Unlocked iPhone 5

[Sophos]

Forgive me if this is a silly question.

I've heard that Apple is due to start selling unlocked IP5s "in the coming weeks". However, there are articles (http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/09/unlock-off-contract-att-iphone-5-for-free.html) claiming that AT&T IP5s bought at full retail can be immediately unlocked for free.

So my question is two fold:

1) Does anyone know if you have to be an existing AT&T customer for this to work?

2) Is there any difference between a "factory unlocked" iPhone and one that is carrier unlocked?

Thanks for your insight.


Cheers

 

[anon(4698833)]

Forgive me if this is a silly question.

I've heard that Apple is due to start selling unlocked IP5s "in the coming weeks". However, there are articles (Unlock Your Off-Contract AT&T iPhone 5 For Free Using iTunes) claiming that AT&T IP5s bought at full retail can be immediately unlocked for free.

So my question is two fold:

1) Does anyone know if you have to be an existing AT&T customer for this to work?

2) Is there any difference between a "factory unlocked" iPhone and one that is carrier unlocked?

Thanks for your insight.


Cheers

1.) You do not need to be an existing customer, though i will say that the AT&T stores have not been very good with stock lately (at least in my area) and you'd probably be better off going to an Apple store (since you'd essentially be doing the same thing). And yes, AT&T will unlock them for free...they have an online form that automates it now, but if you go on their website and start a chat session with them, you can explain the urgency and situation and i bet they'll help you out in real time.

2.) Factory unlocked phones are phones that come from Apple with no carrier lock...once a carrier unlocks a phone from you, it becomes the same as a factory unlocked phone.

 

[Sophos]

Thx Sean, appreciated.


Cheers

 

[anon(4698833)]

Not a problem...

 

[tharley46]

I did what "sophos" describe is his comment above. First thing I did was to backup to iCloud then proceeded to restore. It took a while but finally I got this screen and then it restore everything I had before restore.

 

[tharley46]

Forgot to mention, my phone was bought outright, AT&T does not own this phone

 

[fury]

A carrier unlock is not quite the same as a factory unlock. They keep a list of devices that are carrier unlocked. AT&T and Apple both told me, after I unlocked my iPhone 4, that I need to be near a WiFi hotspot or my computer to activate with a different SIM card, because it has to phone home to ask if it's still allowed to run a different sim. Not as simple as hot swapping a different SIM as with a factory unlocked phone.

Basically, I don't trust that it will stay unlocked. And there are complications when replacing the phone under warranty, you have to call them to get it unlocked again, etc.

 

[tharley46]

I unlocked by using iTunes

 

[ghostface147]

A carrier unlock is not quite the same as a factory unlock. They keep a list of devices that are carrier unlocked. AT&T and Apple both told me, after I unlocked my iPhone 4, that I need to be near a WiFi hotspot or my computer to activate with a different SIM card, because it has to phone home to ask if it's still allowed to run a different sim. Not as simple as hot swapping a different SIM as with a factory unlocked phone.

Basically, I don't trust that it will stay unlocked. And there are complications when replacing the phone under warranty, you have to call them to get it unlocked again, etc.

I disagree. I sold a 3GS unlocked by Apple and sold it to a dealer. He popped in his already activated SIM and it worked after a reboot. Not attached to Wi-Fi.

 

[anon(4698833)]

I disagree. I sold a 3GS unlocked by Apple and sold it to a dealer. He popped in his already activated SIM and it worked after a reboot. Not attached to Wi-Fi.

This. I got my 4S unlocked through AT&T before i sold it and when the guy who bought it put the SIM in, he simply restarted the phone and it worked like a charm.

 

[LCW]

For $13 got my 5 (AT&T) unlocked through eBay... Popped in T-Mo SIM for grins... Boom. No wifi or re-activation needed. Before unlocking it would pop up a message saying it was not a valid SIM. Popping back my AT&T sim in, no reactivation needed either.

Don't know how these services are doing it but they are doing it.

PS - I'm under contract.

PPS - bought from apple store not AT&T

 

[Peligro911]

For $13 got my 5 (AT&T) unlocked through eBay... Popped in T-Mo SIM for grins... Boom. No wifi or re-activation needed. Before unlocking it would pop up a message saying it was not a valid SIM. Popping back my AT&T sim in, no reactivation needed either.

Don't know how these services are doing it but they are doing it.

PS - I'm under contract.

PPS - bought from apple store not AT&T

Easy it's a AT&T emp who has access to send requests to apple lol

There is some eBay services also for Verizon that will clean a bad ESN for 70 bucks

 

[LCW]

Honestly I don't care how they do it - but glad it can be done with minimal fee and no dealing with AT&T.

 

[ghostface147]

There is some eBay services also for Verizon that will clean a bad ESN for 70 bucks

That's the best part of the Verizon iPhone 5. Down the road I can buy bad ESN ones and resell them for GSM providers because they're unlocked straight from the factory and GSM providers don't use ESN numbers to activate.

 

[Peligro911]

That's the best part of the Verizon iPhone 5. Down the road I can buy bad ESN ones and resell them for GSM providers because they're unlocked straight from the factory and GSM providers don't use ESN numbers to activate.

Yup same here

 

[birdie888]

Does anyone have any service bar problems with their factory unlocked iPhone 5? Because my service bars always go from full bars to two bars to No Service repeatedly. I even got my iPhone replaced, but the same thing is still happening.

 

[anon(3733516)]

Just get a Verizon iPhone 5 outright lol they're unlocked to begin with.

 

[wolfedude88]

Just get a Verizon iPhone 5 outright lol they're unlocked to begin with.

But no lte on AT&T