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What is the likelihood 5.16.02 will be unlockable before June 1st?

M

mds

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 6, 2006
288
0
Hey guys.

I'm about to head out on a world tour for 3 months. I bought an iPhone with the sole intent of unlocking it and using it around Europe. My bad, they aren't all unlockable. From what I can tell it seems like the unlock isn't coming any time soon. Should I just sell this phone and hunt another one down that is running an older baseband and/or is already unlocked?

Thanks!

Mike
 
mds said:
Hey guys.

I'm about to head out on a world tour for 3 months. I bought an iPhone with the sole intent of unlocking it and using it around Europe. My bad, they aren't all unlockable. From what I can tell it seems like the unlock isn't coming any time soon. Should I just sell this phone and hunt another one down that is running an older baseband and/or is already unlocked?

Thanks!

Mike
Click to expand...

If you go for a world tour I'd sell it and use the money towards a factory unlocked iphone from many places outside the US that sell officially unlocked iphones.
 
Not looking good at all. No real traffic that i have seen on the twitter about it. Take advntage of the places ypu go to get a factory unlocked phone.
 
Thanks guys...buying an unlocked phone is an interesting idea. Where is the best place to do that? I'll be in the vast majority of European countries. I think we start in Copenhagen, but I'll be all over the place. How much do these cost?
 
mds said:
Thanks guys...buying an unlocked phone is an interesting idea. Where is the best place to do that? I'll be in the vast majority of European countries. I think we start in Copenhagen, but I'll be all over the place. How much do these cost?
Click to expand...

Here are the prices of unlocked iphone 4's thruout the world.
The cheapest one is in Hong Kong and Singapore but Canada and Switzerland have decent prices also.

http://www.cellpassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/iPhone4-price-around-the-world.jpg
 
Thanks....those are WAY too much money for me to spend, unfortunately. I wonder how hard it would be for me to buy a second hand unlocked 3GS...the 3GS I bought this week here in Los Angeles cost me $200.
 
Seems like you can get a 3gs 32gb on ebay as low as $300-375 ish. I was looking at prices earlier in the week, thinking about going iphone 4.
 
MaxBurn said:
Seems like you can get a 3gs 32gb on ebay as low as $300-375 ish. I was looking at prices earlier in the week, thinking about going iphone 4.
Click to expand...

This is about right. Another way is local craigslist where you can look, feel and test the Iphone before you buy. Since 3GS can be unlocked, it is cheaper just to buy a lock 3GS from craigslisters who is upgrading to the 4, and then unlock it yourself. The cost probably about $50 lower or so.
 
Crystal-RX said:
This is about right. Another way is local craigslist where you can look, feel and test the Iphone before you buy. Since 3GS can be unlocked, it is cheaper just to buy a lock 3GS from craigslisters who is upgrading to the 4, and then unlock it yourself. The cost probably about $50 lower or so.
Click to expand...

You can't even get a working 2g for less than $80, unless you're lucky.
 
Crystal-RX said:
This is about right. Another way is local craigslist where you can look, feel and test the Iphone before you buy. Since 3GS can be unlocked, it is cheaper just to buy a lock 3GS from craigslisters who is upgrading to the 4, and then unlock it yourself. The cost probably about $50 lower or so.
Click to expand...

This is basically what I did, I just didn't realize that if the owner had updated it to 4.3.1 it'd have an baseband that couldn't be unlocked.

Are there factory unlocked 3GSs on ebay for $300? I might do that, but I didn't see any in the sea of iphones, haha...
 
drummr said:
You can't even get a working 2g for less than $80, unless you're lucky.
Click to expand...

Sorry if my post is not clear. What I am saying is the locked 3GS is cheaper than the unlocked and the cost different is around $50. I did not say it is $50 for a 3GS. I am not that crazy.
 
mds said:
This is basically what I did, I just didn't realize that if the owner had updated it to 4.3.1 it'd have an baseband that couldn't be unlocked.

Are there factory unlocked 3GSs on ebay for $300? I might do that, but I didn't see any in the sea of iphones, haha...
Click to expand...

If you are not concerning about GPS at all, then you can buy any 3GS, then upgrade it to Ipad baseband and unlock it. Otherwise, you need to look for 3GS phone with baseband 05.13 or lower which can be unlocked with ultrasnow.

This baseband can be found on the iphone by;

Setting/general/about - then look at the bottom where it says "Modem firmware".
 
Crystal-RX said:
Sorry if my post is not clear. What I am saying is the locked 3GS is cheaper than the unlocked and the cost different is around $50. I did not say it is $50 for a 3GS. I am not that crazy.
Click to expand...

Ah gotcha, I guess I read it as $50 or lower. :eek:
 
It doesn't matter what the iOS is. All that matters is the bb. If the owner isn't ignorant, the information is there to keep the bb and still update to a new iOS.
ETA: A factory unlocked phone is always worth the money. Another option is to find someone who is carrier unlocked. This is where the phone was officially unlocked after finishing their carrier contract. In those cases, you would have to test the phone. It's possible the phone may not be more expensive than a software unlocked phone.
mds said:
This is basically what I did, I just didn't realize that if the owner had updated it to 4.3.1 it'd have an baseband that couldn't be unlocked.
Click to expand...
 
eastercat said:
It doesn't matter what the iOS is. All that matters is the bb. If the owner isn't ignorant, the information is there to keep the bb and still update to a new iOS.
ETA: A factory unlocked phone is always worth the money. Another option is to find someone who is carrier unlocked. This is where the phone was officially unlocked after finishing their carrier contract. In those cases, you would have to test the phone. It's possible the phone may not be more expensive than a software unlocked phone.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know the OS and BB are different, but I had enough trouble getting sellers to figure out if they had a G or GS. Getting them to figure out their Baseband is a whole nutha level, haha. What's the OS that had the highest unlockable BB? 4.1? Sometimes its easier to get that out of people over the phone than the BB...
 
mds said:
Yeah, I know the OS and BB are different, but I had enough trouble getting sellers to figure out if they had a G or GS. Getting them to figure out their Baseband is a whole nutha level, haha. What's the OS that had the highest unlockable BB? 4.1? Sometimes its easier to get that out of people over the phone than the BB...
Click to expand...

4.0 - 05.13 (unlockable)
4.1 - 05-14 ( Not unlockable)
4.2.1 - 05-15 (Not unlockable)
4.3.1 - 05-16 (Not unlockable)
 
Crystal-RX said:
4.0 - 05.13 (unlockable)
4.1 - 05-14 ( Not unlockable)
4.2.1 - 05-15 (Not unlockable)
4.3.1 - 05-16 (Not unlockable)
Click to expand...

Hmm...thanks! Seems like my best bet is probably finding another phone that has either already been unlocked (and therefore has an appropriate BB, right?) or has 4.0 or earlier. Took me awhile to track down the phone I just got...bah! hahha

Thanks guys!
 
mds said:
Hmm...thanks! Seems like my best bet is probably finding another phone that has either already been unlocked (and therefore has an appropriate BB, right?) or has 4.0 or earlier. Took me awhile to track down the phone I just got...bah! hahha

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

There is alternative to unlock 3G/3GS with baseband higher than 05.13 if you don't care about GPS functionality which is installing Ipad baseband 06.15.

You just have to decide for yourself.

Good luck!
 
Crystal-RX said:
There is alternative to unlock 3G/3GS with baseband higher than 05.13 if you don't care about GPS functionality which is installing Ipad baseband 06.15.

You just have to decide for yourself.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Hmmm....I would like the GPS to work, especially since I'm travelling...is there a likelihood that at some point the GPS functionality will be fixed? Seems like Apple does a good job of keeping this stuff protected...
 
Case in point with the difficulty buying an unlockable phone: I just traded 6 emails with a guy selling a phone trying to convince him I needed to know the baseband...he kept going 'its unlocked already' and I had to make him look it up. 6.15. Happened 3 times this afternoon...super annoying! haha...i guess that is how it goes when you're trying to cheat the system, haha......
 
mds said:
Case in point with the difficulty buying an unlockable phone: I just traded 6 emails with a guy selling a phone trying to convince him I needed to know the baseband...he kept going 'its unlocked already' and I had to make him look it up. 6.15. Happened 3 times this afternoon...super annoying! haha...i guess that is how it goes when you're trying to cheat the system, haha......
Click to expand...

Lol :D
Figures.
Its unlocked but forgot to mention a minor detail. The GPS dont work....
 
Is the 6.15 baseband guaranteed to lose your GPS functionality. I thought it was written as there have been people losing it, so assume it would go..but you may get lucky?

I'm going to do the jump to 6.15 around same time to OP as I'm going travelling then..
 
Yeah I had that problem once or twice where the seller didnt know if it was a 3g or a 3gs, listing os and bb version is incomprehensible to them. That or they are a scammer playing dumb. Just skip over them, plenty out there.
 
Okay, so I found a guy selling a phone that said this:

"It's already unlocked and running on 4.3.1 firmware (the most up to date) so this shouldn't be a problem for you. I've traveled with it to Australia and Canada and it's been fine.

The model number is MB715LL
The modem firmware number is 05.16.02"

Is this possible? I don't understand how it could be unlocked and at 05.16.02. Any thoughts?
 
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