Stupid UK iPhone lock policy
- Thread starter stix666
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Dangerous Theory
macrumors 68000
O2 will unlock for free of on contract, or £10 off contract.
ct2k7
macrumors G3
They unlocked it for free for me on contract.
I know O2 will unlock it - takes a few days, so my dad who i gave it to has no mobile service during that time (we cut the sim to fit it, and have no other phones that take microsim
Annoying - I understand why they do this with subsidised phones on contract but why do it for sim-free phones?
Annoying - I understand why they do this with subsidised phones on contract but why do it for sim-free phones?
martiansoldier
macrumors 6502
Quit complaining! You still have the option of unlocking your phone (for what I think is a very nominal charge) unlike several of us States side that are stuck with AT&T that doesn't even give us an option to pay to have our phones unlocked.
If it makes you feel any better, our phones are as good as $200.00 paperweights if we decide to hold on to our phones after our contract is up or if we upgrade/switch to another phone.
Gav2k
macrumors G3
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)
If u purchased in An apple store and took an O2 contract it'll be locked. If u paid 600-700 then it's sim free. If it was locked then Goto an apple store or just fill out the form on o2's site. No point moaning about it no one here can fix it!
If u purchased in An apple store and took an O2 contract it'll be locked. If u paid 600-700 then it's sim free. If it was locked then Goto an apple store or just fill out the form on o2's site. No point moaning about it no one here can fix it!
He bought it from a UK Apple store advertised unlocked and sim free!
Apple don't do it. O2 do. As do 3, Orange and Vodafone. They all want you locked into finishing your iPhone's expensive data usage on their network. So they play dirty and do this. It's rotten, but it's rectifiable. Your carrier will unlock it for free/a price if you're on Pay as you Go.
Dangerous Theory
macrumors 68000
I believe they all charge a standard unlock price of £15.32 whether you're on or off contract, apart from O2 whom charge £10 on PayG, or nothing on contract
When you bought the phone off contract last year you had an option. 1 year of free data or if you unlocked it you lost the data. Now that the year of free data is finished all you need to do is go to o2 web site and fill in the form to request an unlock. You will get a text within ten days plug the phone into itunes and bingo unlocked.
So if you're buying a used iPhone that's locked to any UK iPhone carrier, you can get it officially unlocked (for good) for £15?
Also, any idea if O2 contract handsets can be used on O2 PayG?
youknome
macrumors 6502a
If you purchased it from the Apple store then surely it would have to be a sim free iPhone, then it shouldn't be locked. You should have gone back to the Apple store.
I literally got my iPhone 3GS unlocked by O2 today for £15, took less than 12 hours. (I didn't fill in the unlocking form, I just went onto the O2 live chat, some of the CS people are quite helpful.)
I literally got my iPhone 3GS unlocked by O2 today for £15, took less than 12 hours. (I didn't fill in the unlocking form, I just went onto the O2 live chat, some of the CS people are quite helpful.)
No he said he bought it from Apple, he didn't say he bought a SIM free one as they do sell contact in there as well. if he bought subsidised one with a o2 contract then it will be locked.
Vodafone did it for free with me. And I'm on contract.
Mind you it's about the only good thing they've managed in my time with them. I'm sure jumping ship from Vodafone come the end of my contract, when I get a 4S hopefully.
same here they unlocked mine for free I have two month left will be getting a SIM only deal for my 4s.
Any iPhones you buy from the Apple store on contract, i.e. subsidised by a network are going to be locked. They are only sim free and unlocked if you paid full price for them without a contract. My iPhone 4 was bought sim free and unlocked last year to use with an existing O2 contract. I just sold it to a colleague who is using it on a different network.
Azzin
macrumors 603
You know assumption is the mother of all **** ups don't you?
It sounds lke you haven't given us all the facts here to go on.
So...
Is it an iphone 4?
If so, did you buy the it outright for £499/£599?
If you did, it would be unlocked/SIM Free.
If not and you bought it on an O2 contract, then it's locked to O2 and you need to get O2 to unlock it-simples.
Dangerous Theory
macrumors 68000
This is true. I had the same deal when I got my PayG 3G with O2. Unlocked after the year was up.
Yes, they all accept unlocking - be it for a fee or for free. Most charge £15.32 (odd, I know).
Also yes, to your second question. There are no limits on the phone beside the carrier limit.
Oh right, wasn't 100% sure TBH.
Thank you.
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I paid £499 for it. Not a subsidised phone.
This happens because of an agreement Apple have with the UK network carriers - they lock the phone to the network at the time of activation if you are in contract (which I was, having lost the original subsidised phone).
O2 won't charge for unlocking. But this locking is not properly advertised. I was about to put the phone up on eBay selling it as unlocked. This would have screwed up that sale. And as mentioned before, my dad is without mobile service for a few days
I think it's ridiculous for the Apple CSR to put this all on O2. It is the way the phone gets activated through Apple that is the problem. I agree the US mobile phone carriers are a lot worse.
I paid £499 for it. Not a subsidised phone.
This happens because of an agreement Apple have with the UK network carriers - they lock the phone to the network at the time of activation if you are in contract (which I was, having lost the original subsidised phone).
O2 won't charge for unlocking. But this locking is not properly advertised. I was about to put the phone up on eBay selling it as unlocked. This would have screwed up that sale. And as mentioned before, my dad is without mobile service for a few days
I think it's ridiculous for the Apple CSR to put this all on O2. It is the way the phone gets activated through Apple that is the problem. I agree the US mobile phone carriers are a lot worse.
Dangerous Theory
macrumors 68000
Just because you paid full price, doesn't mean it shouldn't be carrier locked. If you buy it with with O2 PayG then it will be locked to them. If you definitely asked for an unlocked iPhone with no sim, then the Apple employee simply made a mistake.
If you bought is as an unlocked sim free replacement for a lost subsidised phone and asked for exactly that then it's obviously a mistake on the Apple employee's part but is most likely an isolated case. I would hardly blame Apple as a whole for something like that. Mistakes like that happen sometimes we are all only human.
I had a similar experience which as far as I'm concerned was an honest mistake. I went to have my sim free unlocked iPhone 4 replaced under warranty at a local Apple store and they gave me one locked to O2 by mistake. They obviously saw I was on the O2 network from my old phone and have me a replacement locked to O2. I went back a week later without an appointment they replaced it on the spot with another unlocked one.
I had a similar experience which as far as I'm concerned was an honest mistake. I went to have my sim free unlocked iPhone 4 replaced under warranty at a local Apple store and they gave me one locked to O2 by mistake. They obviously saw I was on the O2 network from my old phone and have me a replacement locked to O2. I went back a week later without an appointment they replaced it on the spot with another unlocked one.