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O2 sim card in an Orange iPhone 4 - No Dice

G

gazzer82

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 8, 2008
177
0
Hello all,

I have just had a new iPhone 4 on Orange as my work phone. My personal phone is a 3GS on O2. Now i use my personal phone more than my work one so was wanting to swap them over.

I have a holder for my microsim (from my ipad sim) that fits my orange sim into my 3GS, this works fine.

However i have trimmed down my O2 sim to fit in my iPhone4, but it keeps saying that it's an invalid sim.

I was under the impression that as this is a UK iPhone4 that it was network unlocked so i shouldn't be having this problem?

Anyone got any ideas?

Cheers

Gareth
 
Because the iPhone 4 was bought from o2 it is locked to o2. Only Apple sell sim free iPhones.
 
Orange should allow you to unlock your iPhone 4 by calling them after you have had the phone for 3 months

You'll need to pay a £20 charge.

As the iPhone 4 hasn't been out long enough to tell, they might change this policy.
 
Daveoc64 said:
Orange should allow you to unlock your iPhone 4 by calling them after you have had the phone for 3 months

You'll need to pay a £20 charge.

As the iPhone 4 hasn't been out long enough to tell, they might change this policy.
Click to expand...

True, was told the same thing by speaking with Orange customer service (about iPhone 4).

@Daveoc64
Are you with Orange ? Bristol, as me, how do you find the 3G network speed and reception generally ? Sorry for a small offtop.
 
Ah ok, i must have missed that small print i assumed they where all shipping unlocked.

Fair play to O2 they will unlock as soon as your contract has started by filling in a form online and for no charge, shame on you orange. £20 seems a little steep just for them to send a message to apple.

Oh well, i think i will just wait for the Dev Team to jailbreak/unlock the phone, they have it working so it shouldn't be that long till they release, hopefully sooner than 3 months!!

Thanks All!!

Gareth
 
I've tested a T-Mobile and O2 sim card in my Orange supplied contract iPhone 4 and both networks work perfectly fine. It is pre-unlocked, I didn't even need to connect it to iTunes
 
This has always been the case with all mobile 'phones. They are locked to the original network.
 
Xenc said:
That's not entirely true. O2, for example, usually subsidise devices with minimal branding and no operator locks.
Click to expand...

Pardon? :confused: Every 'phone I've owned over the past 12+ years from O2, Vodofone, T-Mobile have been locked to the original provider. They've had to be unlocked to use on a different network.
 
I cut down a couple of standard o2 sims to fit the iphone 4 when i got it and got the "no sim" coming up.

HOWEVER.

if you buy iphone from orange, its locked to orange.
if you buy iphone from o2, its locked to o2.
if you buy iphone from vodafone, its locked to vodafone.
if you buy iphone from apple, its' not locked to orange, o2, or vodafone.

therefore if you buy from a carrier, its not simfree.
if you buy from apple, its simfree

I'm sure you could get it unlocked but you might need to keep it for a certain amount of time, then pay to unlock it. So you'd have been better just buying it from apple for the full price. i know orange took £20 or something off their price. but if you unlock it then your gunna have to pay about £20. going through apple would be less hassle.
 
As I've said above. I have tried other network micro aim cards in my Orange iPhone 4 and worked perfectly well without the need to connect to iTunes.
 
John T said:
Pardon? :confused: Every 'phone I've owned over the past 12+ years from O2, Vodofone, T-Mobile have been locked to the original provider. They've had to be unlocked to use on a different network.
Click to expand...

Aside from a few exceptions, O2 contract handsets are sold unlocked. They're also free from any logos on the phone's exterior.

Vodafone now have a similar policy, whereby all contract phones purchased since January 2010 are sold unlocked. Presumably as a result of this, Vodafone no longer charge for unlocking their phones. This is true even if you are still within contract.

Let's hope the other networks follow suit!
 
How is an unlock from the carrier different than a jailbreak unlock?

Can you unlock without jailbreaking? Thought it was jailbreaking if you unlocked an iPhone. No? All the underground sites say you need to jailbreak to unlock.
 
It depends on the country where you live.
In the UK, Apple sell unlocked iPhones directly, and sometimes the carriers will unlock a phone for you after a certain number of months, or for a certain fee.
And its different because its official. No worrying about iOS updates and the like.
 
Ok, spoke to the guys in the apple store and they confirmed that what what said here is pretty spot on.

All contract phones are locked to the network they are bought on. Orange and O2 will unlock them. O2 will do it immediately and for free, Orange will make you wait three months and then charge for it.

Phones bought from apple direct are network unlocked and can be used on any network as long as it's not some odd CDMA thing, or on a different frequency.

PITA for me, as orange still haven't ported my number over so i have a shiney new phone that i haven't been able to use for 4 days!!

Come on the dev team!!
 
WelshBluebird said:
It depends on the country where you live.
In the UK, Apple sell unlocked iPhones directly, and sometimes the carriers will unlock a phone for you after a certain number of months, or for a certain fee.
And its different because its official. No worrying about iOS updates and the like.
Click to expand...

If it's just software what makes it "official"? There's no way to "officially" unlock them ourselves?
 
patent10021 said:
If it's just software what makes it "official"? There's no way to "officially" unlock them ourselves?
Click to expand...

Apple's computer systems allow either Apple store employees or the employee of your carrier (like O2 or Orange) to specify which network a phone should be locked to.

When you activate that phone with iTunes, the lock is applied to the phone.

If you get the phone unlocked (either by purchasing it as such) or asking your carrier to unlock it, they tell iTunes that the phone should not be locked to any specific network and that should take effect the next time the phone is synchronised with iTunes.
 
patent10021 said:
If it's just software what makes it "official"? There's no way to "officially" unlock them ourselves?
Click to expand...

The "unofficial" unlocks are done by modifying Apple's software in ways that Apple does not know about, consent to, or provide support for. There is no guarantee from Apple that this modified software will work correctly, or that it will still function after an OS upgrade.

"Official" unlocks are done without the need to modify Apple's software at all. Apple provides support for them, and they are guaranteed to still be effective after every OS upgrade.

Apple maintains a database of every iPhone it has ever sold, and keeps track of whether it is supposed to be locked or unlocked, and if it is locked, which network it is supposed to be locked to. Every time the iPhone is synchronized/restored(?) with iTunes on a computer connected to the Internet, it "phones home" to Apple's servers to make sure its locking status is correct and up-to-date.

When a carrier submits a unlock request to Apple, Apple updates its database, and the next time the iPhone is updated in iTunes, it will be unlocked.
 
Other Networks Sims

Well I purchased my iPhone from orange online and have tested other networks sims in it.

Don't Work
O2
Vodafone
3

Do Work
T-Mobile
Virgin Mobile
Orange (Obviously)

Not sure why two work and the others don't.
 
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