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difference between officially unlocked and hacked iphones?

hehe299792458

hehe299792458

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 13, 2008
783
3
What's the difference between an iphone unlocked by me and an iphone unlocked by apple (e.g. ones they sell on their hk website)? Is the latter superior in some way? And once the latter is activated on a networked, is it tied to that network forever, or it is still transferable to other networks?
 
if you unlock and jailbreak it youself, you need to constantly keep updating the jailbreak in order to utilize the firmware on your iphone.

additionally, jailbroken iphones void the warranty from apple. but you could always restore your jailbroken iphone and apple has no way of telling.


what your talking about is factory unlocked iphones, which are iphones sold naturally unlocked for any carrier that can utilize a sim card. the only plus is that you don't need to bother with fiddling around with any jailbreaks, and you can just update your iphone whenever the firmware is released. not only that, your warranty is safe.

as for transferring networks, you can transfer between whatever networks i think, as long as you have the right sim card.
 
would factory unlocked iphones also share the same limitations as the user unlocked one (e.g. no visual voice mail)?
 
the limitations have nothing to do with if you have a factory unlocked iphone or a self jailbroken iphone.

it has to do with what carrier you are using. at&t has access to 3G speeds, visual voicemail, tethering, mms, etc.

tmobile has almost all of the same functions, except it cannot support visual voicemail, 3G, and tethering. mms somewhat functions, but you need to install a package from cydia in order to get it to work, and even then, it's a bit buggy and the picture quality is utter garbage.

hope that helps. :)
 
hehe299792458 said:
would factory unlocked iphones also share the same limitations as the user unlocked one (e.g. no visual voice mail)?
Click to expand...

No, visual voicemail will still work as long as the carrier supports it and the user is subscribed to the right plan that provides it.

I have a factory-unlocked iPhone 3G from New Zealand. I've used it with multiple SIM cards in the U.S. and Europe with no trouble. It will simply take any SIM card and will remain unlocked even through firmware upgrades. They cost a pretty penny more than software-unlocked iPhones because they are permanently and reliably unlocked.
 
r6girl said:
No, visual voicemail will still work as long as the carrier supports it and the user is subscribed to the right plan that provides it.

I have a factory-unlocked iPhone 3G from New Zealand. I've used it with multiple SIM cards in the U.S. and Europe with no trouble. It will simply take any SIM card and will remain unlocked even through firmware upgrades. They cost a pretty penny more than software-unlocked iPhones because they are permanently and reliably unlocked.
Click to expand...

how unreliable can a user-unlocked iphone be? I'd assume updates are delayed by a few days/weeks.
 
hehe299792458 said:
how unreliable can a user-unlocked iphone be? I'd assume updates are delayed by a few days/weeks.
Click to expand...

i currently am using a user-unlocked iphone. it has given me no problems whatsoever, and i am happy with it.

yes, updates are usually delayed by a few days, maybe a week. it's nothing to worry about. half the time, i don't even bother updating the firmware until it's something i really like.

the only thing to keep in mind is that each time you have to update the firmware for your user-unlocked iphone, you will have to reinstall any extra stuff you have downloaded, like cydia add-ons, winterboard settings, etc.

overall, i'd say that the user-unlocked iphone is still very reliable with no major drawbacks, especially if you're using it to save money on your carrier's plan.

cheers,

-Dustin
 
r6girl said:
No, visual voicemail will still work as long as the carrier supports it and the user is subscribed to the right plan that provides it.

I have a factory-unlocked iPhone 3G from New Zealand. I've used it with multiple SIM cards in the U.S. and Europe with no trouble. It will simply take any SIM card and will remain unlocked even through firmware upgrades. They cost a pretty penny more than software-unlocked iPhones because they are permanently and reliably unlocked.
Click to expand...

And how do you get a hold in one of those?
Need to go to New Zealand? :confused:
 
mbopy22 said:
And how do you get a hold in one of those?
Need to go to New Zealand? :confused:
Click to expand...

Either:

A. Fly over to one of the few countries that sell factory unlocked iphones and buy them there (such as Italy, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia, soon to be Taiwan, etc.)

B. Get someone to buy one for you when they're in one of the previously mentioned countries.

C. eBay.

D. Other online retailers.

E. If you live in a country fairly close to Italy or Belgium or whatever, you might be able to have it shipped to your house by ordering online at the respective apple websites, like apple.it or whatever. It's been kinda tough to do this recently, as I believe Apple has caught onto it and has been canceling/suspending orders.
 
pelicanflip said:
i currently am using a user-unlocked iphone. it has given me no problems whatsoever, and i am happy with it.

yes, updates are usually delayed by a few days, maybe a week. it's nothing to worry about. half the time, i don't even bother updating the firmware until it's something i really like.

the only thing to keep in mind is that each time you have to update the firmware for your user-unlocked iphone, you will have to reinstall any extra stuff you have downloaded, like cydia add-ons, winterboard settings, etc.

overall, i'd say that the user-unlocked iphone is still very reliable with no major drawbacks, especially if you're using it to save money on your carrier's plan.

cheers,

-Dustin
Click to expand...

I need an unlocked iphone because I travel a lot. It's a lot easier to just buy a sim card than to use roaming (which may not always be available).

Would someone else care to share their user-unlocked iphone experiences?
 
pelicanflip said:
the limitations have nothing to do with if you have a factory unlocked iphone or a self jailbroken iphone.

it has to do with what carrier you are using. at&t has access to 3G speeds, visual voicemail, tethering, mms, etc.

tmobile has almost all of the same functions, except it cannot support visual voicemail, 3G, and tethering. mms somewhat functions, but you need to install a package from cydia in order to get it to work, and even then, it's a bit buggy and the picture quality is utter garbage.

hope that helps. :)
Click to expand...

Neither can At&t.
 
ryanwarsaw said:
Neither can At&t.
Click to expand...

AT&T supports Visual VM and 3G. MMS is "coming later this summer" according to AT&T (I believe the rumor is late July/early August). AT&T has "no current plans to support teathering" according to a pre-3GS launch press release I read.

Is it possible to use tethering with a Jailbroken phone 3GS when the JB is released) even though AT&T doesn't officially support it? And if so, would there be extra charges?
 
Agent 21 said:
AT&T supports Visual VM and 3G. MMS is "coming later this summer" according to AT&T (I believe the rumor is late July/early August). AT&T has "no current plans to support teathering" according to a pre-3GS launch press release I read.

Is it possible to use tethering with a Jailbroken phone 3GS when the JB is released) even though AT&T doesn't officially support it? And if so, would there be extra charges?
Click to expand...

Supports is present tense and coming later is a promise.
 
My 3G is jailbroken, unlocked, and has hacked APN settings. It works reliably and moderately quickly. I've had no problems, and have no complaints.
 
ryanwarsaw said:
Supports is present tense and coming later is a promise.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know what they mean, not sure what your point is though? The poster said T-Mobile doesn't support any of it except MMS, you said "neither does AT&T", which reads as you implying AT&T doesn't support any of it either, to which I replied that AT&T already supports 2, will support a 3rd, and said they won't support the 4th.
 
The biggest difference is really the price. If you can afford buying the official unlocked phone, I would do that.
 
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