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Moving to Australia...What to do with iPhone 4?

D

Dbuch87

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 19, 2011
5
0
Hello,

I have a current family plan with ATT, but I am moving to Australia in about a month for graduate school. I have an iPhone 4 now, not jailbroken or unlocked. I was wondering if I could just bring my iPhone to Australia, go into one of their provider stores (Optus, Telestra, Virgin) and see if they can unlock my phone and then sign a contract with them, and then just use one of their SIMs? Or unlock it before I move, and then go into one of their stores? I also am not too much of a tech wizard, and do not want to damage the phone in any way. I am just really trying to avoid having to sell my iPhone, then buy a new one in Australia because it seems like a hassle...but is it the smartest move?

Thank You! :)
 
If you haven't updated the baseband on your phone, then you'll be able to unlock it and use it abroad just as you described.

If you did update the baseband, then it might not be unlockable and it would be much easier to sell it, and buy a new one in Australia. I would buy a new one in Australia, personally, if I was staying there for a long time. If you are only there for a couple months, I wouldn't buy a new one.
 
I will be going to Australia for upwards of two years. I just updated my iPhone today to 4.3.
 
I've heard of people who've been able to get their carriers to send a new code to iTunes to essentially unlock the phone from their carrier. I'm not sure if those people were actually telling the truth or not, but I have heard of such cases. I'm sure you'd have to prove that you're really moving and not just planning on going on vacation or trying to get out of your contract just for the sake of it. I'd suggest to do a search for it online and see what you can find about it, or call your carrier and see what they say. Good luck!
 
Sell your phone when you get to Australia you can buy a factory unlocked there, you will be much better off. btw you will not get another carrier to unlock a AT&T phone nor will you get AT&T to unlock it for you. I will bet my own life on it!
 
Alisstar said:
I've heard of people who've been able to get their carriers to send a new code to iTunes to essentially unlock the phone from their carrier. I'm not sure if those people were actually telling the truth or not, but I have heard of such cases. I'm sure you'd have to prove that you're really moving and not just planning on going on vacation or trying to get out of your contract just for the sake of it. I'd suggest to do a search for it online and see what you can find about it, or call your carrier and see what they say. Good luck!
Click to expand...

That will never happen with AT&T.
Other international carrier yes, they will officially unlock your iphone but not any US AT&T iphone.
Best bet is to sell it and get a factory unlocked from Australia.
 
iPhone 4's are pretty cheap here. I haven't looked at the recent changes but when i got my first one back in July, I got it for $0 ($0 upfront and $0 monthly for the phone) on a $59 contract for 24 months.
 
Thank you. Will I have any trouble syncing an Australian iPhone to an American Macbook Air?
 
Kimnkk, I am actually moving to Melbourne in about a month. I would love some advice on some of the ins and outs of iPhone plans in Australia!
 
Dbuch87 said:
Kimnkk, I am actually moving to Melbourne in about a month. I would love some advice on some of the ins and outs of iPhone plans in Australia!
Click to expand...

Sweet! I'm actually working interstate most of the time now so i miss melb!

The thing in Australia is that we have like 4 carriers that have the iPhone 4 on plans.

IMO, the best from worst in terms of service is:
Telstra
Optus
Vodafone
'3'

Kinda also that way in price as well. I'd recommend Telstra because the internet on that is just way faster than the rest and coverage is unbeatable. Of course you pay for it, otherwise i recommend Optus. Some people prefer Vodafone but the Optus plan i'm on is pretty good

$59 a month
Free iPhone 4
Unlimited calls to any Optus landline/mobile
$550 of calls to anyone else
2GB Data

Not sure how that stacks up to US offerings but its pretty good value here. You can get 'Timeless' plans for $99 a month, unlimited to any number and 5GB of data.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

intoxicated662 said:
go to a bridge and throw it in the river....or there is always www.smashmyiphone.com
Click to expand...

Username fits reply well.
 
Yeah back up all your **** onto your mac. Wipe the phone, sell it before you leave no one wants an ATT phone there. Then go there sign a contract and get a plan and you are set.

OR check your baseband against the list here: http://www.mobilesdna.com/news/unlock-iphone-4-3gs-with-ultrasn0w-using-sn0breeze-23b4/3911/

and see if it applies to you. But I dont see how its worth while. You can get quite a bit of money selling off your iphone in the US because it would be w/o contract so you are going to be able to get upwards of $500 depending on warranty and condition of the phone etc. Some people would rather pay then go on contract. Makes more sense when the phone is unlocked but I am sure you can find a buyer on howardforums and craigslist.
 
kimnkk said:
Sweet! I'm actually working interstate most of the time now so i miss melb!

The thing in Australia is that we have like 4 carriers that have the iPhone 4 on plans.

IMO, the best from worst in terms of service is:
Telstra
Optus
Vodafone
'3'

Kinda also that way in price as well. I'd recommend Telstra because the internet on that is just way faster than the rest and coverage is unbeatable. Of course you pay for it, otherwise i recommend Optus. Some people prefer Vodafone but the Optus plan i'm on is pretty good

$59 a month
Free iPhone 4
Unlimited calls to any Optus landline/mobile
$550 of calls to anyone else
2GB Data

Not sure how that stacks up to US offerings but its pretty good value here. You can get 'Timeless' plans for $99 a month, unlimited to any number and 5GB of data.
Click to expand...

One thing to add is that our plan prices include all taxes. So, if the plan is $59 and you stay within your allotted monthly allowance you pay $59.
 
mrmister said:
Then you are screwed.
Click to expand...

lol exactly

i brought IP4 and accidentally upgraded soon after to 4.2.1 and updated baseband to 3.10.0 - which i hate

now i got JB IP4 but not unlocked, which is fine as i have spare phone
ideally would like to swap over sims like i did in days of old

ps.. to OP you have to bear in mind you will need to get microsims from the mobile operator in OZ (australia) and this sometimes demands a premium

can you not request the network operator- at&t to unlock handset for a fee - this is what 3,o2, t-mobile in the uk do

or just sell the phone and wait for IP5 - only 3 mns away now!
 
johnnyturbouk said:
lol exactly

i brought IP4 and accidentally upgraded soon after to 4.2.1 and updated baseband to 3.10.0 - which i hate

now i got JB IP4 but not unlocked, which is fine as i have spare phone
ideally would like to swap over sims like i did in days of old

ps.. to OP you have to bear in mind you will need to get microsims from the mobile operator in OZ (australia) and this sometimes demands a premium

can you not request the network operator- at&t to unlock handset for a fee - this is what 3,o2, t-mobile in the uk do

or just sell the phone and wait for IP5 - only 3 mns away now!
Click to expand...

yeah someone mentioned earlier ATT doesnt unlock iphones EVER EVER :) Dont ask me why.. Americans.. no idea.. it basically them trying to have a strangle hold on GSM iphone market in the US. And they dont have laws about unlocking, which they do in EU and UK.
 
THE SOLUTION:

Search on google: iphone 4 firmware, look for a page, where you can download the iphone 4 -firmware 4.1 or 4.0 and download it.
Save it on your desktop!
Connect your iphone to itunes, click on your iphone, press "cmd" (= the button left of your spacebar) and synchronous click "restore your iphone". Select the old firmware you saved on your desktop, and wait.
After that go on your mobile safari to jailbreakme.com, and jailbreak. Go then to cydia and search and download "yellowsnow" or something similar. When done that, you can put in any carriet sim you want. You have to repeat this procedure an time you restore your iphone.
 
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