my experience getting my iphone 3g unlocked

[Nandrin]

brought my iphone 3g from the states here and needed to get it unlocked, got a tip from a friend, went to the place, had a great experience, and just wrote up a recommendation for another friend, so here it is:

"the place is at Galeria rio de janeiro (an inside shopping area), the address is Cabildo 2370. Store #39 (cell phone accessory shop, 1 minute in, first floor, on the right) - a few blocks west from subte stop Juramento (Green line D) Its on the same street that the subway runs on, ie dont turn. So if you're walking west away from the subway once you get off, rio galeria rio de janeiro is on left side of street. 220 pesos to unlock my iphone 3g, no sure if they charge more/less for other versions of iphones, they say they can do it in about 2-3 hours, very nice family who owns the shop, open til 8ish mon-sat")

2 weeks later phone works great with movistar, bought a used nokia phone as well to switch sim cards for those nights I might be a litttle um tipsy.

 

[amymiranda]

Hi Nandrin, thanks for the info! I'll be bringing my iphone 3g back down shortly and need to get it unlocked. Do you know if the phone needs to be jailbroken beforehand or can they do everything there? Did you have to leave the phone with them for a long period of time?

Also, do you have a data plan for it or do you just use cards? I'd like to get a plan to use the 3g, so if you have any info about that I'd love any advice. thanks!

 

[TomAtAlki]

Glad to hear the iPhone can be easily unlocked. I have a couple of 3GS iPhones I'm going to bring down. Any idea what they would sell for?

 

[Smcali23]

Not to hijack the post, but I also got my iphone 3g unlocked/jailbroken here. It cost me $120 pesos about two weeks ago in Mac Soul, which is an official Mac seller/repair service in Santa Fe y Callao.

Wherever you choose, make sure you get some recommendations beforehand. I went into a gallery in the same area to get my power button fixed and they ended up disabling my phone, messing up the socket where the charger goes and asking for an extra $340 to unlock/jailbreak the phone (500 in total).

I finally gave up and went across the road to the official place, where they repaired the mess the other guys made, unlocked it and had it jailbroken for a total of $220 pesos.

 

[Canadian<3]

Where exactly is this place on Callao \Santa fe ???? I need to get my screen fixed ...

 

[Smcali23]

It's called Mac Soul. The website is macsoulnet.com.ar, and the address is Santa Fe 1780, 13th Floor. It's a nice office in the last gallery before Callao, when coming from the direction of 9 de julio.

They'll have a look at your phone and give you a price prior to starting any work. They also deal with all other Mac products, from laptops to ipads.

 

[expatriatetaxreturns]

Great information!

 

[LaurenW]

I just unlocked my blackberry for free using a seemingly sketchy internet site that promised a free code. It worked. I'd recommend that over paying 100+ pesos to get someone here to do it.

 

[Smcali23]

Yeah, you can do it yourself, but it's a bit more complex with iphones and you can brick the phone, so I wouldn't suggest doing it unless you have a little technical knowledge. But it's up to you. I was tempted to do it myself, but 120 pesos seemed like it was worth it just to make sure.

 

[Tykel68]

Is it possible to get a data plan for them in BA or is it just to use as a telephone? If data plan which is the best provider to use - i'd be using a lot of data if i got mine unlocked. Thanks for any replies.