How to Unlock an iPhone, Three Different Ways

UPDATE: One of the three methods described below  ran into a legal roadblock on Saturday. See iPhone Unlock Hits Legal Hang-Up. 

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With uncanny serendipity, three teams trying to unlock Apple's (AAPL) iPhone so that it can work with carriers other than AT&T (T) have reached their goal within days of each other.

First out of the block was George Hotz, a 17-year-old student from New Jersey who posted a 10-step technique on his website Thursday that requires cracking open the iPhone and doing some tricky soldering.

His accomplishment was quickly overshadowed by a team from iPhoneSIMfree.com, which developed a software-only technique that does the same thing without having to void the iPhone's warranty by opening it up. The group demonstrated its procedure today to Engadget's Ryan Block, who vouches for its authenticity on the blog and in a video. (Note the "T-Mobile" in the upper left hand corner of his iPhone screen, pictured above.)

Now Infoworld is reporting that a third team, based in Belfast but drawing on the resources of programmers around world, has accomplished the same thing -- a software-only hack that will allow iPhone owners to run the device on any GSM-based SIM card. According to John McLaughlin, founder of Uniquephones, the software will be available for download tomorrow afternoon at www.iphoneunlocking.com for $25 to $50.

The iPhoneSimFree team says per unit  and bulk licenses for its software will be available next week; no price has been set. Hotz says he has no plans to sell his hardware solution, although he has offered his iPhone, modified and autographed, for sale on eBay.

Neither Apple nor AT&T has commented on these developments, which came just shy of two months from the day the iPhone went on sale. AT&T may take comfort in the fact that most users won't bother trying to get around their 2-year service contract. Apple, for its part, could undo all these hacks with its next iPhone software upgrade.

[Photo courtesy of Engadget.]

Comments

[george h]

good news for the rest of the world that's been drooling over the iphone. iphone prices on ebay will skyrocket. apple will probably release patch to fix this though.

[B shizzle]

Not good for people trying to do this. Warranty will be voided the second they try it. I would rather have AT&T and a phone with a warranty.

[B shizzle]

If they do this hack.... What happens to their software upgrades, would they still ba able to connect to itunes, and what about the free EDGE network and internet. How can they access that with a different carrier?

[Happy Apple Jack]

Cheap tricks from fools, Apple will have their day !!

[Jack]

Did you not read the article? Two of the three phones do not require opening the phone therefore the warranty would not be voided!

I think it's great that I can use the Iphone with my T-Mobile and not pay Steve Jobs and gang one dime more beyond the cost of the phone. Steve is stupid enough to sell the phones in AT&T and Apple stores without activating them. That means I can go in, by as many as I want and put them all on T-Mobile or sell unlocked phones to European users and Steve can't stop me.

It's a sad day at AAPL.....Ha, ha, ha!

[Tom]

Well, you may be able to use the iPhone with T-mobile. But it seems like Apple could still block you form iTunes. And if you can't get your music onto the phone it sort of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

[B Shizzle]

Man that would suck if a kid bought the iphone thinking he could hack it and use t-mobile only to find out he can't put songs on it because he can't sync to Itunes. It would also suck to not be able to use EDGE because you can't always find wifi everywhere. SAD DAY for a hack I think. What good is an Iphone without songs...I don't get it..

[B Shizzle]

Here is one more thing to add.....It is said that on ebay...This hacked phone this kid made was last bid at $12,600.....PEOPLE MUST REALLY HATE AT&T TO WANT TO PAY THIS MUCH FOR A PHONE JUST TO USE IT WITH A DIFFERENT PROVIDER....

[B Shizzle]

Okay.....I was a little off but this phone is going for $40,100 as I am typing this and it still has five days left to go on EBAY. It is a SICK world...GO iPHONE!!!!!

[Rob]

With bids like that, there is no question that they are fake bids.

[Alex]

Well I'm Happy the kid Unlock the IPhone it's one more way of saying AT&T / CINGULAR you suck .
Your prices are causing people to do this I will never subscribe to AT&T or whatever name you put on your overcharge cell service.

[Duhro]

iTunes is the only way to get/play MP3s on the iPhone?

[Joe]

"Cheap tricks from fools, Apple will have their day !!"

Fools?!?! Do you have any idea how much money these businesses like Unique Phones invested in cracking the phone, they had people world over for the past two months working on it!!!! Anything but fools!!!!!
The iTunes will still work, they can't do anything to stop it working, trust me I know.

[B shizzle]

Duhro, yeah man Itunes SO FAR is the only way to sync songs/movies/tv shows/music videos/pictures to the iphone.

[steve]

who cares

[b shizzle]

Just so you know apple already came out with new update for iPhone. Version 1.0.2.... Just sync to itunes....

[luke]

one more selling point
people that held back because of att will rush out to buy an iphone
personally I could use one but not in the us with the att plans if I was free to use any sim card/carrier I wanted I would buy one tomorrow

[B Shizzle]

Luke, it would not be a good thing for people to do this hack....BECAUSE apple has already put out new syncing software to the iPhone...BECAUSE all cases in which the companies above were to sell software are shut down already....and well because how are people going to put their Itunes on the iPhone if they can't sync up? It will not work, but lets say they found a hack to change the carrier, they would also need a hack to put music on it, a hack to get internet other than wifi, and a hack to put anything else on it for the rest of their phones life.....it is not worth it....Have you ever heard a lie is a lie is a lie. That is the road anyone who hacks their phone will have to follow. How are they going to update their phone from apple when they come out with new applications and software upgrades. APPLE IS NOT THAT DESPERATE OR NEED TO SELL UNLOCKED IPHONES.....THEY WILL SELL ENOUGH as it is with AT&T.

[Charles]

Blah, Blah, Blah....Yackety Smackety!

[Andrew]

For those of you excited to screw over jobs...If you buy the iphone, he doesn't care what service you use! You wanted the phone, you bought it, Jobs gets paid! Capitolization completed! oops

[Tapas]

These smart hackers, why cant they take a mp3 player like Zune and hack it to inclued a gsm sim card and use as phone?

[Rhett Mash]

You guys just don't get it. Apple is making a killing on each iPhone sold. Not only are they making around 55% profit on Cost of Goods for each phone sold, they get paid for every AT&T customer using the iPhone (per month for 2 years). How much? 3 dollars per month for every existing AT&T subscriber, 8 dollars per month for every new AT&T customer. If they are projected to sell 1 million+ by September, that is 3 million in revenue outside of the money made on each phone.

Don't get me wrong. I love Apple and their products. It's their attitude that I'm begining to doubt. It's becoming pretty apparent how they are the wolf in the sheep skin. Taking advantage of the demand, they are ripping off their customers (us) and their partners (AT&T). Sad that we thought Microsoft was a monopoly, when Apple is playing the actual part.

That said, this is good news for us. Rejoice, folks!! Soon enough, we will have fully functional iPhones that work on any network and wouldn't require iTunes. This hack is not going make Apple lose money. It just puts a reality check on their avarice. They already make a killing profit on the hardware and I don't want to pay them a regular service fee for using their device.

[klove]

Not at all impressed. Try making it work on a facter network like Verizon or Sprint then I'll be impressed.

[BikerDan]

Locking privately purchased phones to specific networks ought to be illegal to begin with.

Apparently, the FCC agrees, since they've killed such criminal practices in their new set of rules...

[Dave]

1. Apple loves to see these phones unlocked.

2. AT&T service is terrible in many smaller cities when compared to T-Mobile and other SIM carriers. (I own an iPhone and it sits on my desk, unused, because I switched back to Sprint until this unlock becomes available.)

3. iPhones have strange functional limitations (copy and paste?) and software modifications and replacement should be encouraged. Hardware is hardware; only AT&T wants to control the users here, and it's ridiculous.

[how to unlock iphone]

Theres a free way to unlock the iphone features like the music and the wi-fi. this is totally free and you only need a single free software, and itunes too.
check the guide step by step.
http://www.dotalex.com/?p=10

[orax]

http://iphone-unlocker.bravehost.com/index.html

[julz]

helloooo..there will never be an unlock for the iphone to be used with sprint you dummies. sprint is cdma. at&t is gsm. the iphone is a gsm techonology phone. using sprint on the iphone would be like putting diesel in an unleaded fuel tank. duh. it doesnt work.

[Wicked Wonka 420]

wow seriously the iphone sux, why do people need to conform to all the consumor bullshit anyways? all the iphone is is a fancy computer.. that is small.. give it time people, be patient, more will come, remember the commercials, for the computers, it shows a guy driving a car and hes got a "new g4 computer", and on the way home he see's a billboard for the new g5 computer and he turns around to go back and get a new one.. ya thats all this is, i give it another year and there will be a completely new iphone, and more than likely something that comptetes with it..yes ill admit the technology is fucking ausome.. but it will only get better!!!

[Andre florida]

hi there I found some great info on this website, it really helped me
http://vomoco.blogspot.com/
I hope it helps

[andy]

Hi,
We can offer you the 3rd and 4th version sim for iphone unlock,the edition is 1.1.2,they don't need cutting and compatible with mobile card very well,they can be used all over the world,and the prices are very competitive,please contact me if you are interested in,my MSN is rangren1983@hotmail.com, my email is andy@tzdtech.com, my skype and yahoo are rangren1983,thank you.
Andy

[Eric]

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[Mr Jerry Smith]

We are selling the unlock Apple 8GB IPhone for just US$350 (Including FREE SHIPPING) and guaranteed that it will work with any preferred network.

please email us: celebritymobile.inc@gmail.com

[danielgeek]

Has anybody try the x-sim here:
http://www.sourcingman.com/turbo-xsim-unlock-iphone-otb-112-all-location-p-104.html
No software crack and it requires only an extra layer of sticker on your SIM card. and the price is cheap too : )