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Factory unlocking IPhone 4?

whoknows87

whoknows87

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 8, 2012
676
31
S.Florida
I spoke to a guy who deals with unlocking phones ( including IPhones) can you believe the factory unlock code costs them about $15 bucks he said? is Apple supplying the codes to wholesalers or what? they guarantee that it will be a factory unlock for good , is it legal?
 
There seems to be an entire underground market for getting you iPhone factory unlocked. I'm really curious how they do it myself.
 
mrkramer said:
My guess is there is one or more employees at carriers who have access to the system for unlocking the iPhone that sell unlocks to these people and run them through unofficially.
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wouldnt apple catch on to that? I mean if the code was purchased illegally cant they lock the phone forcing the customer to do it via Apple store, or wait for ultrasn0w like the good old days:D
 
whoknows87 said:
wouldnt apple catch on to that? I mean if the code was purchased illegally cant they lock the phone forcing the customer to do it via Apple store, or wait for ultrasn0w like the good old days:D
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Don't think Apple cares. Why would they?
 
I don't think Apple cares either. It is the carrier that losing $$$. A friend here in Panama, who's contract was not up with AT&T in the US yet, paid for an unlock in the UK. Came through in something like 24 hours and it now works perfectly on a local pre-paid carrier here. How in the h*ll did a UK entrepreneur get a stack of AT&T unlock codes?

I can't help but wonder if these mystery "codes" will not work on the 5 when it comes out. I'm going to buy a used 64GB 4S and unlock it stat. My 4 is getting long in the tooth.
 
FuNGi said:
I don't think Apple cares either. It is the carrier that losing $$$. A friend here in Panama, who's contract was not up with AT&T in the US yet, paid for an unlock in the UK. Came through in something like 24 hours and it now works perfectly on a local pre-paid carrier here. How in the h*ll did a UK entrepreneur get a stack of AT&T unlock codes?

I can't help but wonder if these mystery "codes" will not work on the 5 when it comes out. I'm going to buy a used 64GB 4S and unlock it stat. My 4 is getting long in the tooth.
Click to expand...

They will still work as it's going to be the same system for unlocking the next iPhone, how it works is the carrier sends the IMEI number to Apple who adds it to the list that tells iTunes it is unlocked the next time you connect with it. Apple apparently doesn't check to make sure that the phone is from the carrier that is requesting the unlock which is why these unofficial unlocks work. Someone who works at a carrier and has access to the system is just making a bit of money on the side by selling them off unofficially.
 
Applejuiced said:
Again there is no unlock codes. You do not enter any codes on the phone to unlock it like other cellphones.
The iPhone uses an imei unlock that's entered in Apples activation server.
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Yes I'm aware of that as I've both had direct carrier and third party unlock services done on iphone 4's. I was referring to the ones sent to Apple's servers.

mrkramer said:
They will still work as it's going to be the same system for unlocking the next iPhone, how it works is the carrier sends the IMEI number to Apple who adds it to the list that tells iTunes it is unlocked the next time you connect with it. Apple apparently doesn't check to make sure that the phone is from the carrier that is requesting the unlock which is why these unofficial unlocks work. Someone who works at a carrier and has access to the system is just making a bit of money on the side by selling them off unofficially.
Click to expand...

Right. Why would Apple really care unless the carriers put pressure on them to verify contracts etc. Maybe once this service gets too big...

I would not be so certain this will work on the iphone 5 but here's hoping.
 
FuNGi said:
Right. Why would Apple really care unless the carriers put pressure on them to verify contracts etc. Maybe once this service gets too big...

I would not be so certain this will work on the iphone 5 but here's hoping.
Click to expand...

Apple doesnt care about a carriers contract with their customer.
They just want to sell more iphones, that's all.
Its the carrier that doesnt want their locked iphones used with other carriers and why they make it harder to unlock them.
If the phone is still locked it will still be used with their service one way or another.
 
whoknows87 said:
I spoke to a guy who deals with unlocking phones ( including IPhones) can you believe the factory unlock code costs them about $15 bucks he said? is Apple supplying the codes to wholesalers or what? they guarantee that it will be a factory unlock for good , is it legal?
Click to expand...

So I'm guessing the sellers that charge $13 on ebay are loosing money!? :rolleyes:
 
FuNGi said:
Yes I'm aware of that as I've both had direct carrier and third party unlock services done on iphone 4's. I was referring to the ones sent to Apple's servers.

Right. Why would Apple really care unless the carriers put pressure on them to verify contracts etc. Maybe once this service gets too big...

I would not be so certain this will work on the iphone 5 but here's hoping.
Click to expand...

Applejuiced said:
Apple doesnt care about a carriers contract with their customer.
They just want to sell more iphones, that's all.
Its the carrier that doesnt want their locked iphones used with other carriers and why they make it harder to unlock them.
If the phone is still locked it will still be used with their service one way or another.
Click to expand...

I bolded my point as you seem to have missed it the first time.
 
Daveoc64 said:
They have a contractual obligation to only unlock devices that carriers ask them to.

The iPhone has the most restrictive unlocking system of any phone that's ever been released - and that's all down to Apple.
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Think you missed the point. The carriers are pushing through theses requests. Apple has no motivation to verify them or track down cheaters or anything like that. They just take the submission from the carrier and process it.
 
Geckotek said:
Think you missed the point. The carriers are pushing through theses requests. Apple has no motivation to verify them or track down cheaters or anything like that. They just take the submission from the carrier and process it.
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The motivation is that carriers like AT&T expect the system to have its integrity maintained (that's why they pay Apple huge amounts of money)

If Apple allows (though other carriers or retailers having lax security) the system to be compromised, then there's a problem.

Apple can do something about these breaches and they usually doget plugged, so Apple most definitely does care about this.
 
Daveoc64 said:
The motivation is that carriers like AT&T expect the system to have its integrity maintained (that's why they pay Apple huge amounts of money)

If Apple allows (though other carriers or retailers having lax security) the system to be compromised, then there's a problem.

Apple can do something about these breaches and they usually doget plugged, so Apple most definitely does care about this.
Click to expand...

I think there are some assumptions going on that we are not 100% sure of. I for one don't know that other carriers or retailers have the ability to enter IMEIs locked for AT&T.
 
Geckotek said:
I think there are some assumptions going on that we are not 100% sure of. I for one don't know that other carriers or retailers have the ability to enter IMEIs locked for AT&T.
Click to expand...

Based on:

a) People getting AT&T devices unlocked far in advance of AT&T allowing official unlocks by:

b) Submitting their IMEI to other carriers (usually in different countries) on the off-chance that the other carrier would process the unlock without checking (and succeeding)

It's logical to assume that any carrier can submit any IMEI to be unlocked (perhaps there are limitations, but it appears that they're not that significant).

In countries where there are multiple GSM/UMTS carriers (i.e. not the US) that officially sell the iPhone, it's commonplace for retailers to set the lock status.

These are two potential ways that a device can be unlocked without the original carrier being involved.

These processes are largely human based, and there are plenty of cases where mistakes have been made (both in and against the customer's favour).
 
FuNGi said:
Yes I'm aware of that as I've both had direct carrier and third party unlock services done on iphone 4's. I was referring to the ones sent to Apple's servers.
Click to expand...
What are you talking about?:confused: All unlocks for the iphone go through apple's servers. None of the carriers can bypass this.
 
eastercat said:
What are you talking about?:confused: All unlocks for the iphone go through apple's servers. None of the carriers can bypass this.
Click to expand...

I was referring to the situation where people outside the US unlock AT&T phones. Yes it goes through Apple then iTunes to your device but I was thinking perhaps insiders at Apple OR carriers get ahold of multiple unlocks.
 
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