iPhone 4s - USA

[pedronalin]

Hello everybody
I'm from Brazil, but at this week I will travel to USA, I wanna know:

Is possible to buy an iPhone 4s Unlocked at Apple Retail Store ?
I really wanna buy it, but i don't know if it's possible, because in th Apple's site just shows the option to reserve an iPhones with wireless plan.

Another question:
Is necessary to reserve a iPhone before purchase it, or I just need to go to an Apple Retail Store and buy it ?


Thank You,
Pedro Nalin


ps: Sorry for my bad english :/

 

[b24pgg]

Is possible to buy an iPhone 4s Unlocked at Apple Retail Store ?

Yes...but not officially.

If you go into an Apple Store and request an AT&T, device only, off contract, full retail iPhone 4S, it will be unlocked.

This will only work at an Apple Store. If you buy a full retail price iPhone 4S from AT&T, Best Buy, etc...it will not be unlocked.

DON'T READ BELOW THIS POINT...HALF THE POSTS ARE WRONG AND WILL JUST CONFUSE YOU

 

[pkts]

Only the online store is selling official unlocked 4s. You can try your luck and ask for a device only AT&T 4s at an apple store....some people have been able to buy that way. There is a debate whether the phone will always stay unlocked.

 

[pedronalin]

Purchase

So, i need to ask for an AT&T Device, without wireless plan, just the device, and i will be able to get it ? it will be already unlocked or i need to unlock / jailbreak it after ?

Will be easy to find it ? I mean, they have stock or is a little bit hard to find it ?


Thanks Again,
Pedro Nalin

 

[Bootleg2go]

So, i need to ask for an AT&T Device, without wireless plan, just the device, and i will be able to get it ? it will be already unlocked or i need to unlock / jailbreak it after ?

Will be easy to find it ? I mean, they have stock or is a little bit hard to find it ?


Thanks Again,
Pedro Nalin

You will still need to jailbreak it.
Even though it was bought without a contract, it is still tied to AT&T for cell service.
So you will need to jailbreak it or wait for the unlocked (not tied to any carrier) phones to go on sale.

I have some experience with this, a couple weeks ago I bought an AT&T iphone 4s (without contract and paying full retail price) for a friend in China.
After he got it he found out that even though there is no contract, the service is still locked to AT&T until he jailbreaks it.
He also needs to do the jailbreak after every firmware update from now on.

 

[b24pgg]

So, i need to ask for an AT&T Device, without wireless plan, just the device, and i will be able to get it ?

Yes.

it will be already unlocked or i need to unlock / jailbreak it after ?

It will already be unlocked. The instant you take your phone out of the box and plug it into iTunes, you will get the confirmation screen telling you it's unlocked.

Will be easy to find it ? I mean, they have stock or is a little bit hard to find it ?

It depends on the store. Check Apple.com and reserve the phone you want the night before you go to the store. That way you'll know they have it waiting.

You will still need to jailbreak it.
Even though it was bought without a contract, it is still tied to AT&T for cell service.

NO NO NO NO NO! 100% false information here.

As long as you buy a device only, off contract, full retail price, AT&T iPhone 4S from the Apple Store, it will be unlocked. Period.

----------

I have some experience with this, a couple weeks ago I bought an AT&T iphone 4s (without contract and paying full retail price) for a friend in China.
After he got it he found out that even though there is no contract, the service is still locked to AT&T until he jailbreaks it.
He also needs to do the jailbreak after every firmware update from now on.

If you bought it from AT&T instead of the Apple Store, or if it was ever activated on AT&T...that's why it wasn't unlocked.

 

[pedronalin]

Yes.

It will already be unlocked. The instant you take your phone out of the box and plug it into iTunes, you will get the confirmation screen telling you it's unlocked.

It depends on the store. Check Apple.com and reserve the phone you want the night before you go to the store. That way you'll know they have it waiting.

NO NO NO NO NO! 100% false information here.

As long as you buy a device only, off contract, full retail price, AT&T iPhone 4S from the Apple Store, it will be unlocked. Period.

----------


If you bought it from AT&T instead of the Apple Store, or if it was ever activated on AT&T...that's why it wasn't unlocked.

What about if i purchase the iPhone 4s on a non-Apple store ? it will be unlocked too ? ( an AT&T one ) ?

 

[Bootleg2go]

Yes.

It will already be unlocked. The instant you take your phone out of the box and plug it into iTunes, you will get the confirmation screen telling you it's unlocked.

It depends on the store. Check Apple.com and reserve the phone you want the night before you go to the store. That way you'll know they have it waiting.

NO NO NO NO NO! 100% false information here.

As long as you buy a device only, off contract, full retail price, AT&T iPhone 4S from the Apple Store, it will be unlocked. Period.

----------


If you bought it from AT&T instead of the Apple Store, or if it was ever activated on AT&T...that's why it wasn't unlocked.

No I bought it from the Apple store in Boulder Colorado.
The only reason I posted in this thread is because I didn't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else.
If you had personally bought a non-contract "AT&T" phone from the apple store you would know this as well.
The phone is fine as long as you want to use AT&T as your provider or jailbreak it; but it's still locked in firmware to only AT&T.
For a true "unlocked" phone you will need to wait until the Apple store has them in stock.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

As long as you buy a device only, off contract, full retail price, AT&T iPhone 4S from the Apple Store, it will be unlocked. Period.

Almost correct. The operative phrase is "Will Be".

Based on anecdotal/historical experience, off-contract, full-retail AT&T 4S phones bought from an Apple store have been unlocked. There is no stated policy, guarantee, etc. from Apple that this will be the case in the future, or that the phones purchased previously will be always unlocked. Unlocking is not something done in the phone itself, it's an entry of the phone's IMEI number into a database at Apple - you have NO control over it.

Chances are, they will always remain unlocked - but if you're buying an AT&T phone with the "Assumption" that it will remain unlocked forever, you are doing so at your own risk. Caveat emptor.

 

[pkts]

No I bought it from the Apple store in Boulder Colorado.
The only reason I posted in this thread is because I didn't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else.
If you had personally bought a non-contract "AT&T" phone from the apple store you would know this as well.
The phone is fine as long as you want to use AT&T as your provider or jailbreak it; but it's still locked in firmware to only AT&T.
For a true "unlocked" phone you will need to wait until the Apple store has them in stock.

No, you got unlucky. The store person didn't do the sale correctly...there is a 30+page thread on here with people who bought full price device only models and were fine. It's another matter whether they stay unlocked thru the months and years.


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1253171/

There is no software unlock for the 4S currently.

 

[b24pgg]

Almost correct.

You're wrong man. If you buy a device only, off contract, full retail price, AT&T iPhone 4S, it will remain unlocked. Period.

How do I know this? Because you never give any info to AT&T OR Apple when the phone is purchased if you do it correctly. AT&T can't lock your phone if you have never activated the phone on AT&T and they don't even know you have it. Apple only locks/unlocks phones at the request of carriers.

I literally walked into an Apple Store, asked for the AT&T iPhone, bought it as a device only purchase, never gave any personal info, and walked out with an unlocked device.

As long as you do this, you're good to go.

 

[Applejuiced]

Within weeks my guess is Apple will have factory unlocked iphones in stock at their stores. Right now they can be purchased online at the Apple store but shortly there should be available in stores also.
Make sure you buy it an Apple store for full price and tell them you want it officially unlocked. If you go to AT&T, Best buy, Walmart or any other locations you will get a locked unit.

 

[b24pgg]

The only reason I posted in this thread is because I didn't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else.
If you had personally bought a non-contract "AT&T" phone from the apple store you would know this as well.

I have personally bought a non-contract AT&T iPhone 4S from the Apple Store. Here is a copy of my receipt. It is unlocked. I am not an AT&T customer and the phone was never activated when I bought it.

Why don't you post your receipt so we can see if it's the same?

If you purchased it the same way as me, you must be the unluckiest iPhone buyer in the country, because everyone else who has done a device only AT&T iPhone 4S purchase from an Apple Store has received an unlocked device.

 

[pkts]

Ummm, your phone has an IMEI....Apple knows it and, since it was sold as an off contract AT&T, they probably share the info with AT&T (like they do with any contract AT&T phone). I'd say there's a pretty good chance that everything will be fine however I'm not risking it.

But I like your certainty...

 

[FreakinEurekan]

You're wrong man. If you buy a device only, off contract, full retail price, AT&T iPhone 4S, it will remain unlocked. Period.

How do I know this? Because you never give any info to AT&T OR Apple when the phone is purchased if you do it correctly. AT&T can't lock your phone if you have never activated the phone on AT&T and they don't even know you have it.

They don't need to know who you are. Your phone came with an AT&T SIM, so the IMEI is recorded as being linked to AT&T. All that is necessary to "Lock" that phone is for Apple to remove that IMEI from the unlock database. There is no need to touch the phone, know who has it, know what carrier it's being used on, etc. - then the next time you try to activate the phone, it just won't work unless you're using AT&T.

Most likely your phone will never get locked - but if you think that it can't, then you are dead wrong. And, if it does - you have absolutely no recourse.

 

[b24pgg]

Your phone came with an AT&T SIM, so the IMEI is recorded as being linked to AT&T.

The two are not related. Just because the phone comes with an AT&T SIM doesn't mean the IMEI is recorded as being linked to AT&T...especially if you buy it directly from the Apple Store.

 

[Applejuiced]

All that is necessary to "Lock" that phone is for Apple to remove that IMEI from the unlock database.

Why would Apple do that? Just to piss off people and start locking iphones out of the blue and add them to the AT&T locked database?
That doesnt make much sense. Not to say its impossible but I dont see that happening in the future.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

The two are not related. Just because the phone comes with an AT&T SIM doesn't mean the IMEI is recorded as being linked to AT&T...especially if you buy it directly from the Apple Store.

Sure it is. Look at your receipt if you bought one, or at the scanned receipt a few posts up. Says "AT&T" right on it. Ed: I see that is your receipt

Why would Apple do that? Just to piss off people and start locking iphones out of the blue and add them to the AT&T locked database?
That doesnt make much sense. Not to say its impossible but I dont see that happening in the future.

Probably they won't. Why would they? Maybe AT&T gets pissed that people are buying full-price phones only at Apple Store and AT&T is losing revenue. Maybe it was never Apple's intent that these phones be unlocked, it was a config error and they decide to correct it. Who knows WHY they would do it.

The point is, they can (i.e. they have the data to know which phones were purchased this way, and they have the ability to remove those IMEIs from the unlock database) - and if they do, there is nothing you can do about it because you bought it knowingly as an "AT&T" phone.

Ed: I'm not trying to convince anyone that they made the wrong decision - I'm just saying that you need to consider the real possibilities that Apple (legally, ethically, technically) CAN decide to lock those phones at any point in the future. Some people have decided that this is a risk they're willing to take, and honestly it's probably a small risk. But it's not a guarantee, and if you're advising people who haven't bought yet that buying in this way can not result in a locked phone in the future, you are giving bad advice.

 

[Bootleg2go]

I have personally bought a non-contract AT&T iPhone 4S from the Apple Store. Here is a copy of my receipt. It is unlocked. I am not an AT&T customer and the phone was never activated when I bought it.

Why don't you post your receipt so we can see if it's the same?

If you purchased it the same way as me, you must be the unluckiest iPhone buyer in the country, because everyone else who has done a device only AT&T iPhone 4S purchase from an Apple Store has received an unlocked device.

All your receipt shows is that you bought an "off contract" phone at full price, it does not say it's unlocked and in fact when reading your receipt it states
" This IPhone model is configured to work only with the wireless services of AT&T wireless"
Have you tried using a non-USA GSM sim card in your phone?
I bet if you go overseas and try to use a local sim card in your phone, it's not going to work.

I don't have the receipt for the phone I purchased as I shipped it to my colleague in China along with the phone, I'm sure it said the exact same thing your receipt said. He did tell me after it arrived it would not work with the sim card from his carrier in China until he did the jailbreak on it.

It's really a moot point because Apple is now or is about to offer real unlocked phones to anyone who orders one that will work around the world and when you buy it the receipt won't mention that it's an AT&T phone that will only work on the AT&T network (unless jailbroken).

 

[Applejuiced]

I don't have the receipt for the phone I purchased as I shipped it to my colleague in China along with the phone, I'm sure it said the exact same thing your receipt said. He did tell me after it arrived it would not work with the sim card from his carrier in China until he did the jailbreak on it.

It would not work with the sim card until he did what JB and on what iphone?

 

[Bootleg2go]

It would not work with the sim card until he did what JB and on what iphone?

It was a white iphone 4s 16gb.
I don't know what JB he had to do on the phone to get it working with his carrier, is there more than one type?
All I'm going by is what my friend in China told me after it arrived.

My only point here was to help someone avoid what my friend had to go through. It's no big deal if you're planning on jailbreaking it anyhow, but he wasn't and didn't want to have to go through it everytime he updated firmware.

The real unlocked phones are available, so I would suggest just ordering it that way and get the real deal.

 

[Applejuiced]

It was a white iphone 4s 16gb.
I don't know what JB he had to do on the phone to get it working with his carrier, is there more than one type?
All I'm going by is what my friend in China told me after it arrived.

Yeah ok, there is no JB for the iphone 4S and no unlock.
So its not possible for your friend to JB or unlock it and use it with his carriers sim unless it is officially unlocked.
And most likely your above post is bs also.

 

[Bootleg2go]

Yeah ok, there is no JB for the iphone 4S and no unlock.
So its not possible for your friend to JB or unlock it and use it with his carriers sim unless it is officially unlocked.
And most likely your above post is bs also.

ok, I'll email my friend tonight and ask him the details.
It's often difficult to communicate with someone in english when the 1st language is Chinese. You have to be very direct in the questions you ask and sometimes have to ask them a couple times in different ways.
It's quite possible he meant it would need to be jailbreaked and that it still does not work on his carrier, I will ask and repost here as soon as I get his reply.

I'm not posting bs, just what my friend told me after he received it and do know that he had or is either still having issues getting it to work on the sim card from his iphone 4 (which he bought in China).

 

[b24pgg]

I bet if you go overseas and try to use a local sim card in your phone, it's not going to work.

This is 100% false. Read this thread.

Have you tried using a non-USA GSM sim card in your phone?

I've tried three. They all work.

It's really a moot point because...an AT&T phone that will only work on the AT&T network (unless jailbroken).

Sorry but you're wrong on this. Dozens of people in this thread, including myself, have proven this that the device only, off contract, full retail AT&T iPhone 4S bought from an Apple Store is unlocked.

Please stop spreading false information.

 

[pedronalin]

This is 100% false. Read this thread.

I've tried three. They all work.

Sorry but you're wrong on this. Dozens of people in this thread, including myself, have proven this that the device only, off contract, full retail AT&T iPhone 4S bought from an Apple Store is unlocked.

Please stop spreading false information.

Thank you for help ;D !
Hope will be easy to find it !
So, i just need to ask for a AT&T iPhone without wireless plan

Thanks bro !!
have a nice day !

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At the Apple Site :

http://www.apple.com/retail/iphone/

Yes. You can purchase a replacement iPhone from the Apple Online Store, an Apple Retail Store, or your carrier’s store. Your price will depend on whether you qualify for a carrier subsidy. You can also purchase an unlocked iPhone from the Apple Online Store or Apple Retail Store and obtain a micro-SIM card directly from your supported GSM carrier.

Is it true ?

Thanks,
Pedro Nalin