AT&T Unlock-Almost 2 years for 3G phones

[Enigmafan420]

So,

what are the chances AT&T will allow the original 3G phones to be unlocked when the contract is up? It has been almost two years since I bought the original 3G.

I know carriers in other countries have allowed this. I also think that there is a law in the States requiring carriers to offer unlocks to customers after a specific period of time, though I could be wrong about this.

Anyone think this is going to happen?

 

[TeamDNA]

absolutly NO CHANCE at all.. its been 3 years for the original iphone..and ATT is the only offical carrier for the iphone.. why would they unlock it so you can go to tmobile.. just jailbreak and unlock your iphone

 

[Enigmafan420]

absolutly NO CHANCE at all.. its been 3 years for the original iphone..and ATT is the only offical carrier for the iphone.. why would they unlock it so you can go to tmobile.. just jailbreak and unlock your iphone

Yeah well I was unlocked. That is, until the iPhone froze on an incoming call last Tuesday night. White apple of death logo. NOTHING I DID would work. There was no way to get it into DFU or restore mode. iTunes did not recognize it. NOTHING.

So I dreadedly made a "genius bar" appointment. I was hoping that whatever happened to the 3GS that it was SO SEVERE they would have to replace it with an old bootrom refurb unit.

No such luck. They used whatever the hell tools they have on their MacBooks to get it to respond to iTunes-and of course "we are going to have to restore your phone". Hello 3.1.3 and Baseband 5.12.01. Goodbye blacksn0w.

Damn, I swear it is alomst like they new I had an unlock and froze my phone remotely. I know of course this did not happen, but it sure feels like it.

So I am back at 3.1.2 thanks to Saurik and Cydia, but with the new baseband, oh well. So much for my Rogers PPD account when traveling in the Great White North which I do many times per year.

The wife still has a 3G at 3.1.2 and baseband 5.11.30(?). Guess I will be using her phone on my travels.

I am seriously frustrated that Apple seems to be going to incredible lengths to keep the phone locked up. Really, why the hell do they even care? I love the themes and personalization available on Cydia. Apple could easily provide this.

And, when I was a T-Mo customer, they unlocked every phone I had. I don't know who to hate more sometimes, Apple or AT$T. They both provide great products (AT&T really is GREAT in the Seattle area), but they both friggin piss me off with their attitudes toward a piece of equipment I bought WITH MY OWN MONEY and continue to pay for each month.

 

[Enigmafan420]

PS-anyone know of any way to get a copy of Apple's iPhone tools? I would LOVE to see/mess with them. I am willing to bet they do all sorts of cool things like ignore SHSH hashes, "old" versions of software, and maybe even the inability to downgrade a baseband.

 

[Applejuiced]

PS-anyone know of any way to get a copy of Apple's iPhone tools? I would LOVE to see/mess with them. I am willing to bet they do all sorts of cool things like ignore SHSH hashes, "old" versions of software, and maybe even the inability to downgrade a baseband.

We all wish we could get those tools but I think they're locked up tight and only run off Apples servers for Genious bars and so on.
Also it would be nice to see Apple or AT&T offer an official unlock once the contract is up or ETF paid out just like the rest of the world.

 

[R.Perez]

AT&T will never do that. They will hold on to their iphone death grip as long as possible.

I am looking to get the next gen iphone this summer, lets hope for some other carriers, but I for one am not holding my breath.

 

[McGiord]

Yesterday I went to my local AT&T store, and asked to get my original 8Gb iPhone to be unlocked (bought in 2007), the store guy told me that they don't do it, and will never do it because they are the exclusive iPhone carrier and don't need to.
Why AT&T can do that?

 

[goobot]

other carriers did this cause they werent exclusive anymore, and to make money instead of loosing it they offered paid unlocks.

also they dont really have tools. its just c++ commands. not hard to do.

 

[Enigmafan420]

I was just thinking-what if they did that to the Mac? It would have died years ago. Open source and the enthusiast community is what kept Mac alive during the "dark ages" of the 1990s. It is only just now becoming commercially viable for the large development houses to put software out on Mac.

Apple needs to chill the hell out and let people do to their phones whatever it is they want. Last time I checked, Apple didn't GIVE me anything, I did have to pay for it.

 

[McGiord]

I was just thinking-what if they did that to the Mac? It would have died years ago. Open source and the enthusiast community is what kept Mac alive during the "dark ages" of the 1990s. It is only just now becoming commercially viable for the large development houses to put software out on Mac.

Apple needs to chill the hell out and let people do to their phones whatever it is they want. Last time I checked, Apple didn't GIVE me anything, I did have to pay for it.

I believe the restriction for the iPhone is mainly driven by the AT&T, and well yes, plays their game.

 

[icyfire]

as much as I'm usually against government interference, I really think it's time for the FCC to step forward and start requiring that providers unlock phones after the 2 year contract is up. This also goes for Verizon and Sprint CDMA phones. It is absolutely ridiculous that a phone which you purchased and paid for in full can be held hostage by a company after the agreed upon contract period. At the very least, companies should be prevented from relocking phones that have been unlocked by the owner.