AT&T sim or not, it doesn't matter. I used AT&T sim to both activated and unlocked through itune. Phone is working good with Tmobile right now.
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"Off Contract" AT&T iPhone 4Ss Already Come Unlocked
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AT&T sim or not, it doesn't matter. I used AT&T sim to both activated and unlocked through itune. Phone is working good with Tmobile right now.
Sorry for the newbie questions but I just want to make sure I'm correctly understanding this.
I was able to pickup a 4S off contract/device only for full price at the Apple Store today no problem.
I have an existing iPhone 4 under contract with ATT.
I will be traveling abroad and want to be able to use my current ATT Sim while in the US and prepaid microsims when I am traveling abroad.
Is it OK for me to activate the phone by swapping in my current ATT sim that is in my current iPhone 4? Assuming some kind of centralized locking is not later applied I should be able to swap in other sims at any time.
I just want to make sure that by using a sim taken from a locked phone I'm not going to somehow lock the new contract free phone.
Thanks for any information sorry if I was missing something earlier in the thread.
I was able to pickup a 4S off contract/device only for full price at the Apple Store today no problem.
I have an existing iPhone 4 under contract with ATT.
I will be traveling abroad and want to be able to use my current ATT Sim while in the US and prepaid microsims when I am traveling abroad.
Is it OK for me to activate the phone by swapping in my current ATT sim that is in my current iPhone 4? Assuming some kind of centralized locking is not later applied I should be able to swap in other sims at any time.
I just want to make sure that by using a sim taken from a locked phone I'm not going to somehow lock the new contract free phone.
Thanks for any information sorry if I was missing something earlier in the thread.
Buying off contract you would still have to move your existing number to the 4S? Then take the sim card out and move it to another phone?
T-Mobile features
For those who have the 4S working on Tmobile US, which features work and which don't?
1. Can MMS messages be sent (regular not iMessage)?
2. Does FaceTime authenticate properly and connect?
3. How is Siri performance on EDGE speeds?
4. Is tethering or wifi hotspot possible?
Thanks!
For those who have the 4S working on Tmobile US, which features work and which don't?
1. Can MMS messages be sent (regular not iMessage)?
2. Does FaceTime authenticate properly and connect?
3. How is Siri performance on EDGE speeds?
4. Is tethering or wifi hotspot possible?
Thanks!
As far as I can remember, I did not have to agree to any AT&T Terms and Conditions when I was purchasing my off-contract 4S earlier today. There were a total of 2 screens that I had to sign and agree to. The first one came after the Apple Store employee scanned the box and these were Apple Terms & Conditions. Once I agreed to that, he swiped my credit card and I had to sign authorization for Apple to charge it. My guess is this is similar to having to sign a paper receipt, except that Apple captures signature electronically. Nowhere did I have to sign and agree to anything AT&T.
They did give me a paper receipt, which has AT&T Section. Here's what it reads:
AT&T Account Information
No Wireless Service Activation during iPhone Sale
In regards AT&T controlling iPhones, they never did. It was a matter of how far Apple was willing to bend over backwards to keep AT&T happy when they had exclusive on iPhones. Also, control of the phone was the very reason why Steve Jobs originally walked away from Verizon back in 2007 when they were developing the original iPhone. I suspect that Verizon wanted to pre-load whatever cr@p they wanted on iPhones without Apple having a say in it. This didn't sit well with Steve who liked controlling every aspect of user experience, so he told Verizon to shove it. When AT&T saw iPhone, they calculated that the $$$ they would make on it beats having to give up control of it to Apple and they went for it. When Verizon (and now Sprint) got the iPhone, note how it doesn't come with any of their specific apps. Not to say that they can't distribute their own apps, but they must be approved by Apple first. So IMO Apple is slowly but surely bending over backwards less for AT&T and as many others have said, I do believe that whatever 4S's are sold in Apple stores are unlocked out of the box. If you activate them on a contract with AT&T or VZW, they are locked during sale. Whatever units were shipped to AT&T or VZW stores/online fulfillment centers were probably locked en masse at the time of shipment.
Last, but not least, there is a 30-day money back guarantee on all iPhones. So if by some chance it does get locked within 30 days, you can get your money back. Hopefully, the "real" unlocked ones will go on sale by then.
yea alot of the apple workers seem pretty douchey and have no idea what they are talking about. bad experience for me.
Purchased a total of 15 32GB "Device Only" iPhones yesterday from the Legacy Village and Crocker Park stores in Cleveland over several trips with the help of some friends. Picked up one 64GB phone for myself. Popped in a China Unicom SIM, connected to iTunes, and successfully unlocked all of them.
Already sold all the 32GB phones for 9,800RMB ($1,536) each for a nice profit; they're on their way back "home" now.
Employees seemed to know exactly what was going on and didn't care. One even joked, "And let me guess, you don't want AppleCare on these?"
Already sold all the 32GB phones for 9,800RMB ($1,536) each for a nice profit; they're on their way back "home" now.
Employees seemed to know exactly what was going on and didn't care. One even joked, "And let me guess, you don't want AppleCare on these?"
Purchased a total of 15 32GB "Device Only" iPhones yesterday from the Legacy Village and Crocker Park stores in Cleveland over several trips with the help of some friends. Picked up one 64GB phone for myself. Popped in a China Unicom SIM, connected to iTunes, and successfully unlocked all of them.
Already sold all the 32GB phones for 9,800RMB ($1,536) each for a nice profit; they're on their way back "home" now.
Employees seemed to know exactly what was going on and didn't care. One even joked, "And let me guess, you don't want AppleCare on these?"
Jee-zus. Are you telling me you just made more than $10k flipping iPhones back to China? In a day?
Supply and demand, and all that, I guess.
(EDIT: Wow, you could have made even more.)
I'm pretty surprised the Apple store people didn't seem to care about what you were doing, given that this whole reservation system seems to have been set up in part to mitigate scalping.
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Additional expenses include shipping, which essentially requires a human courier as customs will catch on otherwise. But it's definitely a nice side income.
Well, I technically followed the rules: we had four people, each bought two reserved iPhones at each store (under different Apple IDs and credit cards).
No, I'm with t-mobile, I'd AT&T ever did that, it would be illegal. I dont have a contract with AT&T. I bought this phone as device only, off contract and unlocked. Meaning this phone is my property, I'm not buying this under the terms & conditions of AT&T. I never agreed to anything from AT&T. Therefore they can't control anything on my device.
Houston Area: I made a reservation online for a 64GB Black last night. Went in today and was told I can either add a line or buy one full price. I tried to buy one full price on Saturday and was declined. Today they said I could do the Off Contract pricing.
I did not have to give AT&T information, and only had to agree to 2 screens. I did not have them setup the phone.
Went to work and plugged in the iPhone to my MacBook and let it boot up. This was automatic when I plugged it in. I did not remove the SIM card at all. Once it booted up, iTunes said that it was unlocked. I transferred the SIM from my old AT&T iPhone 4 to the new one, and works fine.
Online I logged into AT&T to "Manage Features" and I had the option to change from my current Unlimited plan to Data Unlimited for iPhone 4S. It did not let me change it online and gave me the following message:
F931: The feature you are trying to add is not compatible with the phone/device on record in the billing system. We have noticed that the handset you are currently using is different than the handset on record. Updating the information will have no affect on your current contract. For assistance with the feature, please call Customer Service at 1-800-331-0500 or 611 from your wireless phone.
I will give them a call to change to the faster speeds.
I did not have to give AT&T information, and only had to agree to 2 screens. I did not have them setup the phone.
Went to work and plugged in the iPhone to my MacBook and let it boot up. This was automatic when I plugged it in. I did not remove the SIM card at all. Once it booted up, iTunes said that it was unlocked. I transferred the SIM from my old AT&T iPhone 4 to the new one, and works fine.
Online I logged into AT&T to "Manage Features" and I had the option to change from my current Unlimited plan to Data Unlimited for iPhone 4S. It did not let me change it online and gave me the following message:
F931: The feature you are trying to add is not compatible with the phone/device on record in the billing system. We have noticed that the handset you are currently using is different than the handset on record. Updating the information will have no affect on your current contract. For assistance with the feature, please call Customer Service at 1-800-331-0500 or 611 from your wireless phone.
I will give them a call to change to the faster speeds.
I went to the Apple Store and they told me if I want a contract-free phone They would need to move my number to the new 4s. Is that how it works?
nope, they dont know what they are doing.
You need to say i want Device-Only.
They ring up $649, you sign 2 screens, and thats it.
No Socials, No Phone #s, No ATT Terms& Conditions.
On a side note, what the asian scalpers are doing is really pi$$ing me off. Doing what you are doing is insulting the grave of SJ. Its meant for end users only..2 per person..you and your wife, gf, etc not all of friggin China...I hope you are happy with your $10k profits..,,you must really love money.
No, you need to tell them device only! They don't need anything from you except your signature, name and money
I'm visiting the US soon from the UK and want to get a 4S off-contract as the saving on a 64GB is colossal. From everything I've read on here I'm pretty sure this will be ok but does anyone foresee any problems with this, will the warranty still be valid outside the States, etc?
Probably a stupid question but I'm guessing that the retail price of $849 isn't inclusive of sales tax??
Finally does anyone know exactly in November when the official unlocked phones will be available?
Probably a stupid question but I'm guessing that the retail price of $849 isn't inclusive of sales tax??
Finally does anyone know exactly in November when the official unlocked phones will be available?
Purchased a total of 15 32GB "Device Only" iPhones yesterday from the Legacy Village and Crocker Park stores in Cleveland over several trips with the help of some friends. Picked up one 64GB phone for myself. Popped in a China Unicom SIM, connected to iTunes, and successfully unlocked all of them.
Already sold all the 32GB phones for 9,800RMB ($1,536) each for a nice profit; they're on their way back "home" now.
Employees seemed to know exactly what was going on and didn't care. One even joked, "And let me guess, you don't want AppleCare on these?"
I don't have the ability to PM yet, Scifience - can you contact me at cutie.dumpling at gmail.com? I have a question about how you were able to unlock the phone. We bought two Device only phones, but only one of them sees the network in HK. The other one gives us an error when we put the HK sim card in, does it have to connect to iTunes to unlock first before it will work with a non-US sim card? TIA to anyone who can help with this question.
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