A few years ago, I bought a new iPhone 4s (Verizon) from the Verizon store with a 2 year contract. I've since upgraded to the 5, so the 4s has been sitting there collecting dust.
I have a friend who will be moving to China and won't be coming back. I'm considering giving my 4s to him so he can use it in China. However, I will need to get it unlocked (permanently), so he can use it as a prepaid phone with whatever networks there are in China.
I've tried to do some research and I'm getting conflicting info! I heard I can call Verizon and they can unlock it for me, but the unlock is temporary, which won't work in my case. And I heard I can do some jail breaking and hacking to unlock it myself, or I can buy some "unlocking" code from ebay (I thought this only works for AT&T phones???). Then I heard I cannot unlock it; the only way to get an unlocked phone is to buy a factory unlocked phone.
tl;dr: can I unlock my (regular) verizon iPhone 4s so it can be used as a prepaid phone in China, permanently?
I have a friend who will be moving to China and won't be coming back. I'm considering giving my 4s to him so he can use it in China. However, I will need to get it unlocked (permanently), so he can use it as a prepaid phone with whatever networks there are in China.
I've tried to do some research and I'm getting conflicting info! I heard I can call Verizon and they can unlock it for me, but the unlock is temporary, which won't work in my case. And I heard I can do some jail breaking and hacking to unlock it myself, or I can buy some "unlocking" code from ebay (I thought this only works for AT&T phones???). Then I heard I cannot unlock it; the only way to get an unlocked phone is to buy a factory unlocked phone.
tl;dr: can I unlock my (regular) verizon iPhone 4s so it can be used as a prepaid phone in China, permanently?
