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Surprise: CDMA iPhone 4S Comes With An Unlocked SIM Slot

Is it possible ?

these unlocked iPhones 4/4S will hit retailers and be cheaper may be $50 or so?

iPhone 4 8GB for $399 would be awesome may be when iPhone 5 released (like the iPhone 3GS now selling for $375)
 
SGMD1 said:
Thanks for the vid...btw you can embed it. Just take video's identifier from the URL (in this case "m3X4PP-rFTE") and put it between [youtube] [/youtube]

Did you call Verizon to get the SIM unlocked? Did you connect to iTunes like MachAF suggested?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip!

No I havent called Verizon yet. I can try connecting to Itunes but doubt it will activate since supposedly Apple has database with all Serial numbers and which carriers they are assigned.
 
I think they are unlocked in the sense of international use, but not with domestic SIMs.
 
gatica78 said:
I just tried an AT&T SIM from an iPhone 4 in an Verizon iPhone 4s new out of the box it showed 3 bars of 3g but no carrier tag and while going through the setup screens it said "Activating iPhone" then said "Invalid SIM" so I think its a no go for the Verizon model until a hack come around. I'll try the AT&T sim after its been activated on Verizon.
Click to expand...

im going to pick up an att sim card today and try playing around with it.
 
I thought about getting a Sprint phone to see what it would do The videos I have seen were on a Verizon phone and not a Sprint phone.
 
Ikyo said:
I think they are unlocked in the sense of international use, but not with domestic SIMs.
Click to expand...

That could be possibly true since the domestic gsm bands used here are only used here and in Canada. The other parts of the world use a different gsm band. What sucks is that those trying to use it in Canada (like me) are screwed. My prepaid Rodgers sim does not work in the phone. I have a o2 sim that I could test but the gold contact part of the sim is much wider than the micro sim so I can't cut it down.
 
Did you try it in a Sprint or Verizon 4s? If it was a Sprint phone, what was the error it gave?
 
bidwalj said:
That could be possibly true since the domestic gsm bands used here are only used here and in Canada. The other parts of the world use a different gsm band. What sucks is that those trying to use it in Canada (like me) are screwed. My prepaid Rodgers sim does not work in the phone. I have a o2 sim that I could test but the gold contact part of the sim is much wider than the micro sim so I can't cut it down.
Click to expand...

i think you might be wrong since iPhone 4S most of the frequency used in Asia and Europe.

but SIM card compatibility not so sure.

Specs from the apple site, that is heck a lot of a frequency supported, quotas to wireless chip in the iPhone (credit should go to Qualcomm? not apple btw)

World phone
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz);
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)4
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology

----------
bidwalj said:
Sorry I tried on a Verizon one. It gives you the invalid sim error.
Click to expand...

btw, did you called verizon global customer care and asked them to unlock?

only sprint iPhone 4S comes unlocked GSM portion - as per their PR and they will lock again as per their PR :D
 
I don't think the Sprint phones are actually unlocked for the domestic GSM sims.
 
I can confirm Sprint iPhone 4S is unlocked

Here is what I've discovered so far:

1: Removal of the Sprint sim card the phone retains it's connection to Sprint and functions normally. Though it does warn you that no sim is installled.

2: Removing the Sprint sim and replacing it with an AT&T sim from an iPhone 4 results in a brief flash of the "Carriers" setting before launching into activation process exactly as shown by fox777.

3: Removing the Sprint sim and replacing it with a prepaid Rogers sim from Canada that I used on my unlocked (ultrasn0w) iPhone 4 results in the phone connecting to T-Mobile on Edge (as you'd expect) and attempting to load a website via Safari redirects to the Rogers site. So, apparently it is working normally as far as I can tell.

The "Carriers" setting is available and permanent, but if you try and select AT&T the phone will not connect. Perhaps this is due to some restriction on AT&T's part, though I'm not sure.

In any event, it looks like the phone indeed is unlocked at this time, unfortunately, I am too far from Canada to test it's operation on the Rogers network. I will try to get access to a T-Mobile sim and see if it fully connects and behaves normally.

Don't know when Sprint will push this update to lock the phone, but it's kind of bummer. I suppose it is necessary to keep people from travelling from abroad to scam subsidized iPhones from Sprint, so I can see why they would want to restrict the unlocking to dedicated customers in good standing. I just hope they make good on their pledge to unlock. I would really think that since they are basically banking the future of their company on their ability to attract iPhone customers they certainly would, but, you never know. Corporate willingness to alienate their customer base seems to know no bounds.
 
I called Verizon and she told me my SIM slot is now unlocked, however I don't have a foreign SIM to test it with. She also told me that when I put the SIM in it would "brick" my phone, which I took to mean it would cause it to reset. She said I would need to either plug it into iTunes OR be connected via wifi for the activation of the SIM card to be complete.

So if they are truly unlocking for foreign SIM cards, when you get to said country you are going to have to have your laptop with you, or access to wifi.
 
Can you try plugging in the iPhone 4S into iTunes with the AT&T SIM installed?
 
French said:
So if they are truly unlocking for foreign SIM cards, when you get to said country you are going to have to have your laptop with you, or access to wifi.
Click to expand...

PC FREE but not Wi-Fi FREE, hehehe

----------
grumpleton said:
Don't know when Sprint will push this update to lock the phone, but it's kind of bummer. I suppose it is necessary to keep people from travelling from abroad to scam subsidized iPhones from Sprint, so I can see why they would want to restrict the unlocking to dedicated customers in good standing. I just hope they make good on their pledge to unlock. I would really think that since they are basically banking the future of their company on their ability to attract iPhone customers they certainly would, but, you never know. Corporate willingness to alienate their customer base seems to know no bounds.
Click to expand...

with out SSN and good credit and US Address, how they can scam and get the iPhone 4S for $199 subsidized price?

If what you are saying is true, what is stopping them doing the same for other phones Galaxy, Driod, Blackberry and other phones???
 
Ikyo said:
Can you try plugging in the iPhone 4S into iTunes with the AT&T SIM installed?
Click to expand...

Waiting for a phone call on AT&T phone (this is still my "official" phone, I got the Sprint one to test this whole unlocking deal). But I'll try later today.

---

shanmugam said:
with out SSN and good credit and US Address, how they can scam and get the iPhone 4S for $199 subsidized price?

If what you are saying is true, what is stopping them doing the same for other phones Galaxy, Driod, Blackberry and other phones???
Click to expand...

I would imagine they are just playing it safe. I'm sure there are unscrupulous individuals that are perfectly willing to obtain fraudulent information, come over the US and buy up a bunch of iPhones for intended sale back home. Of course, I suppose this is really not all that different than the present situation with ultrasn0w and what not. But who knows what the carriers thinking on this is.

I have no clue how any of this works and I don't know what difference there is between the iPhone unlocking and all the other handsets. From what I've gathered iPhones do not have a legitimate local unlocking process, an unlocked iPhone is unlocked because of how it is defined in the Apple database. This would seem to be different than other manufacturers system where a simple code can be input into a phone to unlock it and such. Though, again, that's idle speculation and I really have no idea.

In any event, this is all a nice firm reminder that the entire mobile internet situation is a god awful anti-consumer mess. Can you imagine how ass-backwards the internet would be if computers and landlines were as restricted as phones and mobile networks are? Hopefully its Google's and Apple's intention to force an opening of the mobile industry somewhere down the line, it would certainly seem to be in their interest, and for a company as concerned with customer experience, you know Apple has to hate all this. At least I see hope in what they did unlocking the 3G iPads, I certainly hope that becomes the standard.

But whatever happens, as long as Sprint will unlock my iPhone when I go abroad, I'll be content as far as this device is concerned.
 
grumpleton said:
Here is what I've discovered so far:

1: Removal of the Sprint sim card the phone retains it's connection to Sprint and functions normally. Though it does warn you that no sim is installled.

2: Removing the Sprint sim and replacing it with an AT&T sim from an iPhone 4 results in a brief flash of the "Carriers" setting before launching into activation process exactly as shown by fox777.

3: Removing the Sprint sim and replacing it with a prepaid Rogers sim from Canada that I used on my unlocked (ultrasn0w) iPhone 4 results in the phone connecting to T-Mobile on Edge (as you'd expect) and attempting to load a website via Safari redirects to the Rogers site. So, apparently it is working normally as far as I can tell.

The "Carriers" setting is available and permanent, but if you try and select AT&T the phone will not connect. Perhaps this is due to some restriction on AT&T's part, though I'm not sure.

In any event, it looks like the phone indeed is unlocked at this time, unfortunately, I am too far from Canada to test it's operation on the Rogers network. I will try to get access to a T-Mobile sim and see if it fully connects and behaves normally.

Don't know when Sprint will push this update to lock the phone, but it's kind of bummer. I suppose it is necessary to keep people from travelling from abroad to scam subsidized iPhones from Sprint, so I can see why they would want to restrict the unlocking to dedicated customers in good standing. I just hope they make good on their pledge to unlock. I would really think that since they are basically banking the future of their company on their ability to attract iPhone customers they certainly would, but, you never know. Corporate willingness to alienate their customer base seems to know no bounds.
Click to expand...


Thanks for sharing that! I'm on Verizon but I should be able to get it unlocked. I use it in Canada on Rodgers as well
 
bidwalj said:
That could be possibly true since the domestic gsm bands used here are only used here and in Canada. The other parts of the world use a different gsm band. What sucks is that those trying to use it in Canada (like me) are screwed. My prepaid Rodgers sim does not work in the phone. I have a o2 sim that I could test but the gold contact part of the sim is much wider than the micro sim so I can't cut it down.
Click to expand...
The Iphone is a quad band phone and has all the frequencies for both north America and Europe. The only band it does not support is the T-Mobile AWS 3G frequencies.
 
I am hoping it works, but I have a feeling it will take a jailbreak to make it work. Without the carrier selection being available, you couldn't switch back and forth.
 
French said:
I called Verizon and she told me my SIM slot is now unlocked, however I don't have a foreign SIM to test it with. She also told me that when I put the SIM in it would "brick" my phone, which I took to mean it would cause it to reset. She said I would need to either plug it into iTunes OR be connected via wifi for the activation of the SIM card to be complete.

So if they are truly unlocking for foreign SIM cards, when you get to said country you are going to have to have your laptop with you, or access to wifi.
Click to expand...

So if your in Italy and purchase a local SIM card you need to be at a wifi hotspot before you plug in the card - then after it activates I assume it will stay active. Then you fly to France, purchase another local SIM & find a wifi hotspot to activate the new card.
 
wateron said:
So if your in Italy and purchase a local SIM card you need to be at a wifi hotspot before you plug in the card - then after it activates I assume it will stay active. Then you fly to France, purchase another local SIM & find a wifi hotspot to activate the new card.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's how it works. I activated my Sprint phone on Sprint. Took out Sprint sim, put in Rogers sim and it simply reconnected to T-Mobile. Boom. Bam. Done.
 
wateron said:
So if your in Italy and purchase a local SIM card you need to be at a wifi hotspot before you plug in the card - then after it activates I assume it will stay active. Then you fly to France, purchase another local SIM & find a wifi hotspot to activate the new card.
Click to expand...

The way it was told to me, yes...but I hope grumpleton is right. It would be MUCH better if wifi/computer were not necessary.
 
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