"Off Contract" AT&T iPhone 4Ss Already Come Unlocked

[benguild]

I'd really much appreciate a statement from both Apple and AT&T regarding this subject. I don't live in the States and I'm having the chance to get one off contract next week, since apparenty they come unlocked. But I wouldn't want to regret this when in the future they lock them all. And in no way i'd have to chance to return it.

I called Apple and they told me they come locked, even if they are off contract. We can see it's not true, but who knows if they either close this in a month( like Sprint will) or leave it as is.
They also told me the release of the unlocked version could be earlier


Anyway, since it's priced the same as an officially unlocked, it would make sense.There's not subsidy apparently. Previously, an off contract iPhone 4 from AT&T was like 50 bucks cheaper than the officially unlocked.

Could anyone of you guys call AT&T to try to find out more about this? And mention what is currently happening...

Maybe now that T-mobile is being merged, they don't care much. Or this is just a loop-hole, since carriers wanted a head start to get as many new customers as they could to sign a comittment, before Apple releases the unlocked...

Apple's not going to release a statement.
What's more likely is they'll stop selling off contract devices or crack down on it. Like some people said, some stores already won't do it. But if they're not having users activate in store and iTunes isn't prompting us to activate (but instead telling us it's unlocked) ... AND it's the full contract price, it would blow me away if they relocked it. And I'd return the device, which costs Apple money, so they're not going to.

 

[edgar_is_good]

I bought one today and the return date says November 15.

Ditto. Got the unlock screen and the receipt says Nov 15. I think it would be a disaster if these are not unlocked as we'd all just return them for "real" unlocked ones

 

[mrat93]

I'm picking up a contract free AT&T 4S tomorrow. I want to unlock it before I activate it on AT&T so it has a higher value whenever I choose to sell it.

So what all I need to do is restore it in iTunes and it should give me the unlock message? Do I need to do anything with the SIM card?

If somebody can confirm this, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[benguild]

Ditto. Got the unlock screen and the receipt says Nov 15. I think it would be a disaster if these are not unlocked as we'd all just return them for "real" unlocked ones

Yeah exactly. Why would they relock them at this point?

 

[byronx]

Yeah exactly. Why would they relock them at this point?

Has anyone in the Chicago area tried to get an unlocked iphone 4S in the apple store?

 

[WRXface]

I'm going to the 5th ave store in a couple hours and do this, I have a tmobile micro sim and will report back on what happens.

They sell under AT&T because they have to by apple until November. It makes sense this way because it lets carriers lock in more people. And apple knows they can get more customers offering an unlocked iPhone to use anywhere. I HIGHLY doubt AT&T will do anything about it, I can't speak for Sprint or Verizon. If they doing anything to your iPhone just go back ****ong complain and demand the contract-free iPhone that you paid for.

 

[aawil]

My guess is now that this is public we'll here something official one way or another. I'm already wishing I would have waited. I just wanted an unlocked phone for travel next year, and for resale.

 

[thevofl]

How would people appraise the risk that AT&T will do something similar to Sprint and push an update that re-locks the phone? (However they plan to accomplish that.)

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/1...-iphone-4s-international-micro-sim-unlocking/

No good reason for AT&T to do that, but it seems like the sort of thing one might expect from them.

I was about to purchase one at the Apple Store. However they ask me to agree to some screens that are related to AT&T's terms and conditions. So even though the unit it is not on contract, it is still somewhat related to AT&T. This is not a company I trust or like. While it is likely they will push a block and anger hundreds of consumers that will return the pones (assuming this happens in the first 30 days), I rather purchase an unlocked iphone that's is 100% unrelated to AT&T. I don't want AT&T to have any say now or later on my unlocked phone.

Also, at least in CA, when I attempted to purchase the phone, 64GB, as "device only", not tied to any phone number or AT&T account, the price was $949 plus tax not $849 (on the screen of the retail iPod). So hopefully will be in the early part of November rather than later part for a real unlocked one.

Having worked for AT&T, I will never underestimate AT&T's propensity for evilness (a.k.a. pissing off customers for their bottom line).

I do not trust AT&T, so I will wait for November.

 

[Silverstring]

Has anyone in the Chicago area tried to get an unlocked iphone 4S in the apple store?

Yep, did it no problem at the LP store.

 

[byronx]

Yep, did it no problem at the LP store.

Thanks. I called the Lincoln Park store today. They said even if they sell the off contract phone, it's still locked into AT&T when you activate it. Have you tried to plug in a different SIM card then AT&T and verify it works on other carrier? Or the phone simply says it's unlocked when you turn it on or plug into iTunes?

 

[jetison]

Are those contract free coming with the sim eject tool?

 

[benguild]

Are those contract free coming with the sim eject tool?

No, it's boxed with an AT&T SIM Card. However, it's not activated in store nor through iTunes. It never asks you to. You can't use the SIM they provide, there's no way to turn it on.

 

[jetison]

No, it's boxed with an AT&T SIM Card. However, it's not activated in store nor through iTunes. It never asks you to. You can't use the SIM they provide, there's no way to turn it on.

I'll take a chance and send someone to buy the contract free. It'll happen by the end of October tho, i hope they keep selling them this way or start selling the "officially" unlocked, with the sim ejector and generic box, earlier.
Imagine my face if i get it shipped to Argentina and find they stopped unlocking those... and no return possibilites
My real question is, WHY THIS? What's the story behind this?

 

[PPFee]

No, it's boxed with an AT&T SIM Card. However, it's not activated in store nor through iTunes. It never asks you to. You can't use the SIM they provide, there's no way to turn it on.

Ok so this slightly answers my question, its obviously the same exact phone they would grab (att) if they were upgrading a 2 year contract, so the difference only lies in the fact that it is not being activated by them on their computers, i wander if i would have insisted the att rep that i wanted to activate the phone myself and open it myself if the same thing would have happened, I am guessing it would. Unless the activation process is scanning sales records to see if the ESN of the phone is on a receipt that includes a contract. Nevertheles, this leads me to beleve that its entirely in ATT hands which further leads me to believe they will spoil it and lock it OTA. I hope they don't, but wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Silverstring]

Thanks. I called the Lincoln Park store today. They said even if they sell the off contract phone, it's still locked into AT&T when you activate it. Have you tried to plug in a different SIM card then AT&T and verify it works on other carrier? Or the phone simply says it's unlocked when you turn it on or plug into iTunes?

I got the "your iPhone is unlocked" message, but that was before I put in an AT&T SIM of course.

Perhaps you/they are right, and this thing is still locked to AT&T (I did have to agree to some terms and conditions). If so, I'll just return the phone, no harm, no foul.

No, I didn't try another SIM, I don't actually have one. I only wanted to stay out of contract and I expect to take a trip to Europe soon.

 

[jjHungry]

i think i'll stick with a contract iphone...i dont travel much and i'd rather pay 200 bucks vs 650.
can't i just jailbreak it when traveling overseas?

Jailbreaking gives you the power to install things that aren't in the Apple app store. UNLOCKING is what gives you the ability to use other GSM SIM cards. There is a software unlock but it is way behind the current modem baseband, aka, unless you have an early iPhone *4*, no iPhone 4 or 4S is software unlockable (via ultrasn0w).

The US carriers have too much influence on the US congress.

Yes, influence is power. And until millions of consumers fight back, we are screwed. The handful of thousands like us that want unlocked phones or reasonable prices are SOL.

 

[aaltonen]

I had no problems buying two iPhone 4S's at full price at the Derby Street store in Hingham, MA. I simply told the sales associate that I was purchasing two AT&T phones at the full retail price for use with existing lines of service.

I unboxed the phones right there in the store, replaced the pre-installed SIM card with my own, plugged the phone into my laptop, launched iTunes, and got the familiar "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked" message.

I tested both phones with both AT&T and T-Mobile SIM cards, and both worked as expected. (T-Mobile is still EDGE-only.)

For what it's worth, I am not worried about Apple locking these phones at a later date. I am currently using an "AT&T model" (MC319LL/A) iPhone 4 that was factory unlocked by Apple, because it was a replacement for an originally unlocked iPhone 4 I purchased in Canada.

 

[azhagan]

The iPhones aren't software locked. The "lock" is simply a database which confirms the identity of your iPhones carriers and subsequently confirms whether the phones are "unlocked". What has happened with AT&T unsubsidized phones I cannot explain. If you want an unlocked iPhone 4S I would wait until November.

I am certain that Apple has contractual obligations with AT&T not to compete with their initial offering. Hence the wait until November. The phones purchased out of contract still required a signature of affirmation that all but insures these phones were birthed to be locked to AT&T for all time. I would not risk purchasing a retail priced iPhone 4S until November as stipulated in Apples website.

Even with the iPhone 4 when they started offering unlocked phones in the US, when you bought a contract free AT&T phone it was still unlocked, even though the box and the receipt said AT&T on it.

 

[PPFee]

I had no problems buying two iPhone 4S's at full price at the Derby Street store in Hingham, MA. I simply told the sales associate that I was purchasing two AT&T phones at the full retail price for use with existing lines of service.

I unboxed the phones right there in the store, replaced the pre-installed SIM card with my own, plugged the phone into my laptop, launched iTunes, and got the familiar "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked" message.

I tested both phones with both AT&T and T-Mobile SIM cards, and both worked as expected. (T-Mobile is still EDGE-only.)

For what it's worth, I am not worried about Apple locking these phones at a later date. I am currently using an "AT&T model" (MC319LL/A) iPhone 4 that was factory unlocked by Apple, because it was a replacement for an originally unlocked iPhone 4 I purchased in Canada.

Awesome, thanks for the info. I was curious if the tmobile sim would still work after inserting the att sim. Im wondering what speeds tmobile is getting on the 4s. I know its only edge and all that crap etc. But different phones still perform differently on different technologies. If anyone can test that or has seen any more info id be interested. Right now i am peaking at 5.9 mbps down and 1.5 up. average more like 4 down though.

 

[benguild]

I had no problems buying two iPhone 4S's at full price at the Derby Street store in Hingham, MA. I simply told the sales associate that I was purchasing two AT&T phones at the full retail price for use with existing lines of service.

I unboxed the phones right there in the store, replaced the pre-installed SIM card with my own, plugged the phone into my laptop, launched iTunes, and got the familiar "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked" message.

I tested both phones with both AT&T and T-Mobile SIM cards, and both worked as expected. (T-Mobile is still EDGE-only.)

For what it's worth, I am not worried about Apple locking these phones at a later date. I am currently using an "AT&T model" (MC319LL/A) iPhone 4 that was factory unlocked by Apple, because it was a replacement for an originally unlocked iPhone 4 I purchased in Canada.

Ha, that's where I bought mine too.

 

[alphaod]

Awesome, thanks for the info. I was curious if the tmobile sim would still work after inserting the att sim. Im wondering what speeds tmobile is getting on the 4s. I know its only edge and all that crap etc. But different phones still perform differently on different technologies. If anyone can test that or has seen any more info id be interested. Right now i am peaking at 5.9 mbps down and 1.5 up. average more like 4 down though.

I didn't put in a T-Mobile SIM until I activated it with my AT&T SIM (as I was expecting a locked phone).

 

[rookiezzz]

AT&T Prepaid

Hey, since everyone has been thinking about using t-mobile, I'm thinking about something different. Using an AT&T prepaid card, 50$ (unlimited all), with true 3g speeds? Well, anyone can confirm that? another thing, will it really be 50$, since I heard the so called "Hidden Fees" from AT&T..

Thanks..

 

[CarlosH]

I went to an Apple Store today, and I can confirm they come fully unlocked. I inserted my international sim card, and did the configuration from the iPhone. The device was activated successfully, and it nows says "T-Mobile", which is the roaming carrier my local carrier connects here in the USA. I took out the at&t sim before turning on the phone, just in case.

The guy at the Apple Store told me the iPhones I bought were unlocked. Apparently, they can't say they are unlocked. But if you buy it "contract free", they are not bound to a contract, so they are unlocked. If you ask them if they are unlocked, their normal response will be that they are locked, and that it will be available on november. If you want one, don't ask if it is unlocked or not, just buy it contract free, and specify at&t as the carrier.

 

[WRXface]

I went to an Apple Store today, and I can confirm they come fully unlocked. I inserted my international sim card, and did the configuration from the iPhone. The device was activated successfully, and it nows says "T-Mobile", which is the roaming carrier my local carrier connects here in the USA. I took out the at&t sim before turning on the phone, just in case.

The guy at the Apple Store told me the iPhones I bought were unlocked. Apparently, they can't say they are unlocked. But if you buy it "contract free", they are not bound to a contract, so they are unlocked. If you ask them if they are unlocked, their normal response will be that they are locked, and that it will be available on november. If you want one, don't ask if it is unlocked or not, just buy it contract free, and specify at&t as the carrier.

This is awesome, I was starting to doubt to buy this tonight. But now I will, I will come back with an update.

 

[fizzwinkus]

I don't recall saying anything about an unlocked phone purchase. There is a legitimate need.

i am planning on doing exactly what you wrote, mid cycle, for an unlocked iPhone. there was never any stipulation on whether the phone was unlocked or not in your post. if you were talking about locked iPhones, saying so would help.

I agree. I've bought cars for less than that for cripe's sake.

Anyone who would spend $849 on a mid cycle phone (or any phone) should have to spend a week serving up soup for the homeless, to get their priorities straight.