on your iPhone can you see the model number?
unlocked iPhones has different model number than the carrier locked iPhones.
thank you.
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"Congratulations your iPhone has been unlocked"
- Thread starter BFW122083
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on your iPhone can you see the model number?
unlocked iPhones has different model number than the carrier locked iPhones.
thank you.
i assume you have iPhone 4S with ATT and went through 6 different configuration 3 black 16, 32 and 64 and 3 white 16, 32, 64 all of them have different SKUs
when you choose the iPhones and carriers and do check out you can see the model on the URL on the browser
so looks like yours is unlocked iPhone.
any one can chime in - i am doing the correct assumption here?
Yes, it is an iPhone 4s 16gb white AT&T. I ordered 3 hours after pre orders went up, but my phone did not ship from china until Wednesday. I wonder if that's why it took longer to leave the factory?
Seems like this is either a factory or Apple error (if ITunes is doing the unlock & phone was locked before the restore but OP was unaware.) If this is a one-off mistake by the factory OP is very lucky. If it's more widespread then I expect Apple to relock it next update. The are no unlocked phone for sale yet so if def an error. The question is will it stick. Has anyone else been lucky w/ their ATT 4S?
I picked up a white 64gb AT&T phone from the SF (stockton) store, paid full price, didn't give them my phone number, didn't need help setting up or activating, just paid, and walked out. Came home, swapped in my AT&T sim, connected to iTunes, clicked "ok" once or twice to register phone and what not, and saw the "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked." screen.
I think maybe all phones are unlocked, but when you purchase it, it sets up the lock when you give them your AT&T info. Obviously if you want a subsidy then you have to give them that, but when you pay full price, there is no reason to unless you need help setting it up or swapping SIMs.
I'm going to buy another one tomorrow to see if it works the same way. I need 2 unlocked ones.
I think maybe all phones are unlocked, but when you purchase it, it sets up the lock when you give them your AT&T info. Obviously if you want a subsidy then you have to give them that, but when you pay full price, there is no reason to unless you need help setting it up or swapping SIMs.
I'm going to buy another one tomorrow to see if it works the same way. I need 2 unlocked ones.
Can anyone else confirm what the OP found? I have the same iPhone with the same model number and was curious to try it out, but I just got my phone setup and would hate to back back through all that just on a whim!
OP, if I am understanding you correctly, you just did activation through iTunes instead of on the iPhone itself correct?
OP, if I am understanding you correctly, you just did activation through iTunes instead of on the iPhone itself correct?
I just purchased an AT&T Black 64GB iPhone 4S for $849 + tax at the local Apple Store. I didn't give them my phone number.
When I took it home, I was paranoid that if I activated it using the AT&T SIM card that came with it, it would lock itself to AT&T, so I removed it first. Canadian iPhones used to lock themselves to the first carrier it was activated with.
When I connected it to iTunes, it asked me to insert a SIM card and re-connect the iPhone to activate, so I inserted a MicroSIM from the carrier 3 that I got in Macau earlier this year. The iPhone activated and immediately said it was unlocked!
I didn't even have to restore it like the OP mentioned that he did. It gave me the message right upon activation.
So glad I don't have to wait until November!
When I took it home, I was paranoid that if I activated it using the AT&T SIM card that came with it, it would lock itself to AT&T, so I removed it first. Canadian iPhones used to lock themselves to the first carrier it was activated with.
When I connected it to iTunes, it asked me to insert a SIM card and re-connect the iPhone to activate, so I inserted a MicroSIM from the carrier 3 that I got in Macau earlier this year. The iPhone activated and immediately said it was unlocked!
I didn't even have to restore it like the OP mentioned that he did. It gave me the message right upon activation.
So glad I don't have to wait until November!
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Probably won't til at least Monday, I need a white 16 and they are all sold out here.
I posted this yesterday:
http://att.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1252630
And I tested this all day today to see if it was true:
And the model number is the same one that's sold by AT&T.
Even my receipt says:
http://att.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1252630
And I tested this all day today to see if it was true:
And the model number is the same one that's sold by AT&T.
Even my receipt says:
So let me see if I've got this correctly:
The iPhone 4S ships from Apple unlocked. Those bought at the subsidized price, regardless of carrier, become locked at activation.
Those bought at full retail price at AT&T (apparently the only carrier doing this at the moment) remain unlocked, which is why only those people are getting the iTunes unlock confirmation.
Right?
The iPhone 4S ships from Apple unlocked. Those bought at the subsidized price, regardless of carrier, become locked at activation.
Those bought at full retail price at AT&T (apparently the only carrier doing this at the moment) remain unlocked, which is why only those people are getting the iTunes unlock confirmation.
Right?
Exactly.
And this isn't AT&T doing any work. Simply Apple adds your IMEI to their whitelist of unlocked devices. AT&T doesn't even get an activation request.
I think if you give them your AT&T number during checkout, they will lock the phone to AT&T (regardless what price you pay). For those of us buying full price, and don't need help setting it up, we can just pay and walk out, so they skip that step to lock it at the store with that mobile POS thinggie they have.
It won't even activate. The only reason people get the unlocked message is because when iTunes sends the request to Apple to check activation, the IMEI is flagged immediately and your device is displayed as unlocked. It has nothing to do with the SIM that's in your device.
That's how it worked in Canada for the iPhone 4. Every iPhone is the same, but at the point of sale, it becomes locked to the carrier you activate with. If you pay full price and don't select a carrier, it's unlocked.
I guess the US stores are now following the same policy. The only difference is that in Canada, the iPhones don't ship with a SIM card, since there are 4 or 5 carriers there, so the Apple Stores have to provide them. Since AT&T is the only carrier in the US, all the US iPhones come with SIM cards.
Well if you bought an iPhone 4 unlocked version (the one that sold unlocked officially), it does not come with a SIM card and comes with the SIM ejector tool.
I imagine that is what they will be doing with the official unlocked version in November. It will have no SIM installed, but will come with an ejector tool (which the current ones do not have).
So if I don't have an AT&T account, could I walk into an AT&T store and get an unlocked iPhone 4S? Did they even check if you had an account with them?
so at what stage are the iphones locked ???? when u buy it on your line , that is when u place order or buy it in stock and they scan it with your phone number of recipt ? or when you actually activate it ?
I'm not sure this works in the AT&T store. I bought my iPhone at the Apple Store.
It's locked when you connect to activate and it's flagged as an locked device in Apple's database of all their iOS devices.
This is why there are software unlocks that work.