[art_director]

First, I do not have an iPhone yet. I started this thread to assemble lock / unlock info for sharing amongst us MacNN folk as the iPhone becomes more widely available and, dare I say, hacked into being unlocked. My guess is that will happen by Sunday, July 1, 2007 at the latest.

WHAT DOES 'LOCKED' MEAN? -- When a GSM device like the iPhone is sold through a mobile carrier like AT&T Wingular it's typically locked. Carriers do this because they often subsidize the handsets. Since they make the investment they want to ensure you don't take the phone to another carrier befire the terms of your contract are satisfied. Some carriers, like T-Mobile in the US, will give you the unlock code after the first 90 days of service. Others, like AT&T Wingular will never give you the unlock code. Once the phone is unlocked it can be used on any GSM / GPRS network in the world. All you need is a valid SIM card from the chosen carrier and you're in service.

WILL THE iPHONE EVER BE UNLOCKED? -- You can count on it. Like I said in my intro paragraph, my guess is some crafty individual will have one unlocked by this Sunday. In time Apple will probably open the iPhone up and offer unlocked units.

HOW IS A PHONE UNLOCKED? -- Going the intended route you use a code supplied by the carrier to unlock a device. When the carrier and the handset manufacturer do not allow you must find a way around it. Often that's a software solution. PoccketPC phones, like the MDA and others, can be easily unlocked for free with a third party app developed by a group of enthusiasts. I suspect the iPhone will have people unlocking them for profit initially. BEWARE if you try any service that requires you to send your precious iPhone in for unlocking. It's a common scam to get your phone from your hands. Rest assured you may never see it again.


• If you have an iPhone please try a SIM card from a different carrier (e.g. T-Mobile) in the device. Then post what happens. And add some screen grabs if you can.

[freudling]

I am getting so tired of people talking about unlocking phones like this is something magical or new. Europeans and Asians having been hacking and unlocking phones for 20 years. It is simple: you plug x mobile phone into computer (usb with adapter). Computer has a software app on it that reads the phone's firmware and presents all this info in a window, including the code to unlock the phone. You simply unlock it with the code and presto, you can put whatever SIM you want in there.

I have seen this done many times. It takes 5 seconds.

[art_director]

Precisely why I put the info in my initial post.

So, are you certain it can be done with an iPhone -- not just phone service, but other fuinctionality? That's the crux of it for me.

[freudling]

You will lose some functionality. Visual voicemail for one.

[neps]

i'm not affilated with them - but I'm posting this to hear others experience.

while on line at 5th ave (40 minutes on a four block long line! waited 20x longer for a wii!) was handed a card to Unlock Your Apple iPhone - iPhoneUnlocking

when I got home their unlock number was 400, now its over 700. anyone have experience? i'm also curious where they are making their profit. seems shady, but I signed up.

neil

[analogue SPRINKLES]

So will it be possible to buy the phone and unlock it before you activate it on At&T and then have to break the contract?

[Andy8]

Do you have to sign anything to walk in and buy an iPhone?

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by freudling 

I am getting so tired of people talking about unlocking phones like this is something magical or new. Europeans and Asians having been hacking and unlocking phones for 20 years. It is simple: you plug x mobile phone into computer (usb with adapter). Computer has a software app on it that reads the phone's firmware and presents all this info in a window, including the code to unlock the phone. You simply unlock it with the code and presto, you can put whatever SIM you want in there.

I have seen this done many times. It takes 5 seconds.

So then tell us how to do it for the iPhone, and us dum 'mericans will shut up about this mystical European thing that you do.

And while you're at it, explain how you activate iTunes so it syncs properly without the AT&T contract.

Thanks.

[Eug]

This is interesting, but we in Canada would be limited by a few things with unlocked AT&T iPhones:

1) iTunes. (Not just in Canada.)
2) Stoopid-high data costs.
3) Slow EDGE speeds.

Originally Posted by freudling 

I am getting so tired of people talking about unlocking phones like this is something magical or new. Europeans and Asians having been hacking and unlocking phones for 20 years. It is simple: you plug x mobile phone into computer (usb with adapter). Computer has a software app on it that reads the phone's firmware and presents all this info in a window, including the code to unlock the phone. You simply unlock it with the code and presto, you can put whatever SIM you want in there.

I have seen this done many times. It takes 5 seconds.

Translated: "I have never seen an iPhone unlocked, and don't actually know what's involved with unlocking an iPhone or with using an unlocked iPhone."

[mrogov]

any more details? you have an image of the card? has anyone yet gotten a key for this? and how would one enter it, if so? Did anyone try the *#06# press on the handset to see that IMEI number? Does at least that work?

[freudling]

Eug:

What are you talking about?

THROUGH THE APPLICATION ON YOUR COMPUTER YOU TAKE CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE PHONE, and can unlock it from there. Any big city will have several cell phone stores who will unlock your phone. I know of one place just down the street that does it for 15 bucks a phone. I saw people lined up in front of the kiosk there the other day.

I have personally got a handful of cell phones unlocked. The application most people use looks like DOS, and a few commands are entered which resets your phone and unlocks it. The last time I did it, the phone was connected to the computer via usb, the firmware data was showing on the screen on the computer that person had in front of them, and he entered 1 command, and then pushed the hard reset button on the phone. The phone was then unlocked. I can use any SIM I want in it.

The point is you can't just unlock the phone yourself, unless you have the software to do it.

As for syncing, I have no idea if that will work after you unlock, although the basics should. Getting contracts with unlocked phones? I have done it before. I have an unlocked Motorola Razr and am using it just fine.

[Judge_Fire]

I would suspect the software side, including firmware, on an Apple phone to be a bit more challenging to hack. It might be doing checks from the OS side to verify the integrity of the firmware, for example, so you'd have to tweak the OS, too.

But yeah, let's see how long it takes.

[freudling]

Here is a mailing list for all those wishing to have theirs unlocked.

iphoneunlocked

[Graymalkin]

freudling, you don't seem to understand. Unlocking an iPhone is nothing like unlocking a normal cell phone. Software wise most GSM phones are pretty generic save for a few features the mobile provider will customize (applications, wallpapers, ringtones). They're designed to be shipped to a number of mobile providers and so have a pretty standard procedure for locking/unlocking. When all else fails the stock OEM firmware can be loaded on the phone which removes all existing SIM/network locks.

The iPhone is not such a phone. The current version is only sold for AT&T and there's no custom firmware AT&T uses for the phone. There's only Apple's firmware available and Apple's firmware is currently locked onto using AT&T. The iPhone is also not using an OEM baseband like many phones do so the standard ROM-overwrite techniques that might work with typical phones using an off-the-shelf basebands aren't going to work.

[freudling]

Graymalkin:

I sent you a PM.

[croozn]

Originally Posted by freudling 

I am getting so tired of people talking about unlocking phones like this is something magical or new. Europeans and Asians having been hacking and unlocking phones for 20 years. It is simple: you plug x mobile phone into computer (usb with adapter). Computer has a software app on it that reads the phone's firmware and presents all this info in a window, including the code to unlock the phone. You simply unlock it with the code and presto, you can put whatever SIM you want in there.

I have seen this done many times. It takes 5 seconds.

You have the disadvantage of not having a clue what you are talking about.

You cannot unlock an iPhone. But if some wizard gets THAT far...

You cannot ACCESS THE SIM CARD on an iPhone...so even if you "unlocked" it, you cannot switch it to another network.

It is thus at least "double locked" and this has never been done before. There is no old school way around it.

If you buy one of these on EBay, you are HOSED for about $1,000 and there is nothing you can do about it.

Last, as I understand, even if you bought it and planned on using it on AT&T...you CANNOT. The original purchase was matched with that buyers credit card number, which must be entered on iTunes to set up the phone. So unless he gives you his credit card number (yeah, right), you cannot buy one of these from someone else.

This is not some average cell phone company, this is Apple. The old tricks don't work.

If you don't want AT&T (which would be smart of you) then what you can do is WAIT.

[croozn]

One more thing...

You can't even access the BATTERY on an iPhone! When the battery dies, you have to return it to Apple to have it replaced. I presume they were forced to this because they did not want to give even that much potential access to the SIM card (though there must have been a work-around for that, that's how they chose to go).

Open it up and you have a very slick looking box that will never do anything.

There's no software fix for that!!

[croozn]

Apologies. Turns out you can get the SIM out with a paperclip. But you still can't get around the iTunes and AT&T requirement.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by freudling 

Eug:

What are you talking about?

THROUGH THE APPLICATION ON YOUR COMPUTER YOU TAKE CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE PHONE, and can unlock it from there. Any big city will have several cell phone stores who will unlock your phone. I know of one place just down the street that does it for 15 bucks a phone. I saw people lined up in front of the kiosk there the other day.

I have personally got a handful of cell phones unlocked. The application most people use looks like DOS, and a few commands are entered which resets your phone and unlocks it. The last time I did it, the phone was connected to the computer via usb, the firmware data was showing on the screen on the computer that person had in front of them, and he entered 1 command, and then pushed the hard reset button on the phone. The phone was then unlocked. I can use any SIM I want in it.

The point is you can't just unlock the phone yourself, unless you have the software to do it.

As for syncing, I have no idea if that will work after you unlock, although the basics should. Getting contracts with unlocked phones? I have done it before. I have an unlocked Motorola Razr and am using it just fine.

Je repete...

Translated: "I have never seen an iPhone unlocked, and don't actually know what's involved with unlocking an iPhone or with using an unlocked iPhone."

You continue to repeat the completely obvious... and missing the point.

For the record, I live in Toronto, where a bazillion GSM phones get unlocked every day. Also, the last several phones I have owned were completely unlocked too. ie. In general, getting standard GSM phones unlocked and using them are not particularly interesting feats. In fact, my very first GSM phone... PURCHASED ALMOST 10 YEARS AGO... was unlocked.

The problem is that the iPhone is not a standard GSM phone in terms of its activation and syncing process.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by croozn 

You have the disadvantage of not having a clue what you are talking about.

[...]

You cannot ACCESS THE SIM CARD on an iPhone...so even if you "unlocked" it, you cannot switch it to another network.