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

[ukustraveller]

Just saw this today and am really interested in getting the 4S unlocked but....

Anyone imagine troubles with this on UK providers? (I'm probably going with three) I'm an American living in the UK, but I come back to the US often, so I don't want a contract...plus the sim only plans here are cheap.

I'm only worried because I currently have a cheap ATT international phone which I had unlocked here but the internet still doesn't work...despite trying every APN setting on the internet. It just seems like ATT has weird settings on my current phone and I don't want to deal with that on the iphone.
(I'm OK with waiting a month for the "real unlocked" one...but why wait if I don't have to?!?)
thanks!

 

[skellener]

Can someone please clarify this for me. I've never had an unlocked iPhone.

In the U.S. if I buy an unlocked iPhone, can I simply go to any carrier and sign up for whatever plan I want? They won't ask which phone I have? Don't they need it to issue the account? Or do they just give me a sim card on AT&T? Not sure how that works on Sprint or Verizon.

Any info for the process would be appreciated.

 

[heffeque]

Can someone please clarify this for me. I've never had an unlocked iPhone.

In the U.S. if I buy an unlocked iPhone, can I simply go to any carrier and sign up for whatever plan I want? They won't ask which phone I have? Don't they need it to issue the account? Or do they just give me a sim card on AT&T? Not sure how that works on Sprint or Verizon.

Any info for the process would be appreciated.

Wow... land of the free... they give you freedom to do whatever you want with your phone and you don't know what to do with it?

No, they won't need to know what phone you have. Just insert whatever SIM you like. It'll work (cut it to microSIM size though).

 

[Silverstring]

Silly question

So I bought an ATT "off contract" phone this morning.

Restored from iTunes (from my 4 backup).

I was under the impression that this restore would also activate the phone for me, but the phone says no service, and the phone humber space when I connect it to iTunes says n/a.

Every other time I've restored an iPhone, it's activated itself. What am I doing wrong?

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Can someone please clarify this for me. I've never had an unlocked iPhone.

In the U.S. if I buy an unlocked iPhone, can I simply go to any carrier and sign up for whatever plan I want? They won't ask which phone I have? Don't they need it to issue the account? Or do they just give me a sim card on AT&T? Not sure how that works on Sprint or Verizon.

Any info for the process would be appreciated.

CDMA phones will be need to bought thru a CDMA carrier to work. And unlocked ATT or other GSM phone will not work on Sprint or Verizon.

Wow... land of the free... they give you freedom to do whatever you want with your phone and you don't know what to do with it?

No, they won't need to know what phone you have. Just insert whatever SIM you like. It'll work (cut it to microSIM size though).

he doesn't know what to do with it because it is of limited value in the US. There aren't an abundance of carriers to choose from that it will work on.

It sounds like there might be hoops to jump thru to get it working on some of the off-beat carriers that ride on ATT.

Anyway, we are not the land of the free at all when it comes to cell service....

 

[macUser2007]

It was harder cutting my sim down to size than it was "unlocking" the phone.

Image

Unfortunately, your photo shows that you are on Edge on TMobile, which is kind of a problem....

It's beyond me why Apple didn't include a true "world" radio in these phones.

So, what are your speeds on TMobile in the US?

 

[AbyssImpact]

So I bought an ATT "off contract" phone this morning.

Restored from iTunes (from my 4 backup).

I was under the impression that this restore would also activate the phone for me, but the phone says no service, and the phone humber space when I connect it to iTunes says n/a.

Every other time I've restored an iPhone, it's activated itself. What am I doing wrong?

What did you say to the Apple Employee? Did they give you a fit for not buying it without a contract?

 

[jmdgls]

Definition of Unlocked Phone

Everyone is talking about one specific aspect of unlocked phones, and I think it would be worth taking a step back and asking for a summary of what unlocked gets you... for example:

Is the carrier option accessible from unlocked phones? I've got ATT with a Canadian roaming plan, but without jailbreaking my current phone, I can not select a canadian carrier when roaming, even if the ATT signal is weak and there's a strong Telus signal.

What about personal hotspot? and from there, FaceTime over 3G? Both of those features are accessible via jailbreak (at least, i think they are). Are there perhaps other features?

Basically, is this 'unlocked' version just a dumb way to pick you own carrier or are there other aspects that would otherwise only be available via jailbreak?

 

[Silverstring]

What did you say to the Apple Employee? Did they give you a fit for not buying it without a contract?

It couldn't have been LESS of a hassle. No fit.

I simply said, I want to buy the device only, off contract, and I want to leave here with a sealed box. The guy said no problem, and that was that.

 

[Farplaner]

So I bought an ATT "off contract" phone this morning.

Restored from iTunes (from my 4 backup).

I was under the impression that this restore would also activate the phone for me, but the phone says no service, and the phone humber space when I connect it to iTunes says n/a.

Every other time I've restored an iPhone, it's activated itself. What am I doing wrong?

Did you take out the sim from your old phone and put it into the new phone?

 

[Silverstring]

Did you take out the sim from your old phone and put it into the new phone?

NO! I obviously don't know what I'm doing. Never had an unlocked phone before. Sold the 4 with the old sim still inside! Damn. Is that the only thing I could've (should've) done?

 

[icanhasiphone?]

I'd take this article with a *huge* grain of salt but perhaps the unlocked chipset supports AWS frequencies. http://www.appleiphoneapps.net/iphone-5-specifications/unlocked-iphone-4s-will-work-on-t-mobile

Oh man! I hope this is true, it would make it totally worth it to wait till next month for the official unlocked phones to go on sale. We shall see...

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Ach. This was a lot more exciting til I remembered that unlocked does not mean jailbroken...

That'd be pretty sweet. An "Expert Mode Unlocked" version.

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land of the free... they give you freedom to do whatever you want with your phone and you don't know what to do with it.

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[benguild]

So I bought an ATT "off contract" phone this morning.

Restored from iTunes (from my 4 backup).

I was under the impression that this restore would also activate the phone for me, but the phone says no service, and the phone humber space when I connect it to iTunes says n/a.

Every other time I've restored an iPhone, it's activated itself. What am I doing wrong?

You have to take the SIM Card out of your old phone and put it in this one. It also has to be the AT&T one from the store or it'll be locked to CDMA.

 

[Sedrick]

Try spending a week in a foreign country with a locked phone as your only means of communication.

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

 

[malexandria]

Unlocked Phones Make No Sense to ME

I understand the desire not to get stuck in a contract, but getting an unlocked carrier phone seems pointless to me. Correct me if I'm wrong but if I paid $840 for the 64 Gig iPhone S on ATT wouldn't I still have to use the ATT service to use the phone? Same for Verizon or Sprint, wouldn't I still have to use their services if I purchased an "unlocked" phone from them as well

 

[zorinlynx]

Can you get a discount from AT&T for going month to month (no contract) on an unsubsidized phone?

If I could save like $20 a month by paying full price for a 4S, I probably would. I could have the benefit of the iPhone being unlocked, and still pay more or less the same over the next two years.

 

[tony-0709]

I want one!

Is there a website that sells in the US and does worldwide delivery?

I really wanna buy the 64gb for $849!!

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[JS3]

Why does the iPhone cost more than a iPad 2?

 

[benguild]

I understand the desire not to get stuck in a contract, but getting an unlocked carrier phone seems pointless to me. Correct me if I'm wrong but if I paid $840 for the 64 Gig iPhone S on ATT wouldn't I still have to use the ATT service to use the phone? Same for Verizon or Sprint, wouldn't I still have to use their services if I purchased an "unlocked" phone from them as well

The whole point is for international travel and resale. Unlocked phones have a wider audience for resale, and one trip out of the country roaming on AT&T = $$$$

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Why does the iPhone cost more than a iPad 2?

Because Apple makes more money that way. The carriers foot the bill, and the demand justifies it.

 

[Surreal]

AT&T's customer service has been ALMOST bad enough to inspire flight.

Do not cop an attitude when I inform you that other carriers have made it clear that they can unlock the iphone. Please do not tell me Apple makes the decision and that I should talk to them. I used to work for them. They do not care. Seriously. If you won't unlock...just kindly inform me of that.

Mind you, I was simply asking if I would be able to unlock when my contract expires.
/rant

 

[macUser2007]

I understand the desire not to get stuck in a contract, but getting an unlocked carrier phone seems pointless to me. Correct me if I'm wrong but if I paid $840 for the 64 Gig iPhone S on ATT wouldn't I still have to use the ATT service to use the phone? Same for Verizon or Sprint, wouldn't I still have to use their services if I purchased an "unlocked" phone from them as well

Well, on TMobile I pay almost $100 less for 2 phones than I did on AT&T, and I am month to month.

Overall, buying without contract makes perfect sense. That's why the big phone companies don't like it.

Trying to lock consumers and prevent them from switching on a whim is a big reason why the US has duplicative and incompatible mobile network, and why it took so long to get number portability through Congress.

 

[skellener]

CDMA phones will be need to bought thru a CDMA carrier to work. And unlocked ATT or other GSM phone will not work on Sprint or Verizon.

he doesn't know what to do with it because it is of limited value in the US. There aren't an abundance of carriers to choose from that it will work on.

Thanks. I think I've got it now. Yeah, it's not like Europe here. The carriers keep things locked down pretty well. It would be great if they all used the same tech and you could switch whenever you felt like it, but that isn't the case.

Does anyone know if you were to buy an unlocked iPhone 4S could you take it to Sprint and sign up without any type of contract - and if you found you didn't care for their service, could you then bring it to Verizon and try it there? Just curious how the CDMA side of it works.

 

[Constable Odo]

yes it is another USA rip off.

The whole business model of american cell phone carriers is to make you spend ~$2500 over 2 years. All providers are the same plus/minus 200 dollar. There are some family plans but in the end you pay again $2500 (e.g. for two lines for two years).

The problem is that the american market is not well regulated by any consumer protection agency. That allows carriers to keep your phone locked after the contract expires. If this weren't the case there would be millions of unlocked iPhones out there leading to a competitive market. But this currently is not the case.

In addition there are only 4 shoddy carriers for iPhone users available:

T-Mobile: cheaper contracts but you need an unlocked phone and data is only at EDGE speeds.
ATT: horrible coverage in some areas, expensive contracts, fast data but phone is locked domestically AND internationally
Verizon: expensive contract, phone unlocked internationally but internet speeds limited to G3 (no HSDPA+), no simultaneous voice and data, no domestically unlocked CDMA iPhones possible
Sprint: more or less expensive contract, phone unlocked internationally but internet speeds limited to G3 (no HSDPA+), no simultaneous voice and data, no domestically unlocked CDMA iPhones possible

So any carrier has major disadvantages. If you opt for Sprint or Verizon your phone is locked in. If you opt for ATT you can use an unlocked iPhone but if you don't like ATT there is no other GSM carrier to go to besides T-Mobile with slow data speeds.

Since the iPhone does not support LTE it makes only little sense to pay $649 for an unlocked phone because there are not many options to go to and in a year or two you can't hop on the LTE networks to benefit from faster data.

It just sucks compared to civilized countries. And all the other ideas of buying a subsidized phone and cancel the contract and all that save you between $5 and $100. Given that you spend around $2500 for most people it is not worth the hassle.

You nailed it. What you've said makes the most sense about how it's very hard to beat the U.S. carriers even if you're willing to pay up front for an unlocked iPhone. For the carrier's it's just more suitable for them to trap you in a two-year contract and drain your pockets. It's just like walking into a casino. If you want to play, you have to play by the house rules and they've already got everything stacked in their favor unless you've got some unique way of cheating. I couldn't deal with the headaches of trying to beat the carriers.

I'd be willing to pay up front for the most expensive iPhone, but then I want to be able to choose my terms for monthly payments and I'd want to get a better break than those people that are on contracts. However, what would be the point for the carriers to let me win or get a monthly cost break, when they want to make money while they're also making me help pay for those that get subsidized phones. I'd only want a low number of call minutes but definitely want unlimited data. However, the carriers are just like the cable companies always bundling crap together so you're stuck with both what you need and what you don't need. As you say, it's a win-win game for the carrier and without carrier regulation there's almost no way for a consumer to win.

The only reason I'd want an iPhone is because Apple doesn't make an iPod Touch that's the iPhone's equal in features less the phone chip. I understand why, because I don't think many consumers would be buying a $750 iPod Touch just as most don't buy unlocked $850 64 GB iPhones. In the end I'm just going to go with a 64 GB Verizon iPhone when I switch over to FiOS Everything. Maybe I can weasel Verizon into giving me some sort of cost break.

 

[Fezwick]

Do you know if H20 Wireless offers assistance with this or are you on your own?

To set up the APN, just go to unlockit.co.nz on wifi and choose H2O wireless as the custom APN. Jailbreaking you're on your own.

Do you need to jailbreak on an unlocked phone to get the mms to work? Didn't know h20 also had an unlimited plan for 60. Theres really no limit on the data ( guessing standart 2 gb)?

I have no personal experience with unlocked iPhones, but it's my understanding that the carrier files AT&T installs on the phone block you from editing the APNs. So you'd still have to jailbreak even though it's an unlocked phone.