Quick Unlock iPhone 4

If your buy an iPhone from Apple directly, it will be unlocked. Whereas an iPhone purchased from a carrier will be locked to their network, meaning it can't be used with another SIM card. For instance, an iPhone purchased from Sprint won’t work on the T-Mobile network. The main reason that iPhones are SIM locked is to enable the carriers to recoup their losses for supplying discounted phones. Many companies lure new customers to sign up to their service using cheap iPhones as bait. These iPhones are sometimes given away by mobile phone service providers because they know that locking a customer into a contract over a long period of time will enable them to recover their losses by charging excessively for their services. Because of this, carriers lock the handsets they supply to their network so they can't be used elsewhere. To help them get more customers (by offering very cheap iPhones), Apple ensure they charge a massive premium on the unlocked iPhones they supply.

Being able to buy an iPhone at a heavily reduced price sounds like a great idea, right? What if you move to a foreign country and want to use a domestic carrier to save on excessive roaming charges? We don't have to highlight how much you can be charged while roaming overseas. There have been reported cases where people have been on holiday and unwittingly using their iPhones on Facebook or Twitter only to return to an astronomical phone bill! The smart thing to do would be to use a domestic service from a local carrier. Many airports now sell local pay-as-you-go SIM cards for exactly this reason. However, you will need to get your iPhone unlocked before you can do so.

Unlock iPhone Through AT&T

Before 2011 you had a choice of which unlocking method you wish to use on your iPhone. However com the release of iOS 5.1.1 in July of that year, the software unlock ceased to function. You may have heard a lot of talk about iPhone software unlocking - a method of unlocking that used software to fool a device into thinking it was unlocked. Apple didn't let the ability to do this for very long and eventually were able to completely block the software unlock from working.

Many years ago it was possible to trick an iPhone into thinking it was unlocked using a program that could be installed in the root directory of the iPhone. Software installation was a bit of an issue as obviously Apple would not approve unlocking software for sale in its App store. The only way this could be achieved was to first jailbreak the iPhone. The purpose of an iPhone jailbreak is to enable software that Apple doesn't want you to use to be installed on your phone. It's kind of a way of hacking into the phone. Needless to say, this method is not recommended and no longer works with the latest operating system. Eventually Apple stopped the software unlock from working and have also concentrated on ensuring they close all security vulnerabilities that were exploited for it to work.

The second method of unlocking is known as official, permanent, factory or IMEI unlocking (all these terms refer to the same iPhone unlocking method), and effectively renders your iPhone in the exact same state as it would be had you bought it directly from Apple, unlocked. This method of unlocking is permanent (unlock software unlocking) and will allow your phone to safely be upgraded, now, or any time in the future, with the very latest iOS without the phone relocking. This method of unlocking is not new but has only been offered by some carriers to customers that have fulfilled their contract, but notably not by Apple. It has never been possible to have Apple unlock your iPhone.

In the past few months there has emerged several independent companies that can provide iPhone factory unlocks with very few limitations in place for them to be successful. As long as your iPhone hasn't been reported as lost or stolen, known as an IMEI blacklisting, they will be able to unlock it.

Do you wish to gain a more in depth understanding of iPhone unlocking, and whether or not your iPhone can be factory unlocked, why not contact us today at iUnlox. We will be happy to address any of your queries or concerns and hopefully we will be able to unlock your iPhone for you.