AT&T Reportedly Unlocking On-Contract iPhones with Web Form

[Akshay Masand]

For those of you who are AT&T users and have wanted to unlock your iPhone, you might be in luck. The wireless carrier has been reported to hand out free factory unlocks to customers with on-contract iPhones. Requesting an unlock through AT&T’s web form seems to have produced good results for a number of iPhone owners. The folks over at Ars Technica have heard the following from AT&T customers (Ars poster lunarobverse) who received free clean factory unlocks while on contract:

I got this even though I’m 10 months into my 2 year contract. When I upgrade to the iPhone 5 next week, I’ll still have to pay the ETF but it’ll make selling my old iPhone (or handing it down to an iPhone-less friend) much easier.

After other users reported trying to call in and getting their iPhone 4S unlocked, many said customer representatives told them the service could not be offered until after they had paid the subsidy. This leads to the conclusion that potential unlockers will have better luck getting through to AT&T by using their web form instead. According to AT&T’s Seth Bloom:

The only requirements are that a customer’s account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade policies or paid an early termination fee.

If your application to receive an unlock is granted by AT&T, you’ll be sent a confirmation number requesting you to restore your iPhone in iTunes. While the device is being restored, you’ll see a message that your iPhone has successfully been unlocked on AT&T’s end. Aside from getting an unlock under the table, it’s usually quite difficult to make a carrier unlock your iPhone before the contract expires so this news might come in handy to many. At the very least, you can try to get your iPhone unlocked to sell it for more before the next-gen iPhone is announced on September 12th. See if the method works for you and report back to us with your results.

Source: Ars Technica

[anime007]

confirmed working. just unlocked 2 iphone 4's. NOTE: DO NOT follow the instruction to backup and restore, it absolutely did nothing for me. Instead, just plugin an unofficial sim (T-Mobile for example) and the unlock message will popup when you connect to Itunes. If you used SAM to get the unlock ticket before, make sure to deactivate your phone using SAM prior to connect to Itunes.

[Tario70]

I plan on using this with my Old Bootrom 3GS when the 5 comes out & I upgrade to that. My 3GS has done it's duty but I know I can get a bit more in selling it if it is unlocked. If the restore doesn't work because of my SIM being an AT&T SIM, how will I unlock it?

[docmagoo2]

confirmed working. just unlocked 2 iphone 4's. NOTE: DO NOT follow the instruction to backup and restore, it absolutely did nothing for me. Instead, just plugin an unofficial sim (T-Mobile for example) and the unlock message will popup when you connect to Itunes. If you used SAM to get the unlock ticket before, make sure to deactivate your phone using SAM prior to connect to Itunes.

Yeah I was going to ask why was it different for the US. I got an iPhone 4 unlocked from O2 uk and they merely said It would be unlocked next time I connect to iTunes rather than having to restore!

[1pop23]

awesome. Not an ATT customer and bought my phone off someone yet in-order to unlock i must send a fax of my reciept... great

[Carvensno]

Well just applied for mine, says could take 5-7 days. Not to worried about unlocking it tho. Figured i could still sell it here locally for a good price, but prob sell faster and maybe little more money if its unlocked :P LOL

Plus i have the box, USB cable and Plug and its basically brand new condition :P

[monkeydodo3]

Already tried this three weeks ago for an iPhone that I bought off Craigslist. It didn't work even with a 'receipt.' Just gonna buy an eBay unlock now. I encourage you all to try though.

[EVO]

confirmed working. just unlocked 2 iphone 4's. NOTE: DO NOT follow the instruction to backup and restore, it absolutely did nothing for me. Instead, just plugin an unofficial sim (T-Mobile for example) and the unlock message will popup when you connect to Itunes. If you used SAM to get the unlock ticket before, make sure to deactivate your phone using SAM prior to connect to Itunes.

tested and concurred!

[rcm]

I'm waiting for a response because on another site i read the same news but insted it said that it both 4 and 4s were getting unlocked, hopefully i'll unlock my iphone 4 and be able to resell it easier to upgrade later on.

confirmed working. just unlocked 2 iphone 4's. NOTE: DO NOT follow the instruction to backup and restore, it absolutely did nothing for me. Instead, just plugin an unofficial sim (T-Mobile for example) and the unlock message will popup when you connect to Itunes. If you used SAM to get the unlock ticket before, make sure to deactivate your phone using SAM prior to connect to Itunes.

is the apostrophe after the 4 because it was 2 iphone 4 or because it was 2 iphone 4S and it's a typo?

[anime007]

I'm waiting for a response because on another site i read the same news but insted it said that it both 4 and 4s were getting unlocked, hopefully i'll unlock my iphone 4 and be able to resell it easier to upgrade later on.



is the apostrophe after the 4 because it was 2 iphone 4 or because it was 2 iphone 4S and it's a typo?

2 iphone 4 not sure about 4s

[nxovkin]

i just requested my unlock. will find out what happens in 5-7 days.

[mindblown]

just asked my friend for his info, hopefully it passes.

[vwfred69]

requested mine yesterday also.

[mr117]

OK, supposing I DO get an unlock from AT&T and do a restore (losing my jailbreak). Can I re-jailbreak AFTER I unlock, or will that remove the unlock from the firmware?

Thanks.

[feidhlim1986]

OK, supposing I DO get an unlock from AT&T and do a restore (losing my jailbreak). Can I re-jailbreak AFTER I unlock, or will that remove the unlock from the firmware?

Thanks.

Once it's unlocked officially through iTunes, then you can restore/re-jailbreak/whatever without losing the unlock.

[KSMatic]

I requested this on my two iPhone 4 and they came back unlocked (2 days) and the iPhone 4S was denied as it is still under commitment. If you currently have a balance, you must pay that first before filing or its going to take longer. Since I have 3 more unlock left, I am going to add one of my friend's iPhone 4 to my plan (IMEI swap) and then request an unlock to see if AT&T will unlock it.

[xclusiveiphone]

Requested my 4S yesterday, let's hope this works.

[NewdestinyX]

The first post in this thread is very confusing. In the beginning it says you can unlock before the end of your contract period and then later it says you have to wait til your contract is over. Can someone decipher that obvious contradiction?

[anime007]

The first post in this thread is very confusing. In the beginning it says you can unlock before the end of your contract period and then later it says you have to wait til your contract is over. Can someone decipher that obvious contradiction?

i think at&t originally wants the contract to be over before issuing any unlocks, but since iphone 5 is around the corner, they are willing to unlock under contract.

[peacedog]

I don't have access to a T-mobile microSIM. If I bought this microSIM on eBay for $0.99, could I use this to complete the iTunes unlock process?