iPhone 4s warranty replacement - Factory Unlocked?

[chosenwolf]

Hello All!

I was having problems with my phone and recently took it to the Apple store for diagnosis. They took my AT&T locked phone and issued me what appears to be a factory unlocked 64GB iPhone 4s - Model No. MD260LL/A. I've searched the web and everything coming up shows this model as a Factory Unlocked iPhone. Is this the case? When I put in my inactive T-mobile SIM card, I was told that activation is required and to insert a valid SIM. Is it possible the phone is still locked?

 

[Mrlal8]

Hello All!

I was having problems with my phone and recently took it to the Apple store for diagnosis. They took my AT&T locked phone and issued me what appears to be a factory unlocked 64GB iPhone 4s - Model No. MD260LL/A. I've searched the web and everything coming up shows this model as a Factory Unlocked iPhone. Is this the case? When I put in my inactive T-mobile SIM card, I was told that activation is required and to insert a valid SIM. Is it possible the phone is still locked?

go to settings does it say just "carrier" or att

 

[dhlizard]

If it will not activate with any sim, then it is not likely factory unlocked

 

[chosenwolf]

When I go to settings, It says AT&T 12.0 but when I took out the AT&T SIM and popped the T-mobile SIM I got "Carrier" displayed. The SIM card was inactive so I'm thinking perhaps that's why I couldn't get it to activate. Also, maybe I have to do a full restore on the phone first?

 

[dhlizard]

When I go to settings, It says AT&T 12.0 but when I took out the AT&T SIM and popped the T-mobile SIM I got "Carrier" displayed. The SIM card was inactive so I'm thinking perhaps that's why I couldn't get it to activate. Also, maybe I have to do a full restore on the phone first?

Both inactive and active sim cards will activate a 4S. So if the phone were factory unlocked, an inactive un-official sim should activate it.

 

[chosenwolf]

Both inactive and active sim cards will activate a 4S. So if the phone were factory unlocked, an inactive un-official sim should activate it.

I think the phone was Factory Unlocked by default but they replaced the profile on the phone since my warranty expiration date just got updated on the new "Factory Unlocked" phone to match the old date of my AT&T locked phone. I am waiting on my prepaid SIM to come in and then I will do a clean restore on the phone and see what iTunes will say. I guess you cannot rely on simply the model number of the phone to know if a phone is truly unlocked. Because if you do a search for "MD260LL/A" the only thing that comes up are Factory unlocked iPhone 4s'

 

[Applejuiced]

I think the phone was Factory Unlocked by default but they replaced the profile on the phone since my warranty expiration date just got updated on the new "Factory Unlocked" phone to match the old date of my AT&T locked phone. I am waiting on my prepaid SIM to come in and then I will do a clean restore on the phone and see what iTunes will say. I guess you cannot rely on simply the model number of the phone to know if a phone is truly unlocked. Because if you do a search for "MD260LL/A" the only thing that comes up are Factory unlocked iPhone 4s'

Its not factory unlocked.
If it was like they told you above you could activate it with any carriers sim.
Usually when you turn in your old iphone the properties carry over from its serial number to your new replacement iphone. Model number means nothing.

 

[chosenwolf]

Its not factory unlocked.
If it was like they told you above you could activate it with any carriers sim.
Usually when you turn in your old iphone the properties carry over from its serial number to your new replacement iphone. Model number means nothing.

You're right, it turned up that the phone was locked in the activation process. I ended up calling AT&T, giving them the model number, and explaining that this is a Factory Unlocked iPhone and when the AT&T SIM card was inserted, it locked the phone to AT&T automatically. The rep put me on hold and then sent me restore instructions and told me that the phone will be unlocked again upon competition. I restored tonight, didn't get the "Unlocked" message however now the phone accepts the Inactive T-mobile SIM without telling me to insert a valid SIM. All I get is "No Service" at the top. I was able to sync without issues and switch between SIM cards. I believe the phone is now unlocked, but I will know for sure once I try it with a Pre-Paid active SIM card.

 

[Applejuiced]

Nice.