How to (PROPERLY) unlock an iphone

[Driver Rider]

hi, as per the title really. to cut a long story short i got a very good phone contract with tmobile but i want to get the iphone.

does anyone know how i can get one of these phones to use on the t-mobile network without any problems. I'm aware that i could unlock on many a high street but apple update the software evry six weeks so the phone will keep on locking itself after I update the software?

any help will be greatly appreciated.

eta i dont want to download any dodgy software to unlock the phone i just want to do it through a service provider. many thankss

Edited by Driver Rider on Tuesday 23 March 13:27

[cw2k]

You can buy an O2 PAYG iPhone then pay O2 £15 to unlock it at http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/unlockmyiphone.html

Edited by cw2k on Tuesday 23 March 13:38

[Driver Rider]

hi i looked into this apparently i need to own the phone for a year for it to be able to work?

[Nat_H]

The year clause is only if its a contract 02 iphone.

PAYG is straight away, well 14 days from the time you request it.

Edited by Nat_H on Tuesday 23 March 13:56

[Driver Rider]

Nat_H said:

Only if its a Conttact 02 iphone.

PAYG is straight away, well 14 days from the time you request it.

so if i get PAYG i wont have to unlock the phone ever again assuming i suse the same sim card? the reason i ask is because i went into town today and the staff didn't seem to have a clue.

[mcflurry]

Buy a factory unlocked phone ? AFAIK Cyberface was selling a 32gb for a reasonable price the other day

Edited by mcflurry on Tuesday 23 March 14:55

[Nat_H]

Driver Rider said:

Nat_H said:

Only if its a Conttact 02 iphone.

PAYG is straight away, well 14 days from the time you request it.

so if i get PAYG i wont have to unlock the phone ever again assuming i suse the same sim card? the reason i ask is because i went into town today and the staff didn't seem to have a clue.

This is what I did;

I bought the phone from Carphone wehouse (3GS 16gb) for £440, + £20 top up as O2 charge £15 to unlock the phone, and you must have the £15 on the account for the 14 days they take to up lock.

Then filled in this form

O2 have this on their site;

"Firstly, complete the unlocking form - it will take up to 14 days for the iPhone to be unlocked and we'll text you to confirm the unlock request. Then place a non-O2 sim into the iPhone and connect to iTunes via a USB cable. iTunes will confirm that the iPhone has been successfully unlocked. "

Around 14 days later, you will notice your balance reduce by £15, and then then next day you'll get a text from O2 saying its unlocked.

Insert the SIM of the provider you want to use, and then plug it into itunes, where you will get this screen;




Now my phone works on Vodafone.

[Driver Rider]

this is exactly what I was after thank you Nat H im greatful. when i get the time to trundle along to a phone store I shall be follow this to a tee!

eta sorry perhaps a silly question but in total does it up take 28 days to unlcock the phone? 14 days to intitally unlock then another 14days to get confirmation from 02 that i can use my own sim?

Edited by Driver Rider on Tuesday 23 March 16:09

[Nat_H]

No worries, it was a bit of a gamble when I did it back in Jan, as there wasn't much info about it around.

eta, it was 14 days to unlock from the time I submitted the form.

Edited by Nat_H on Tuesday 23 March 16:40

[cyberface]

Driver Rider said:

this is exactly what I was after thank you Nat H im greatful. when i get the time to trundle along to a phone store I shall be follow this to a tee!

eta sorry perhaps a silly question but in total does it up take 28 days to unlcock the phone? 14 days to intitally unlock then another 14days to get confirmation from 02 that i can use my own sim?

Edited by Driver Rider on Tuesday 23 March 16:09

Hell, if you're talking about paying more than £400 and messing about with O2, I've got a 32GB white 3GS I'll sell you for £400! Factory unlocked, any SIM, no hacking required.

[Nat_H]

cyberface said:

Hell, if you're talking about paying more than £400 and messing about with O2, I've got a 32GB white 3GS I'll sell you for £400! Factory unlocked, any SIM, no hacking required.

Now thats a good price.

[Mr E]

cyberface said:

Hell, if you're talking about paying more than £400 and messing about with O2, I've got a 32GB white 3GS I'll sell you for £400! Factory unlocked, any SIM, no hacking required.

I've just had to buy a new 32Gig 3GS and it was a lot more than 400 quid.

[.Mark]

Nat_H said:

No worries, it was a bit of a gamble when I did it back in Jan, as there wasn't much info about it around.

eta, it was 14 days to unlock from the time I submitted the form.

Edited by Nat_H on Tuesday 23 March 16:40

I have the original 2G that was on 02, note sent to 02 and it was unlocked and working on a Vodafone sim in 2 days. The 14 day thing is an outside estimate.

[Driver Rider]

cyberface said:

Driver Rider said:

this is exactly what I was after thank you Nat H im greatful. when i get the time to trundle along to a phone store I shall be follow this to a tee!

eta sorry perhaps a silly question but in total does it up take 28 days to unlcock the phone? 14 days to intitally unlock then another 14days to get confirmation from 02 that i can use my own sim?

Edited by Driver Rider on Tuesday 23 March 16:09

Hell, if you're talking about paying more than £400 and messing about with O2, I've got a 32GB white 3GS I'll sell you for £400! Factory unlocked, any SIM, no hacking required.

hi that sounds good to me! how can i contact you? will the phone come with the apple warranty? how did you manage to get it factory unlocked!

[Driver Rider]

.Mark said:

Nat_H said:

No worries, it was a bit of a gamble when I did it back in Jan, as there wasn't much info about it around.

eta, it was 14 days to unlock from the time I submitted the form.

Edited by Nat_H on Tuesday 23 March 16:40

I have the original 2G that was on 02, note sent to 02 and it was unlocked and working on a Vodafone sim in 2 days. The 14 day thing is an outside estimate.

cool. thanks for that i thought fourteen days was a little long in the tooth!

[Nat_H]

Driver Rider said:

.Mark said:

Nat_H said:

No worries, it was a bit of a gamble when I did it back in Jan, as there wasn't much info about it around.

eta, it was 14 days to unlock from the time I submitted the form.

Edited by Nat_H on Tuesday 23 March 16:40

I have the original 2G that was on 02, note sent to 02 and it was unlocked and working on a Vodafone sim in 2 days. The 14 day thing is an outside estimate.

cool. thanks for that i thought fourteen days was a little long in the tooth!

When I questioned the 14 day turn around, the reason O2 gave was that the 3GS was locked with a key that only Apple have, so they have to send off the serial number of the phone to Apple, and wait for them to respond with the activation key.

Could be BS, but they all seemed to stick to the same story when I tried to expidite the request.