iPhone 3GS Unlock confusion!

[Krishna21]

Guys, this time I got my hands on a 3GS.

It's very cool

My friend gave it to me for free as he's getting an iPhone 4.

He told me he's going to take the SIM out of the 3GS and put it in his iPhone 4.

So can I still unlock the 3GS without a SIM inserted?


And before I unlock do I have to make any changes in Settings?
Because I don't want to end up somehow "disabling" my friends SIM Card.

 

[dhlizard]

Guys, this time I got my hands on a 3GS.

It's very cool

My friend gave it to me for free as he's getting an iPhone 4.

He told me he's going to take the SIM out of the 3GS and put it in his iPhone 4.

So can I still unlock the 3GS without a SIM inserted?


And before I unlock do I have to make any changes in Settings?
Because I don't want to end up somehow "disabling" my friends SIM Card.

If he takes the sim from the 3GS, he will have to cut it down to micro-sim size.
Just use the sim to activate the phone, then your friend can take it.

You will need an active cellular account to use the phone and if you expect to unlock it to use with another carrier, you will have to jailbreak it first. There is nothing you can do to the phone that will hurt the sim.

I recommend you read some of the existing threads here about jailbreaking a 3GS phone.

 

[Krishna21]

If he takes the sim from the 3GS, he will have to cut it down to micro-sim size.
Just use the sim to activate the phone, then your friend can take it.

You will need an active cellular account to use the phone and if you expect to unlock it to use with another carrier, you will have to jailbreak it first. There is nothing you can do to the phone that will hurt the sim.

I recommend you read some of the existing threads here about jailbreaking a 3GS phone.

1) why would he have to cut it down to micro-sim size? it it because iPhone 4 uses a smaller sim?

2) the phone is already activated with his sim. he's giving it to me so I can unlock it and put tmobile pay as u go.

 

[dhlizard]

1) why would he have to cut it down to micro-sim size? it it because iPhone 4 uses a smaller sim?

2) the phone is already activated with his sim. he's giving it to me so I can unlock it and put tmobile pay as u go.

iPhone 4 iDevices use a micro-sim

I would assume he will want to wipe his info off the phone which will require a restore and re-activation.

Be careful if you restore so you can jailbreak it again. The current newest firmware cannot be jailbroken.

 

[dave420]

You may want to see if he will give you the sim too. The iPhone 4 will come with a new sim card for him to use, and his old one will be deactivated. You can use his sim card in case you ever need to activate the phone again (for example after a restore). If you don't have his sim then you may need another sim from the same carrier. I'm not sure if you will have easy access to that since you mention unlocking it for a different carrier.

 

[Krishna21]

iPhone 4 iDevices use a micro-sim

I would assume he will want to wipe his info off the phone which will require a restore and re-activation.

Be careful if you restore so you can jailbreak it again. The current newest firmware cannot be jailbroken.

When I said "Put the SIM from 3GS into 4" I basically mean he's upgrading to an iPhone 4, he's not starting a whole new account.

Which means he'll buy the iPhone 4 and AT&T will register it to his current plan.

An upgrade basically.

Does that mean the SIM will just be de-activated?

 

[Krishna21]

Gotcha.

So maybe I should JB THEN Unlock the iPhone with the SIM while it's in service, and then before he gets his iPhone 4 replace the AT&T SIM with the T-Mobile one?

 

[dave420]

Gotcha.

So maybe I should JB THEN Unlock the iPhone with the SIM while it's in service, and then before he gets his iPhone 4 replace the AT&T SIM with the T-Mobile one?

The sim will still work for activating the phone after it has been deactivated for use. All the phone does is check the carrier of the sim, or at least that's my understanding. Any AT&T sim can be used to activate the phone.

 

[Krishna21]

The sim will still work for activating the phone after it has been deactivated for use. All the phone does is check the carrier of the sim, or at least that's my understanding. Any AT&T sim can be used to activate the phone.

The phone is already activated.

So;

Make sure the current AT&T SIM is still in.

Jailbreak.

Unlock.

Remove AT&T SIM and place the T-mobile SIM in.

Hurray??

 

[dave420]

The phone is already activated.

So;

Make sure the current AT&T SIM is still in.

Jailbreak.

Unlock.

Remove AT&T SIM and place the T-mobile SIM in.

Hurray??

Yeah you should be good to go, as long as it isn't running 4.0.2. I don't even think the AT&T sim card needs to be in it to jailbreak.
In the future if you ever update the OS or need to do a restore you will need to go through the activation process again. That's why I mention having an AT&T sim available.

 

[Krishna21]

Yeah you should be good to go, as long as it isn't running 4.0.2. I don't even think the AT&T sim card needs to be in it to jailbreak.
In the future if you ever update the OS or need to do a restore you will need to go through the activation process again. That's why I mention having an AT&T sim available.

THANK YOU!
I'm playing with my iPhone right now..on T-MOBILE!