Clarification on unlocked iphone in canada (and international) annoucement

[Enders]

I realized how awesome this is but how does it work exactly?

Say come mid July I get an iPhone 4 at Bell ( or any of the big 3) will it be unlocked from the get-go whether I am getting it with or without contract? Or can I ONLY get an unlocked from from Apple directly?

Also if I get an iPhone 4 unlocked as announced from Apple and then choose my carrier does it lock me to that carrier as a result and would it require me to jump through hoops to get it re-unlocked.

I'm hoping that all of the iPhones 4 that get into Canada regardless of whatever I choose to do, remain unlocked no matter what.


thanks for any clarifications

 

[Jellotime91]

Buying from carrier with subsidy = locked to that carrier. And no they will not unlock it when your contract ends or if you pay ETF.

Buying directly from Apple with no subsidy = unlocked.

Further, when a phone comes hardware unlocked like these phones will from Apple, nothing is going to lock them.

 

[Enders]

Buying from carrier with subsidy = locked to that carrier. And no they will not unlock it when your contract ends or if you pay ETF.

Buying directly from Apple with no subsidy = unlocked.

Okay so basically anything iPhone coming out from one of the 3 carriers' stores, subsidy or not is locked. Giving zero reasons to purchase a non-subsidized iPhone from anyone except Apple directly.

Is there any way for either of the Carriers (Bell,Rogers,Telus, Virgin) to surreptitiously lock our iPhone 4's without our knowledge once we chose one of them for service?

thanks for the answers Jello

 

[iphoneedmonton]

Buying from carrier with subsidy = locked to that carrier. And no they will not unlock it when your contract ends or if you pay ETF.

Are you sure of this? I think we need more information because Apple has unlocked phones for people overseas when their contracts have expired or when they've paid to get out of their contracts. I should clarify, it's only in countries that also sell unlocked phones. So you might be able to get Apple to unlock it for you once your contract ends.
You may be right, I'd just like to hear more from Apple on this issue.

 

[Ipheuria]

unlock me from the shackles

If you buy from a carrier it is not in their best interest to sell you an unlocked phone because you can jump ship to another carrier later. In Europe the laws are a little different and carriers are required to always offer customers unlocked phones they can use without contract or something to that effect. Once the phone is locked to a carrier it's not easy to unlock which is why there are tons of threads about the baseband upgrade making unlocking not possible. The other phones it's a simple matter of putting in an unlock code based on the IMEI but it is not so with the iPhone.

What I want to know is since you can buy the phone from Apple unlocked and iOS 4 has a toggle to turn off cellular data I wonder if you would be able to use the phone without a data plan?? I think that would certainly make the carriers charge a little more fairly.

 

[Jellotime91]

Are you sure of this? I think we need more information because Apple has unlocked phones for people overseas when their contracts have expired or when they've paid to get out of their contracts. I should clarify, it's only in countries that also sell unlocked phones. So you might be able to get Apple to unlock it for you once your contract ends.
You may be right, I'd just like to hear more from Apple on this issue.

Countries where the CARRIERS also sell unlocked phones... Canadian carriers do not sell unlocked phones. Off contract sure, but not unlocked.

And yes I'm sure of it. Trust me, no Canadian carrier is giving out a GSM iPhone 4 unlocked when there are 4 alternative carriers their customers could use it on.

 

[killthelights32]

And with the Canadian carriers, they will not send your IMEI to Apple to have unlocked. I tried calling my carrier (TELUS) since I paid for the phone full price and I was heading to Manitoba which currently is a huge dead zone except for Winnipeg. They told me flat out no.

A friend of mine phoned his carrier (ROGERS) as he is going to Europe for a couple of weeks and Rogers only offered to unlock the phone for the time he is in Europe. Once he returns Rogers will relock the phone.

Greedy greedy our carriers are. At least when I get a new iPhone I can get an unlocked one.

 

[BuddhistGirafe]

Ya. There is no way any carrier in Canada will unlock the iPhone or sell a hardware unlocked iPhone. It simply defeats the purpose of the subsidy. Buying with a no contract price for a phone of this magnitude and price is literally the stupidest thing any Canadian cell owner could ever do. You are still locked to the carrier. And have to get a plan somewhere along the lines anyway. It's just useless to attempt to buy it without a contract to get it unlocked.

 

[marketsqhero]

Here in the UK it's different. O2 will unlock any iPhone for free if on contract or for ?15 if on prepay. Obviously you still need to pay off the contract if you've got it subsidised but it does mean you can take the phone abroad and use a different SIM in it.

As of iPhone4 this is no longer an issue if buying from Apple however I don't think anyone knows yet whether the phones from the carriers will be locked. There doesn't seem much point if you can get them unlocked legally anyway.

So I'm taking a guess that ALL 4s will be unlocked in the UK and if you buy them from a carrier you'll still pay the same price as one from Apple if you want it off contract.