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Will AT&T unlock an out of contract phone?

B

Becact

macrumors member
Original poster
How does this work? The person in the store told me it's illegal for carriers to unlock phones, which seems dumb, but I do remember reading something about it last year.

If ATT won't do it, what's the cheapest/free/easiest way to unlock an ATT phone?
 
Swiftunlocks.com is really good. I unlocked my AT&T iPhone 5 as well as 5S with them. It's only $2 and they did it within a couple hours.
 
Supposed to be it's illegal for a third party to unlock phones.

Yes, ATT can do it but you have to jump through hoops. When I did the upgrade swap with my iPhone 5 last year, requesting it through the ATT website didn't work so I had to call and speak to a rep to do it at their end.
 
I requested an iPhone 5 unlock via the AT&T website on the same day I did an early upgrade to the 5s (9/20). AT&T unlocked the phone a few hours later and I sold it on eBay that night. Couldn't have been any easier.
 
I see that swiftunlocks needs me to use my working SIM, which I'm using in my new 5S. Will using the SIM in the old 5 I want to unlock mess up the SIM or flag it with ATT or anything? The site isn't that descriptive on how it works
 
Google is a great tool for things other than email, for example it's great for searching the web for info.

Typing "AT&T phone unlock" into Google.com provides several search hits, the very first one is a link to the instructions from AT&T on how to ask them to unlock your phone or tablet.

Unlock your AT&T wireless phone or tablet

If you're off contract it's fall off a log simple with no hoops. Fill out the form. Wait a day or so. Receive the instructions in your email. Follow the instructions. Done.

I've done this for a couple of iphones on my account that were out of contract. No muss, no fuss, no cost.
 
wenstinator said:
I requested an iPhone 5 unlock via the AT&T website on the same day I did an early upgrade to the 5s (9/20). AT&T unlocked the phone a few hours later and I sold it on eBay that night. Couldn't have been any easier.
Click to expand...

Did you need to leave the SIM in the phone? How does it get the data from ATT? The phone has no SIM currently...
 
deeddawg said:
Google is a great tool for things other than email, for example it's great for searching the web for info.

Typing "AT&T phone unlock" into Google.com provides several search hits, the very first one is a link to the instructions from AT&T on how to ask them to unlock your phone or tablet.

Unlock your AT&T wireless phone or tablet

If you're off contract it's fall off a log simple with no hoops. Fill out the form. Wait a day or so. Receive the instructions in your email. Follow the instructions. Done.

I've done this for a couple of iphones on my account that were out of contract. No muss, no fuss, no cost.
Click to expand...

No need to be condescending, this is an iphone forum after all. I'm not sure they'll see my old 5 as out of contract, since I used a cross upgrade to get the 5s... But I'll give it a shot! 🙂
 
Becact said:
No need to be condescending, this is an iphone forum after all.
Click to expand...

I was going for snarky, this is MacRumors after all... Oh well. 😀

Might be worth a call to cust svc and go for the "I'm travelling out of country" story. I'm not sure an iphone5 will have "aged" enough on the account to be eligible without an override.

$2 to Swiftunlocks may be the better option when you factor the cost of your time.
 
Has anyone unlocked a phone on a business account? I am using my company's discount and I keep receiving rejects.
 
Thanks all. I just ended up using swiftunlocks for $2. Curious to see how it works. Even if it's a total scam I'm only out $2.
 
Becact said:
Thanks all. I just ended up using swiftunlocks for $2. Curious to see how it works. Even if it's a total scam I'm only out $2.
Click to expand...

It works trust me, I did it this morning for my 5S. When you check your order and it says Unlocked, just go to iTunes and restore the phone and it'll say Congrats, your iPhone is unlocked or something like that.
 
deeddawg said:
...

Unlock your AT&T wireless phone or tablet

If you're off contract it's fall off a log simple with no hoops. Fill out the form. Wait a day or so. Receive the instructions in your email. Follow the instructions. Done.
...
Click to expand...
Deeddawg, thank you for the post. Questions: 1. can I use any computer to go att site to fill the unlock request form? or I must use the iphone to do that? 2. the email address you type in the form must be the one associated with the att account for the iphone? or I can enter any of my new email address (as long as I can receive the instruction)? 3. Can you briefly describe the instructions att sent you to unlock? will it be all same/similar to all iphone users? or for same iphone models? Thanks
 
Becact said:
How does this work? The person in the store told me it's illegal for carriers to unlock phones, which seems dumb, but I do remember reading something about it last year.

If ATT won't do it, what's the cheapest/free/easiest way to unlock an ATT phone?
Click to expand...

ATT will unlock any off-contract phone. I got my 4S unlocked thru them the day my contract expired.

https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/termsAndCondition

You can use any of these 3rd party sites, but like everyone is saying, its technically illegal lol. If you can get it legally unlocked thru ATT, i dont see why not.

Just go to that link i gave you, enter all your info, and you'll get the email within 24 hours.

----------
Becact said:
No need to be condescending, this is an iphone forum after all. I'm not sure they'll see my old 5 as out of contract, since I used a cross upgrade to get the 5s... But I'll give it a shot! 🙂
Click to expand...

If you upgraded a line, then your old phone automatically is eligible for unlock after 14 days (return period for your new phone) is up.

AT&T tracks the IMEI of all phones associated with its accounts.
 
fiat said:
Deeddawg, thank you for the post. Questions: 1. can I use any computer to go att site to fill the unlock request form? or I must use the iphone to do that? 2. the email address you type in the form must be the one associated with the att account for the iphone? or I can enter any of my new email address (as long as I can receive the instruction)? 3. Can you briefly describe the instructions att sent you to unlock? will it be all same/similar to all iphone users? or for same iphone models? Thanks
Click to expand...

(1) I didn't need to use my phone to go to the website, just used a computer. Don't remember if it was my home laptop or work laptop.

(2) No idea. I used the same email since it's a junk address I use for various vendors. I have no reason to think they care what email address you use.

(3) Same for any iphone AFAIK. Here's the email:

Thank you for contacting AT&T Customer Care about unlocking your Apple device.

We have reviewed your request and confirmed that the device may be unlocked.

Please allow 24 hours upon receipt of this notification to complete the unlock process.

To complete the unlock, simply

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC and verify that you have Internet connectivity.

2. Ensure a SIM card is inserted into your iPhone.

3. Connect your iPhone using the dock connector to USB cable that came with your iPhone.

4. Backup and restore your iPhone using iTunes. For information on backup and restore, please visit http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414.

5. After restoring, your iPhone will be unlocked.

Additional information on unlocking can be found at http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3198

You may also check the status of your unlock request by clicking the link for AT&T's Device Unlock Status Portal which is www.att.com/deviceunlockstatus.

For questions regarding AT&T's wireless service and device, please visit the Phone/Device Learning Center.

We thank you for your continued business.

Sincerely,
AT&T Customer Care Team
Click to expand...
 
I want to play the "I'm traveling out of country card" before I try my luck with third party unlockers.

However, I have a few concerns:

1. I couldn't find US iPhone unlocks on swiftunlocks.com. Only Canada, Germany, AUS and France

2. Say I get the phone unlocked (from AT&T or third-party). When I upgrade my phone after two years (to say iPhone 6S 😛), would I have to go through the same procedure to unlock it? Or does the "unlock flag" carry over?

Thanks!
 
deeddawg said:
Google is a great tool for things other than email, for example it's great for searching the web for info.

Typing "AT&T phone unlock" into Google.com provides several search hits, the very first one is a link to the instructions from AT&T on how to ask them to unlock your phone or tablet.

Unlock your AT&T wireless phone or tablet

If you're off contract it's fall off a log simple with no hoops. Fill out the form. Wait a day or so. Receive the instructions in your email. Follow the instructions. Done.

I've done this for a couple of iphones on my account that were out of contract. No muss, no fuss, no cost.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily true. I used their web portal four times & went thru three chat sessions before someone was actually able to get my old 4s lined up for it's unlock. The system kept confusing it with the 5s & had just picked up & was refusing the unlock. Once they put a case thru proper channels, I got my magical email a day later. Just need to post it up on CL or eBay & get it off to it's new home.
 
Last edited:
RyanDe680 said:
Has anyone unlocked a phone on a business account? I am using my company's discount and I keep receiving rejects.
Click to expand...

I was able to do this,but only because my company switched from ATT to T-Mobile. I bought it at the discounted price, had it on an ATT line for 3-4 months, and then they ported it to T-Mobile. I submitted a web request and after hearing nothing after 12 business days, I called and they took care of it right then. Have it activated on my T-Mobile line now.
 
If, for some reason you can't use the website and you are an existing AT&T customer, you can call them to submit the request on your behalf. I recently called to have a MiFi unlocked and the quoted turnaround is 48 hours.
 
Becact said:
How does this work? The person in the store told me it's illegal for carriers to unlock phones, which seems dumb, but I do remember reading something about it last year.

If ATT won't do it, what's the cheapest/free/easiest way to unlock an ATT phone?
Click to expand...

Out of contract phones can be unlocked by AT&T freely. AT&T will even help you out.
 
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