked iPhone 5c and unlocked iPhone 5s will also work on the CDMA networks of Sprint and Verizon Wireless". It also says that "The unlocked iPhone 5s model is A1453" but the AT&T model discussed here is A1533. Is there an unlocked A1453 available from Apple yet?
Edit: Judging by the responses below, it seems that this page is incorrect.
Last edited:
that page is so obscure its clearly a mistake. We all know that an unlocked phone wont work on Verizon and Sprint due to CDMA carriers and their hilarious rules. Also on the 5C page about unlocked phones:
http://store.apple.com/us/iphone/about-unlocked
EDIT: notice how your link has "iphone4" in the URL, it must be remnants of some sort.
A1453 is the sprint model. It won't be unlocked other than for international use. Correct me if I'm wrong some how.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
Oh yay, conflicting information (both from Apple, no less!)
Thinking about it logically though, if the Sprint model is being sold unlocked then it'll obviously work on Sprint, plus if it's unlocked then it would work with T-Mobile and AT&T. It's possible that Apple managed to convince Verizon to activate non-Verizon iPhones since it's the same hardware anyway.
But whether that's actually the case or not... well, we'd need someone to buy one to find out!
Edit: Just noticed the other responses. It seems likely that the page I linked is incorrect.
Where did you buy your iPhone full priced from? If it was from a retailer other than the Apple store it is locked to the carrier even if you paid full price. Only "device only" full priced purchases from Apple are unlocked.
Mine was purchased over the apple website and sent from china and was a partial upgrade and it doesn't work ! "it keeps loading data" for my saved iphone account wether I do a New Restore or not !
If you bought it with a subsidy from the Apple website then it is locked to your carrier.
Only the T-Mobile version ordered from the Apple website is unlocked. If you purchase full price "device only" from an Apple retail store all of the iPhones are unlocked.
Since it's locked you can purchase an IMEI unlock from a 3rd party reseller. Read the IMEI unlock thread.