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Will current iPhone 4's get unlocked in iOS5? iPhone 5?

definitive

definitive

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 4, 2008
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So it's nice too see that Apple is finally selling unlocked iPhones but for those of us who don't care about paying the premium, will we get our phones unlocked as well through the next iOS update? Will the iPhone 5 come unlocked on a 2 year contract too?
 
1. An iOS update cannot and will not unlock your phone.
2. If you buy a phone on a contract (subsidy), it will be locked to whatever carrier it's on. You will never get an unlocked cell phone with a contract.
 
We might, MIGHT* see something along the lines of ATT being forced to give you codes (or doing the actual unlocking) after you have fulfilled your contract if there is enough of an uproar from now until the iPhone 5 is launched.

In the past, a combination of class action lawsuits, irate customer complaints, and bad press have forced the hand of ATT to do the "better" thing (I won't say "right" thing because they're still a long ways off from that).

5 years ago ATT didn't unlock any phones, but now due to a combo of the aforementioned factors, they do unlock most phones after your contract is up. The iPhone will probably start to fall into this category now, but don't bet on an overnight reversal of policy.

*This might must be construed very narrowly, lest you get your hopes up.
 
I'm pretty sure everything stays the same except that if you want an unlocked iPhone, you need to buy it for $650, $750.
 
iOS can't unlock your phone. What determines if it's unlocked depends on whether your IMEI number on Apple's servers is listed under 'locked to carrier' or 'unlocked'

That and/or you hack it via JB.
 
Really wish AT&T was cool and would let you just pay a small fee to have them unlock it.

Our UK friends have it much better..........:rolleyes:
 
Now that Apple has started selling unlocked iPhone 4's, has anyone contacted AT&T today with a request to unlock?
 
The reason we only pay $200/$300 is because it's locked to a carrier.

I am willing to entertain the idea the iPhone 5 will be sold unlocked from Apple, but it will probably cost close to a grand.
 
Daveoc64 said:
No. That's because you agree to maintain a contract for 24 months.

The phone being unlocked does not remove your obligation under the contract to keep paying AT&T.
Click to expand...

That is true, but in countries where Apple sells unlocked iPhones, buying an iPhone through carrier with subsidy, the carrier has control whether they want to unlock it or not, not Apple.
 
Sorry did I miss this? Is US Apple stores selling "unlocked" iphone4 now?

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums
 
definitive said:
So it's nice too see that Apple is finally selling unlocked iPhones but for those of us who don't care about paying the premium, will we get our phones unlocked as well through the next iOS update? Will the iPhone 5 come unlocked on a 2 year contract too?
Click to expand...

Are US Apple stores selling factory unlocked iphones (iphone4) now?

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums
 
profets said:
That is true, but in countries where Apple sells unlocked iPhones, buying an iPhone through carrier with subsidy, the carrier has control whether they want to unlock it or not, not Apple.
Click to expand...

Of course.

dukebound85 said:
But what about after ones contract is up? So far, they haven't been unlocking them once your contract is finished. Perhaps that will change now?
Click to expand...

Totally up to AT&T.

The point I made was that the phone does not need to be locked for the carrier to subsidise it.
 
CalBoy said:
We might, MIGHT* see something along the lines of ATT being forced to give you codes (or doing the actual unlocking) after you have fulfilled your contract if there is enough of an uproar from now until the iPhone 5 is launched.
Click to expand...

There are European laws that actually force European carriers to do that.. I don't think any of this applies to the US. That could explain why every customer who has his or her contract over still doesn't receive any unlocking codes from AT&T.

In the past, a combination of class action lawsuits, irate customer complaints, and bad press have forced the hand of ATT to do the "better" thing (I won't say "right" thing because they're still a long ways off from that).
Click to expand...

Did anyone really go as far as lawsuits for an iPhone unlock?

5 years ago ATT didn't unlock any phones, but now due to a combo of the aforementioned factors, they do unlock most phones after your contract is up. The iPhone will probably start to fall into this category now, but don't bet on an overnight reversal of policy.
Click to expand...

I haven't heard from a single person who has had their iPhone unlocked from AT&T, so saying 'most phones are unlocked' is a loooong shot. Of course, the fact that I haven't heard any of this doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I would go for a negative on this one, though. Likewise, the fact that Apple is releasing iPhones that are not tied to a carrier (and are therefore "unlocked".. though this is the wrong term, as they were never locked in the first place) doesn't mean that iPhone 5s will come out unlocked. Quite the opposite, if locks are there it's for a reason. AT&T subsidized phones will still be locked to AT&T. This is just a way of Apple of offering their hardware to customers who don't feel like accessing it through carrier contracts.
 
ratzzo said:
Did anyone really go as far as lawsuits for an iPhone unlock?
Click to expand...

A class action lawsuit was recently settled, but ATT refused to unlock the iPhone in the settlement.

I haven't heard from a single person who has had their iPhone unlocked from AT&T, so saying 'most phones are unlocked' is a loooong shot. Of course, the fact that I haven't heard any of this doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I would go for a negative on this one, though. Likewise, the fact that Apple is releasing iPhones that are not tied to a carrier (and are therefore "unlocked".. though this is the wrong term, as they were never locked in the first place) doesn't mean that iPhone 5s will come out unlocked. Quite the opposite, if locks are there it's for a reason. AT&T subsidized phones will still be locked to AT&T. This is just a way of Apple of offering their hardware to customers who don't feel like accessing it through carrier contracts.
Click to expand...

I wrote "most phones" not "most iPhones" for a reason. ATT will unlock other phones, so long as ATT has exclusivity within the US for less than 10 months. The iPhone is practically the only phone that falls under this category.
 
I called

martiansoldier said:
Now that Apple has started selling unlocked iPhone 4's, has anyone contacted AT&T today with a request to unlock?
Click to expand...

I just called and they say they don't unlock phones. Period. I quote: "iPhones sold by AT&T are designed to work with AT&T exclusively". My 2 year contract expired last December and 3 months before that I purchased a new iPhone 4 (from Apple, not AT&T) without contract extention paying a full price of $730. This really sucks, it hasn't even been a year and now I am stuck with a $730 phone that cannot be unlocked :mad:. I think all of us whose contracts are expired should call AT&T at least 5 times and request to unlock their iPhones. That way they will notice a "movement". I told them I will now be considering switching carriers if I don't have flexibility for a full price. Next time I will call and request to speak to a Manager. Interesting to hear if someone else had experience calling At&T.
 
I'm sure someone will file a lawsuit and eventually ATT will "settle" and allow iphones to be unlocked. Too bad it doesn't have enough common sense to do it voluntarily and do it without being sued. They can charge $20-$50 for the unlock and make money that way but then again we are dealing with ATT so I'm sure it will require years of litigation to accomplish same result
 
awadeee said:
2. If you buy a phone on a contract (subsidy), it will be locked to whatever carrier it's on. You will never get an unlocked cell phone with a contract.
Click to expand...

Depends on the country and where you got it from.

The UK has at least one high street shop and potentially more online that will give you a unlocked phone despite it being subsidised and on a contract. When you sell a phone on 5 (or more) networks it makes sense to keep a large stock of the single unlocked/unbranded model than 5 or more separate models.

Even a couple of the UK networks are known to give out unlocked/unbranded phones (on contract, but not on PAYG).
 
Applejuiced said:
What about people like me that paid full price for the iphone 4 and its still locked to AT&T.
Would be nice if they unlocked them but Im not holding my breath...
Click to expand...

That sucks man.. We were lucky up here that by the iPhone 4 launch Apple was selling them unlocked, so those of us who bought full price from Apple had it unlocked from day 1.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Any of u AT&T guys wanna fire me your imei code over I wanna try something....
 
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