Fastest process to unlock iPhone 5

[heyriddle]

I ordered an iPhone 6 and I will be asking AT&T to unlock my old phone since Gazelle with give me more money for it that way. So my old iPhone 5 will go to my son since it is 32GB and his current one is 16GB. Here is the way I think I need to accomplish this.

1. Switch sim cards of the two iPhone 5's so that my phone number is now associated with the 16GB one.
2. Turn on the 16BG phone and leave off the 32GB one.
3. Turn on the iPhone 6 and activate it.
4. Submit my unlock request online.

So ATT may take 5 days to respond to the request and they might need the new phone activated for 14 days before they will unlock the old one.
Do I twiddle my thumbs for 2 and a half weeks or is there a way to do this process faster so I can send my phone to Gazelle quicker?

I don't want to send the request now and have it unlock my 32GB phone by accident. I don't think I could send my son's phone number to unlock the 16GB phone now since it wouldn't go through until after the 14 day grace period. Is it the sim that is in control of the unlocking or is it the actual phone hardware that is affected? I'm not sure if I am over thinking this since this is the first time I will be unlocking a phone.

 

[eelw]

Unlock only based on IMEI number. So no need to wait to swap SIMs until your 6 comes in.

 

[rigormortis]

I ordered an iPhone 6 and I will be asking AT&T to unlock my old phone since Gazelle with give me more money for it that way. So my old iPhone 5 will go to my son since it is 32GB and his current one is 16GB. Here is the way I think I need to accomplish this.

1. Switch sim cards of the two iPhone 5's so that my phone number is now associated with the 16GB one.
2. Turn on the 16BG phone and leave off the 32GB one.
3. Turn on the iPhone 6 and activate it.
4. Submit my unlock request online.

So ATT may take 5 days to respond to the request and they might need the new phone activated for 14 days before they will unlock the old one.
Do I twiddle my thumbs for 2 and a half weeks or is there a way to do this process faster so I can send my phone to Gazelle quicker?

I don't want to send the request now and have it unlock my 32GB phone by accident. I don't think I could send my son's phone number to unlock the 16GB phone now since it wouldn't go through until after the 14 day grace period. Is it the sim that is in control of the unlocking or is it the actual phone hardware that is affected? I'm not sure if I am over thinking this since this is the first time I will be unlocking a phone.

unlock your iPhone 5 today
don't wait for the new phone if you are eligible for the unlock
once new phone arrives put your old sim in the new phone.

this is where it gets tricky. i found out TWICE with go phone that AT&T doesn't keep your imei associated on your account. you need to call customer service and verify that the new iPhone 6 is on your account by its imei number.. i am not kidding. i got 2 unlocks denied because they did not know my phones imei number on go phone. once you verify that the phone has been associated to your account you should be able to unlock it if you paid for it full price. because you are a post paid customer.

if AT&T is caught napping and does not have your imei associated you will be rejected by AT&T because they will say that the device has no record of ever being used on it's network.

i tried to unlock a 3gs. they refused me. they said it had no record of being on my go phone account. i went to the AT&T store and told them to put it on my account, the kid behind the counter did not believe me. as soon as they associated the imei, i went home. and bam the phone was now suddenly eligible for an unlock.

this happened twice



t-mobile specifically says you have use the device for 40 days to become eligible for an unlock. i don't think AT&T has this restriction

good luck
p.s. don't forget in order to complete the unlock process you must back up your phone to iTunes, erase the iPhone, and restore from backup. with other phones there is a time limit to complete the unlock process. i don't think there is one for iPhones, but you should do it promptly.

off topic back up rambling section
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when you back up to iTunes, makes sure you "transfer purchases" so all your apps are backed up to iTunes with current versions. a regular iTunes back up does not back up apps. maybe back up all the photos too

encrypt your backup. if you do not encrypt, your secure keychain (where web passwords, wifi passwords) only get restored to the same device. if you encrypt, then that secure keychain can be restored to new devices.