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And jailbreaking via greenpois0n (which as far as I knew wasn't updated for iOS 4.3.1 yet, although Pwnage and redsn0w are) has what to do with an unlock for the current iPhone baseband?

It is really simple...it doesn't cost $170 and does not involve quite as risky behavior. :eek:
 
It is really simple...it doesn't cost $170 and does not involve quite as risky behavior. :eek:

It also can't, and won't, unlock iPhones...UltraSn0w is only good up to baseband 5.13.x on 3GS and 1.59.00 on iPhone 4. Particularly for the latter, you only have 2 choices if you have a newer baseband. The SIM interposers (Gevey, Rebel, etc) or this method. I'm inclined to lean to this method as the interposers are rather expensive (Rebel is nearly $80) and can be a PITA. This is pretty seamless and painless, except for the upfront cost.

If they're able to keep this up I expect the price to drop considerably.
 
I'm thinking it's only a matter of time before AT&T starts offering this service for out of contract iPhones.

Tuck

This has NOTHING to do with being out of contract. Please stop spreading this myth.
When you buy an iPhone you buy it WITH a two year contract. Whether you use it or other networks or not has nothing to do with ATT getting their subsidy money.
 
This has NOTHING to do with being out of contract. Please stop spreading this myth.
When you buy an iPhone you buy it WITH a two year contract. Whether you use it or other networks or not has nothing to do with ATT getting their subsidy money.

I remember researching this a while back. What the AT&T rep told me: if I bought an iPhone 4 and break the contract, I would have to pay:

(1) the ETF, as well as,
(2) the difference of the actual retail price of the phone (the "subsidy money")

And they still wouldn't unlock the phone.

Even if I bought a no-contract iPhone (pay AT&T's full retail "no commitment" price), they still wouldn't unlock it.

--
I didn't buy the iPhone 4 with those stipulations. I went to T-Mobile, got a Vibrant/Galaxy S, and they gladly unlocked after a month. No way I would pay the $20 USD per megabyte AT&T int'l roaming rate, and then have to chuck the phone once I moved back home for good.
 
This has NOTHING to do with being out of contract. Please stop spreading this myth.
When you buy an iPhone you buy it WITH a two year contract. Whether you use it or other networks or not has nothing to do with ATT getting their subsidy money.

That's why I'm saying that they're going to soon be offering official unlocks for AT&T iPhones. They already offer them for ANY GSM phone that they sell once a subsidy contract has ended. At that point, you have paid them more than the full amount of the phone's value and you actually own the phone. They should offer an unlock for iPhones that are out of contract, just like they do for any other GSM phone they offer.

Tuck
 
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Azadre said:
I wonder how these companies got access to Apple's database. Why doesn't Apple keep better watch on it? And couldn't Apple just find out who's been accessing the database, and not allow connections from that source anymore? This all seems shady to me.

I imagine the process goes through a carrier outside of the US because many countries and carriers offer unlocks for their iPhone customers.

Possibly. But last time I was involved with that process, IMEIs had to be sent to Apple by Fax. Carriers never had access to an Apple Database at that point. Then again, this may have changed.
 
u make it sound so easy, the iPhone 4 can't be unlocked with the latest baseband yet



exactly, thats how it works here in germany. u either buy it unlocked but not subsidized without a plan or u get it locked for like 1 euro and once your contract expires after 2 years u get it unlocked for free OR u pay 100 euro to get it unlocked right away which is still cheaper considering the iPhone itself was only 1 euro.

That is NOT how it works in Germany!!

If you got your iPhone 4 for 1 Euro you are paying 89,96 Euro MONTHLY, which equals about 130 US-Dollars ----> :eek:

See this link:
http://www.t-mobile.de/iphone/tarife/0,18383,22271-_,00.html

And after you got your iPhone 4 you can NOT unlock it for 99 Euros, T-Mobile Germany specifically excludes the iPhone 4 from this offer. All other T-Mobile Phones you can unlock, not the iPhone 4. ---> :mad:
 
That is NOT how it works in Germany!!

If you got your iPhone 4 for 1 Euro you are paying 89,96 Euro MONTHLY, which equals about 130 US-Dollars ----> :eek:

See this link:
http://www.t-mobile.de/iphone/tarife/0,18383,22271-_,00.html

And after you got your iPhone 4 you can NOT unlock it for 99 Euros, T-Mobile Germany specifically excludes the iPhone 4 from this offer. All other T-Mobile Phones you can unlock, not the iPhone 4. ---> :mad:

huh? i got my iphone 4 at tmobile and got it unlocked for 100€ after explaining to them that i'll be uproad for some time and need to use a foreign sim. was no prob at all. u cant expect someone to use their sim in australia for example. ud be broke after usin the net for 5 mins ^^
 
huh? i got my iphone 4 at tmobile and got it unlocked for 100€ after explaining to them that i'll be uproad for some time and need to use a foreign sim. was no prob at all. u cant expect someone to use their sim in australia for example. ud be broke after usin the net for 5 mins ^^

I did the same right after i got my new iPhone 4 and they refused to do it referring to the 2 year service agreement. After 2 years you can unlock it for free, within the 2 years you cant at all...at least thats what they told me.

Lucky you i guess :D
 
Tired of Apple's locked ecosystem

Switching to Android.

I travel to China half of the year, I NEED and unlocked phone so that i can pop in my Chinese SIM card when i'm there.

iPhone is just not for me.

FU Apple.... so much for Freedom in the US.

Yeah, Android phones can be unlocked relatively easily. I unlock Captivates and Vibrants a lot without having to go back to the original carriers.
 
That's why I'm saying that they're going to soon be offering official unlocks for AT&T iPhones. They already offer them for ANY GSM phone that they sell once a subsidy contract has ended. At that point, you have paid them more than the full amount of the phone's value and you actually own the phone. They should offer an unlock for iPhones that are out of contract, just like they do for any other GSM phone they offer.
My personal take on why the iPhone is the one phone AT&T won't unlock after your contract ends is because iPhones are costly hardware with expensive data plans. In general, iPhone users pay more for the hardware and service, and presumably people with more money travel more often. And to keep things simple, a significant fraction of those customers would rather roam internationally, partly for the convenience of using their actual cell phone number, and partly for not needing to jump through any hoops. Whenever I travel, I take an unlocked flip phone and buy a local prepaid SIM card. It's super cheap, but it does get annoying to deal with new phones numbers and manual reloading of calling credit. Hence the reason why AT&T wouldn't want to unlock out-of-contract iPhones; users may travel with them and provide AT&T profit through roaming charges.
 
My personal take on why the iPhone is the one phone AT&T won't unlock after your contract ends is because iPhones are costly hardware with expensive data plans. In general, iPhone users pay more for the hardware and service, and presumably people with more money travel more often. And to keep things simple, a significant fraction of those customers would rather roam internationally, partly for the convenience of using their actual cell phone number, and partly for not needing to jump through any hoops. Whenever I travel, I take an unlocked flip phone and buy a local prepaid SIM card. It's super cheap, but it does get annoying to deal with new phones numbers and manual reloading of calling credit. Hence the reason why AT&T wouldn't want to unlock out-of-contract iPhones; users may travel with them and provide AT&T profit through roaming charges.

In other words, they are preventing you from using alternatives (with your own personal property) so that they have the opportunity to rape you for roaming charges, over and above the services you are contractually obligated to continue to pay for over the term of your contract. That may indeed be a big reason why they don't want to do it, but that doesn't make it right. It's your property. You ought to be able to use it with any carrier you choose, regardless of if you are still under contract. The contract should only determine what you pay them and for how long, and what service they will provide to you over that period. It should not determined, over and above those terms, how you are allowed to use your own property.
 
In other words, they are preventing you from using alternatives (with your own personal property) so that they have the opportunity to rape you for roaming charges, over and above the services you are contractually obligated to continue to pay for over the term of your contract. That may indeed be a big reason why they don't want to do it, but that doesn't make it right. It's your property. You ought to be able to use it with any carrier you choose, regardless of if you are still under contract. The contract should only determine what you pay them and for how long, and what service they will provide to you over that period. It should not determined, over and above those terms, how you are allowed to use your own property.

You pretty much covered the high points. :)
 
just ridiculous with AT&T, i bought my unlock and im waiting from CutYourSim, i would rather have an official unlock and not jailbreak. I paid for my phone and i have a right to do with it as I please. Traveling over the years having two phones, one being crappy and one being awesome but no useable sucks.

Jailbreaking is not the proper option or even accessible for certain iPhones at certain firmwares. I say pay the unlock for 169 bucks instead of being called owing 1,000 dollars for roaming charges.

What I'm wondering is that how long will this fiasco go for? Will apple shutdown this or will AT&T?
 
Can an iphone4 on 4.3.1 that's never been jailbroken still be JB and unlocked? I lose track of where things are at now, but thought the window had closed (for the time being) for first time jailbreaking/unlocking.

Nothing above baseband 1.59 on the iPhone 4 can be unlocked as of yet, last time I checked.
 
Wow, what a ripoff. You can get it done here in Spain for under $30.

In Canada it's $50-$55, but you're SOL if you have greymarket phone like me. I have a Rogers phone and have never had a contract with them, even though I've been a subscriber to their discount brand Fido for 5 years they won't unlock it.

It's a 3GS so it's a little easier to take things into my own hands.
 
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Do you know by any chance on how swapping sims work withe official unlock? Do you have to connect to iTunes every time and new sim is inserted or can you just swap sims on the fly?
 
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Do you know by any chance on how swapping sims work withe official unlock? Do you have to connect to iTunes every time and new sim is inserted or can you just swap sims on the fly?


On-the-fly should work fine.

Once it's officially unlocked the phone itself shouldn't care what SIM you put in it; when you do re-connect to iTunes and it sees your IMEI that you're white-listed it shouldn't even do any "activation" verification besides check for available carrier bundle updates based on your SIM at the time.
 
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