Unlock iPhone 3gs

This means they were locked by Apple, at the request of the network that supplied the handset as is was sold at a heavily discounted rate. Apple have entered into agreements with all the major cell phone service provides in more than one hundred countries around the world, to supply iPhones locked to those carrier networks. Accordingly, if you bought an iPhone for a fraction of the MRP from T-Mobile for example, if you try an AT&T SIM card in the phone you will get no service. Providing their customers with a really cheap iPhone is a real no-brainer for the big service providers. They know that if they can get a customer to sign up to a 36 month contract in exchange for a cheap iPhone they will more than recover the subsidy offered over its duration.

Say you have relocated overseas because of your job, how can you use your iPhone on a domestic cellular network? Luckily for you it’s now possible to get your iPhone unlocked so you can use it on another network. In fact, once unlocked, you will be able to use the handset on any network, in any country.

Before 2011 you had a choice of which unlocking method you wish to use on your iPhone. However come the release of iOS 5.1.1 in July of that year, the software unlock ceased to function. Although it was once possible to install software on to an iPhone to unlock it, Apple were successful in being able to block this process and it hasn’t worked for several years now.

Before 2011 it was possible to software unlock an iPhone, as long as the iOS hadn’t been upgraded above 5.1.1. The primary problem with this software was, rather obviously, it was not approved by Apple. The only way this could be achieved was to first jailbreak the iPhone. Jailbreaking is a process which involves hacking the iPhones operating system to enable the installation of third party software. It is no longer possible to jailbreak an iPhone, and to be honest it is not recommended that you do so if you intend to use your device to access any kind of accounts on-line because of the security risk it poses. 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 alternative method of unlocking is the iPhone IMEI unlock. If an iPhone is unlocked using this method it will operate in exactly the same way as an expensive, factory unlocked iPhone, bought in the Apple store. The great thing is though, it would have only cost you a fraction of what Apple would charge you for an original. One of the primary benefits of IMEI unlocking is that it does not invalidate your Apple warranty. Once you have unlocked you may also safely upgrade your phone in iTunes when new iOS is release without ever having to worry about it relocking. Until recently you could only request an IMEI factory unlock from your carrier directly, without any guarantee they would honour your request.

At last it is now possible to bypass your network service provider and engage a third party, independent unlocker to factory unlock your iPhone.