AT&T to allow unlocking of iPhones for use on other carriers this Sunday the 8th

I used to have AT&T service a year ago. Once my contract completed, I switched to T-Mobile. Can I still get my old iPhone 3G unlocked? If I can do that, I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of jail-breaking and unlocking my iphone.

Called yesterday and today, both times rep would not provide unlock code. Yesterday was transferred to apple, rep told me AT&T had
the unlock codes and whether they released them was up to AT&T. Wanted to unlock my 3g to use in europe.

worked well 1st try with my expired 3gs. waiting for code now. weeeeeee

Al3xK said:   washke said:   Called yesterday and today, both times rep would not provide unlock code. Yesterday was transferred to apple, rep told me AT&T had
the unlock codes and whether they released them was up to AT&T. Wanted to unlock my 3g to use in europe.

 

What do you mean "unlock code"? Do you they give you a code you input somewhere?

Where do put in the code? I thought they just unlocked it from their end...?

They just input the phone's imei onto the Apple unlock database system and the next time you do a backup and restore it should theoretically send the unlock instructions to the phone via itunes. The agent said that it takes anywhere between 10 minutes to 24 hours for the database to be updated.

ok,

so when I get the email, whcih ATT has said so to me last monday. and then I do backup and restore through itunes, will I loose my jailbreak and will they upgrade me to the latest version of OS 5.1 from 5.01, will be my questions for those who knows. thanks.

mowo said:   I called ATT and they submitted the unlock. I got an email saying to backup and restore. I did not do a factory restore. I just restored the backup image I created. I put in a T-Mobile sim and verified the phone was unlocked.

Did iTunes at any time give you an unlocking message during restoring from backup? Or did you just insert sim to find that out? Or both?

jomarrod said:   mowo said:   I called ATT and they submitted the unlock. I got an email saying to backup and restore. I did not do a factory restore. I just restored the backup image I created. I put in a T-Mobile sim and verified the phone was unlocked.

Did iTunes at any time give you an unlocking message during restoring from backup? Or did you just insert sim to find that out? Or both?

There was no message in iTunes about the phone being unlocked. In the past I've seen screenshots of iTunes where it says something like "Congratulations! Your phone is now unlocked." I did not see any message of that sort. It just did the restore.

I had previously been using this 4s at 5.1 with a Gevey Ultra S sim interposer with T-Mobile. After I did the backup and restore of the backup, I put my T-Mobile sim directly into the phone and it went to the activation screen. I went through those steps and then it took a few minutes to find the T-Mobile service. So far it's working great.

I'm not sure which phones can be unlocked. I had bought this phone off of Craigslist. It has AppleCare until 11/12 and when I was on the phone the rep mentioned the phone had been purchased on 11/11. I didn't mention getting it off craigslist. I called ATT and said I bought it from a friend who had upgraded his service. The rep did say that the unlock instructions had exclusions for 3rd party owners, but she put the unlock through anyway. I was just letting her do her thing and not asking a lot of questions because I didn't want any problems. My advice is to just call and see what the rep can do. She sounded like she was new to the process.

I currently do have ATT service for a completely different phone, so I have a valid ATT account. My account is a business level account. Maybe that's why they put it through for me.

A followup to my earlier post. I was having trouble with my 4s. It was not playing any of my music. I did a backup and then a factory restore using DFU mode. Once that was complete, I did see the "Congratulations! Your phone is now unlocked screen".

Baby123 said:   ok,

so when I get the email, whcih ATT has said so to me last monday. and then I do backup and restore through itunes, will I loose my jailbreak and will they upgrade me to the latest version of OS 5.1 from 5.01, will be my questions for those who knows. thanks.

UPDATE:

i had the case initially submitted on 4/9, called after a week, was told to check back on 4/23 if not contaced. contacted on Monday was told that my phone is not eleigible I asked for the reason, rep said nothing is mentioned in the case history only not eligible.

called again another rep, did'nt talk nicely ok, thanks.

called for the third time told the rep I want to submit request for unlock, went through the whole process in the end he said system will not generate an automatic unlock so have to submit a case and the decesion will be made on/before 05/1. ok thanks.

on Tuesday got the email I was waiting for all this time. got my phone unlocked, first tried backup/restore did'nt work. then tried the factory reset and then restore, and their you see the "congratulations your phone is ulocked". so keep trying, untill u get to the right rep and then the right guy handle your case in the unlock dept, whatever. good luck. btw I have a iphone 4, bought from craigslist, had no clue when the phone completed the contract and what was the number at that time, I was using it as pay/go phone on att.

rsuaver said:   Baby123 said:   Baby123 said:   ok,

so when I get the email, whcih ATT has said so to me last monday. and then I do backup and restore through itunes, will I loose my jailbreak and will they upgrade me to the latest version of OS 5.1 from 5.01, will be my questions for those who knows. thanks.


UPDATE:

i had the case initially submitted on 4/9, called after a week, was told to check back on 4/23 if not contaced. contacted on Monday was told that my phone is not eleigible I asked for the reason, rep said nothing is mentioned in the case history only not eligible.

called again another rep, did'nt talk nicely ok, thanks.

called for the third time told the rep I want to submit request for unlock, went through the whole process in the end he said system will not generate an automatic unlock so have to submit a case and the decesion will be made on/before 05/1. ok thanks.

on Tuesday got the email I was waiting for all this time. got my phone unlocked, first tried backup/restore did'nt work. then tried the factory reset and then restore, and their you see the "congratulations your phone is ulocked". so keep trying, untill u get to the right rep and then the right guy handle your case in the unlock dept, whatever. good luck. btw I have a iphone 4, bought from craigslist, had no clue when the phone completed the contract and what was the number at that time, I was using it as pay/go phone on att.


what number did you call? I tried chat, but the CSRs are inisisting on Proof of Purchase, which of course I don't have as I got it from a co-worker. I used the direct link someone posted at SD, since I am not an AT&T customer nor have an account with them.

Wait...are you saying that even if the phone is in "contract", you can provide proof of purchase and they'll unlock?

I transferred my service from my iPhone 4 to an iPhone 4s that my work gave me, but they still say that my iPhone 4 is technically under contract. If I can mock up a fake eBay receipt and have my friend call to unlock...I wonder if that'll suffice.

rsuaver said:   Al3xK said:   

Wait...are you saying that even if the phone is in "contract", you can provide proof of purchase and they'll unlock?

I transferred my service from my iPhone 4 to an iPhone 4s that my work gave me, but they still say that my iPhone 4 is technically under contract. If I can mock up a fake eBay receipt and have my friend call to unlock...I wonder if that'll suffice.

No no no. never said I was on contract. This is for an off-contract iPhone - they still wanted PoP. This is a 3GS.

Ah. What I don't understand is my phone is somehow on contract, not my service. But if I sell my iPhone 4 to another AT&T user, they can use it by plugging in their SIM card.

I would think, should I choose to end my service early, I'd receive an early termination fee. They don't give me the option to return the phone and not receive the fee...so why must it stay "on contract" when the fee is based on the service?

Update... Although the AT&T rep said that my phone was eligible but I would need to provide them with proof of purchase, after a few days I received an email from AT&T that the case was resolved.

Dear Customer:

Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding your AT&T service. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. The issue has been resolved.

Should you have any further needs regarding this issue, please do not hesitate to call us at 1 800 331-0500 and reference the tracking number shown above.

Sincerely,
AT&T

Followed that email, another one came in with the supposed request for information.

Attached is the form necessary to complete your request. Please fill it out and return it to the address listed on the form. If you have any questions, please refer to our online support site at http://att.com/wireless.

However, the attachment was a link to the following PDF which includes instructions on how to unlock the phone.

Then 3 days later I get yet another email with an attachment:

Attached is the information referenced during your discussion today with an AT&T Representative. If you have any questions, please refer to our online support site at www.att.com.

And the attachment was a link to this PDF which says it's not eligible because there's no account number on record (again, I bought the phone from a friend and I only used it on GoPhone.

Today I got around to doing a backup/restore and BAM! "Congratulations! Your iPhone is now unlocked".

Of course, now I need to test it with another SIM, but that should be good enough...

I believe they will only do this for AT&T customers
Has anyone found a work around?