That's exactly right, Philip - and just to expand on what you've outlined, since this is a subject with many misconceptions:
I do software unlocks for iPhones as part of my Mac business.
Unfortunately, neither the iPhone 4 nor the 4S can currently be software unlocked (by me, or by anybody else). The baseband has not yet been cracked by the hackers that write the tools that the rest of the world uses.
Only the older (3GS, 3G, and original) models can currently be unlocked with software.
The "hardware hack" that Philip refers to is what's known as an
interposer SIM.
These are small chips that get inserted alongside your existing SIM card and interrupt the network check, thereby allowing you to use the phone on foreign networks. The most popular ones are made by
Gevey.
Unfortunately, these have their caveats too - namely, that they only work on older modem firmwares. If you bought your phone over a year ago and have not upgraded the operating system since then, this card may work for you. Otherwise, probably not. You can check the modem firmware in Settings > General > Info, and compare the version number against Gevey's website.
Finally, we come to the final type of unlock: the carrier / network unlock. Also known as an IMEI unlock, since the
IMEI (this is sort-of like the serial number of the phone) gets added to Apple's database of unlocked handsets, so when you plug it into iTunes, it checks with Apple's servers, which authorizes the phone to be unlocked.
This is done when you fulfill the terms of the contract on the phone (for example, 2 years with AT&T) or if you pay the early termination fee.
If that's not an option for you, I do happen to know of a couple of people here in BA who do this type of unlock.. they charge a lot of money for it (650 - 800 pesos, last time I checked) since I assume they basically have to bribe someone inside the phone network to add your phone to the unlock list.
The best solution is to simply buy a brand new factory unlocked iPhone 4S
directly from Apple - it's US$549. That way, you'll never have problems with software upgrades, being found out, accidentally getting re-locked, etc as you might with the other methods.
I'd also like to point out the difference between jailbreaking and unlocking, since these terms are often conflated:
Jailbreaking an iPhone allows you to install non Apple-approved apps onto it, such as themes and tweaks. It gives you "root" access to the file system, so you can install things Apple doesn't allow you to normally.
Unlocking an iPhone allows it to be used on carriers other than the one you bought it from. For example, to allow an AT&T-locked phone to be used on the networks in BA - Movistar, Claro, etc.
The two terms are often mixed up because in order to perform a software unlock, one normally has to first jailbreak it. But jailbreaking is far easier than unlocking. All current Apple iOS devices (iPads, iPhones, iPods, and Apple TVs) can currently be jailbroken except for the iPhone 5 and the Apple TV 3, whereas only older models of iPhones can be unlocked (as I first stated above).
Whew! I hope this clears up some confusion.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need any Mac installations, upgrades, minor repairs, or training, as that is the core of my business.
Josh Johnson
the MacDaddy
[email protected]
