New Case Adds Unlocked SIM Slot to Jailbroken iPhones

[KramRevilo]

The 'real' reason for multi SIM cards??

I've been told by people who frequent the far east that phones with multiple SIM cards are VERY common. Apparently it's one slot for home/work use and the other for calls to/from your mistress. I don't know if there's any truth to this...

 

[CobraPA]

- If this is really the case, how does unlocking an iPhone work in the US?

It often doesn't. Depends on phone and carrier.

In Denmark, at least with my carrier, it is far easier to unlock than to jailbreak: Go to the carrier website, log in, click "Unlock iPhone", put in new sim card, sync via iTunes, done.

That is really cool. Never heard of that in the US. The closest we've come with iPhones is the recent 'auto-unlock' that happened with some people who paid full price and already had ATT contracts on their iPhones.

Is this process really so convoluted in the US that it's easier to jailbreak, buy and install a clunky phone add-on and then just live without data on your new sim card?

Pretty much... Or pay for an unlocked iPhone from Apple in November when they are available. Or pay the $300-400US premium on imported/unlocked iPhones presently.

 

[Kar98]

> Unlocking an iPhone is typically more difficult than a simple jailbreak.

It is? Compared to the jailbreak procedure, removing the SIM lock was a snap on my 3G.

 

[goosnarrggh]

- If this is really the case, how does unlocking an iPhone work in the US?
In Denmark, at least with my carrier, it is far easier to unlock than to jailbreak: Go to the carrier website, log in, click "Unlock iPhone", put in new sim card, sync via iTunes, done.

Is this process really so convoluted in the US that it's easier to jailbreak, buy and install a clunky phone add-on and then just live without data on your new sim card?

See above. With AT&T, there is no authorized way to unlock your iPhone at all. The owner must hack the phone's firmware using unauthorized 3rd party modifications. (Usually the unlocking procedure itself involves jailbreaking as an intermediate step in order to gain read/write access to the data that needs to be modified in order to complete the unlock process; and for some more recent firmware/baseband versions, even after jailbreaking there is still no publicly disclosed method to finish the job.)

Given the fact that:
1) with AT&T you'd need to jailbreak for either a "real" unlock or for this piggyback method, and
2) even after jailbreaking, the "real" unlocking method method isn't guaranteed to work on phones with newer firmware and baseband versions,
It follows quite logically that an AT&T user would find some persuasive merit to the piggyback method.

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> Unlocking an iPhone is typically more difficult than a simple jailbreak.

It is? Compared to the jailbreak procedure, removing the SIM lock was a snap on my 3G.

Did you use a Gevey SIM (something similar)? If so, then that's another option for some iPhone models and basebands. It doesn't work on some of the newest devices.

Otherwise, are you located in a different country where the carriers have chosen to set up an authorized unlocking agreement with Apple? If so, then I suppose you wouldn't benefit from this development.

Otherwise, in all likelihood you (or whatever software tool you used) probably did perform a jailbreak behind the scenes as an intermediate step towards the ultimate goal of performing the overall unlock.

 

[Mad-B-One]

Just how much do you have to pay to unlock your phone in the US??

Over here in the UK it's around £15 (USD 20-ish) from the carrier.

The matter is a little bit more complicated... iPhone 4S comes unlocked in most cases. The old iPhone 4 does not come unlocked but it doesn't matter because other than using 2G (edge), you have to stay with your carrier because T-Mobile USA owns the frequencies not supported by the GSM model and there is no other carrier for GSM other than AT&T and the Verizon model only works with Verizon. So, unlocking only has theoretical value as long as you stay inside the USA.
Now, here is the thing which makes that case really interesting for me: I have the Verizon iPhone 4. There is no SIM and there is no supported network outside the US. If that case works with my phone, a jailbreak is absolutely worth it for me for my Europe trip next year. Now, that depends on the price. If it is cheaper to upgrade to the 4S instead, I will not waste my money on doubling the weight and size of my phone...

 

[Kid A]

:trollface:
Image

thank you!

 

[goosnarrggh]

The matter is a little bit more complicated... iPhone 4S comes unlocked in most cases. The old iPhone 4 does not come unlocked but it doesn't matter because other than using 2G (edge), you have to stay with your carrier because T-Mobile USA owns the frequencies not supported by the GSM model and there is no other carrier for GSM other than AT&T and the Verizon model only works with Verizon. So, unlocking only has theoretical value as long as you stay inside the USA.
Now, here is the thing which makes that case really interesting for me: I have the Verizon iPhone 4. There is no SIM and there is no supported network outside the US. If that case works with my phone, a jailbreak is absolutely worth it for me for my Europe trip next year. Now, that depends on the price. If it is cheaper to upgrade to the 4S instead, I will not waste my money on doubling the weight and size of my phone...

Excellent point -- this accessory would be potentially very useful for Verizon's first, pure-CDMA, iPhone 4 model, morphing it into a hybrid CDMA-GSM phone for world travel.

 

[sticky.chicken]

to be fair, you don't see a lot of dual smart phones as of yet. it might be different in the US, but i've only spied one in australia, and that was a dual sim dumb phone - you could choose which sim to call/message but as far as i remember, it didn't do much in the way of apps/data etc...

Actually these are somewhat popular in Ukraine. My girl has one, most of her friends have this too. I want this too so that I don't need to always change SIM cards when I'm between the UK and Ukraine....

 

[JTToft]

It often doesn't. Depends on phone and carrier.

Pretty much... Or pay for an unlocked iPhone from Apple in November when they are available. Or pay the $300-400US premium on imported/unlocked iPhones presently.

See above. With AT&T, there is no authorized way to unlock your iPhone at all. The owner must hack the phone's firmware using unauthorized 3rd party modifications. (Usually the unlocking procedure itself involves jailbreaking as an intermediate step in order to gain read/write access to the data that needs to be modified in order to complete the unlock process; and for some more recent firmware/baseband versions, even after jailbreaking there is still no publicly disclosed method to finish the job.)

Given the fact that:
1) with AT&T you'd need to jailbreak for either a "real" unlock or for this piggyback method, and
2) even after jailbreaking, the "real" unlocking method method isn't guaranteed to work on phones with newer firmware and baseband versions,
It follows quite logically that an AT&T user would find some persuasive merit to the piggyback method.

- Well, that's just messed up! You're basically screwed if you want to leave your carrier, but don't want to jailbreak... Sometimes I'm glad I live where I do, but sometimes I really would rather live in the US - your technology and internet services are far superior to ours in many areas.
Thanks for your replies.

Oh, and one more thing: the carrier contract when purchasing a new phone in Denmark is never longer than 6 months.

 

[eastercat]

You might have great internet access, but you'll be paying out the nose for health care. Even with insurance, you can still go bankrupt from your medical bills. Prior to the banks screwing over everyone, medical bills was the primary cause for people declaring bankruptcy.
I'd rather live in a country where I had real freedom of choice amongst my carriers, could switch carriers at will and get a discount from bringing a phone that's already paid off. We're slaves to the corporate telecoms here. Don't let any misinformed tell you otherwise.

- Well, that's just messed up! You're basically screwed if you want to leave your carrier, but don't want to jailbreak... Sometimes I'm glad I live where I do, but sometimes I really would rather live in the US - your technology and internet services are far superior to ours in many areas.
Thanks for your replies.

Oh, and one more thing: the carrier contract when purchasing a new phone in Denmark is never longer than 6 months.

 

[andrewlgm]

It's pretty sad that we have to go to these lengths. I still prefer the case that turns an iPod touch into a phone.

 

[Apple Big Mac]

See above. With AT&T, there is no authorized way to unlock your iPhone at all. The owner must hack the phone's firmware using unauthorized 3rd party modifications. (Usually the unlocking procedure itself involves jailbreaking as an intermediate step in order to gain read/write access to the data that needs to be modified in order to complete the unlock process; and for some more recent firmware/baseband versions, even after jailbreaking there is still no publicly disclosed method to finish the job.)

Given the fact that:
1) with AT&T you'd need to jailbreak for either a "real" unlock or for this piggyback method, and
2) even after jailbreaking, the "real" unlocking method method isn't guaranteed to work on phones with newer firmware and baseband versions,
It follows quite logically that an AT&T user would find some persuasive merit to the piggyback method.

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The above statements are 100% correct.

The latest iPhone basebands (that get put on your iPhone with any upgrade of iOS unless you do a special, non-standard upgrade to upgrade your firmware while preserving your baseband) have proven apparently impenetrable on the 4 and 4S.

Did you use a Gevey SIM (something similar)?

The person to which you were responding mentioned unlocking was a snap on his 3G, and that's true. The 3G and below's older, much more exploitable hardware has allowed for it and the older iPhones to be permanently unlocked. Apple started getting substantially more secure with the newer bootrom revision of the 3GS, and then even more so with the 4, so that only the earliest 4 baseband can be software unlocked. For everyone else who wants to unlock an iPhone, it's SOL.

Anyone who cares at all about this issue needs to help us put pressure on AT&T, which is discriminating against iPhone owners by refusing to ever unlock their handsets no matter what. Months ago AT&T settled a class action lawsuit over failing to unlock phones, and in it the company agreed to unlock every phone from all manufacturers as long as certain conditions were met, but the company was able to carve a narrow exemption out for, you guessed it, only the iPhone. They claimed that they were entitled to the exemption because the iPhone was exclusive to AT&T (this was just a little bit prior to Verizon getting the iPhone). Now AT&T can't use that lame exclusivity excuse, but the company remains steadfast in discriminating against iPhone owners in this area. It's really annoying.

 

[goosnarrggh]

- Well, that's just messed up! You're basically screwed if you want to leave your carrier, but don't want to jailbreak...

Well, if you want to leave your carrier, you have bigger headaches to deal with than simply the fact that you can't take your phone with you.

Chances are, you'll be able to get at least some of your money for the phone back by reselling it to somebody else who is willing to use AT&T. And, when you sign up for service with your new carrier, you'll probably get some significant discounts on acquiring a new headset. On balance, the old phone hardware probably won't be a total write-off.

Keeping in mind that there is still a technological divide separating most of the 4 major national carriers from each other (both in terms of wireless frequencies, and in terms of the underlying communication protocols), chances are you would have had difficulty activating your old phone on the new network even if you had managed to unlock it.

The bigger problem will be the fact that you were probably locked into a multi-year contract with your old carrier. Depending on how many months were left on your old contract, you may be on the hook for anywhere between $85 and $325.00 to buy out the remainder of your contract.

 

[Winter Charm]

YO DAWG I HERD YOU LIKE CELL PHONES.

<picture of xzibit>

SO I MADE A PHONE U CAN PUT UR PHONE INTO
SO U CAN USE UR PHONE WHILE U USE UR PHONE.


(Sorry, too lazy to generate the meme image and attach the pic to the post).

Here you go.