iPhone, iPad, iPod Forums at iMore.com

[Irish Rose]

Just placed an order with Apple for the unlocked GSM iPhone 4S. I have never bought an unlocked iPhone from Apple so I have a few questions for those of you that have.

1) When my unlocked 4S arrives can I just pop my AT&T (post paid) and T-Mobile (prepaid) SIM cards into it and it will work right away? Or do I have to call my carriers and get them to activate it?

2) If I jailbreak the 4S and later decide to undo it by restoring via iTunes will it remove the unlock? I have heard that some people who bought theirs unlocked from eBay had issues with upgrading the OS. I was hoping that I could avoid this by purchasing it directly from Apple.

3) Is there any downside to using a 4S that's unlocked, such as no support from AT&T or T-Mobile? I did purchase AppleCare + just in case. I was glad to see that Apple also offers this on their unlocked iPhones as well.


Thanks for any help you can offer me.





Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk.

[Garz]

I will be honest with you... I would just call and ask a Apple rep. You will get the correct answers. Also, I wouldnt want to use At&t for support in my wildest dreams. Apple Care is so much nicer and much more knowledgeable.

[juan2three]

Originally Posted by Irish Rose

Just placed an order with Apple for the unlocked GSM iPhone 4S. I have never bought an unlocked iPhone from Apple so I have a few questions for those of you that have.

1) When my unlocked 4S arrives can I just pop my AT&T (post paid) and T-Mobile (prepaid) SIM cards into it and it will work right away? Or do I have to call my carriers and get them to activate it?

2) If I jailbreak the 4S and later decide to undo it by restoring via iTunes will it remove the unlock? I have heard that some people who bought theirs unlocked from eBay had issues with upgrading the OS. I was hoping that I could avoid this by purchasing it directly from Apple.

3) Is there any downside to using a 4S that's unlocked, such as no support from AT&T or T-Mobile? I did purchase AppleCare + just in case. I was glad to see that Apple also offers this on their unlocked iPhones as well.


Thanks for any help you can offer me.


Click to view quoted image



Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk.

Activation will occur with either SIM and you will only need to activate once. This is a factory unlocked iPhone straight from Apple, so, you should have no problems upgrading, downgrading, or jailbreaking. And if you should encounter a problem, there is no reason Apple won't help you out. (as long as you return your iPhone to a stock OS.)

People who have bought unlocked iPhones on eBay and lost their unlocks when upgrading were either; scammed into thinking their iPhones were factory unlocked, or didn't heed the sellers warnings to NOT upgrade the OS.

You'll be fine!

[XM_JDM]

I can answer this for you. I bought 2.

When you open the box connect it to iTunes. It will then contact the Apple server and you will then be met with a message saying that your phone has been unlocked. Easy as that.

The lock is permanent and will not undo when jailbreaking or with software updates. Factory unlocked means it will remain that way. Period.

T-Mobile will give you support when it comes to settings. That is really it. Also T-Mobile does sell micro SIM cards. Just stop in and ask for one.

MMS is the only thing that does not work on an unlocked iPhone 4S.

[ghostface147]

Originally Posted by XM_JDM

MMS is the only thing that does not work on an unlocked iPhone 4S.

For AT&T or t-mobile. I know two ATT factory unlocked phones who get MMS messages.

[Oliverg109]

The best thing I can tell you is this: you have an iPhone 4S unlocked you do not have to worry about it locking or anything of that nature. I have had maybe around 15 of these and I can say that they all work with ATT and T-mobile with no issue. Another thing is that you will not get MMS or 3G with T-mobile. Restoring the phone will have no effect on the lock of the phone.

[XM_JDM]

For T-Mobile

[juan2three]

Originally Posted by XM_JDM

MMS is the only thing that does not work on an unlocked iPhone 4S.

Originally Posted by Oliverg109

Another thing is that you will not get MMS with T-mobile.

Since when? I've had both an iPhone 3G and a 3GS on T-Mobile and MMS worked just fine. All I had to do was enter the appropriate T-Mobile MMS settings.

[Oliverg109]

Originally Posted by juan2three

Since when? I've had both an iPhone 3G and a 3GS on T-Mobile and MMS worked just fine. All I had to do was enter the appropriate T-Mobile MMS settings.

You might be right about the settings, I just never even bothered in looking for it. I know for sure it doesn't work of the bat. I sent a MMS to my friend yesterday and never got it, and he has t-mobile on the unlocked 4S

[juan2three]

Originally Posted by Oliverg109

You might be right about the settings, I just never even bothered in looking for it. I know for sure it doesn't work of the bat. I sent a MMS to my friend yesterday and never got it, and he has t-mobile on the unlocked 4S

Yeah, unlocked iPhones give you access to the APN Settings screen under Network settings. There you can edit APN info for your carrier which gives you your data connection, and MMS setting.

I used "epc.t-mobile.com" for data, and "wap.voicestream.com" for MMS; along with some other generic T-Mobile MMS settings which I don't remember now. The only thing was that pictures I received were resized to a ridiculously small size because T-Mobile did not recognize the iPhone as a phone approved for it's network. But, yeah; MMS definitely works on T-mo, even if the pictures are more pixelated than a QVGA display.