first thing to do with a new iphone: try another SIM card

[ldhilljr]

Does nobody read anything before they post anymore!!

These questions are being asked over and over again all over the forum and many of them are already answered at apple.com!

There IS a SIM card slot/tray, but no other SIM will work other than that whish is registered with that handset, even another valid AT&T SIM from another iPhone will not work in another iPhone.

Actually, I have read that another ATT SIM card would work, but Apple prefers that you use the SIM card that came with the iPhone. The key here is the locking of the iPhone -- that is what will usually prevent another SIM card from working in any GSM phone. If the iPhone can be unlocked (and I strongly suspect that it can be, as there are news reports saying folks are already doing this in India), then any SIM card should work in the iPhone. But I would strongly recommend to anyone that they wait and see how the unlocking process works first before buying an iPhone with the hope of using it on a non-ATT network.

I fully expect that within a few months I will be able to purchase one and use it on T-Mobile in the US and Orange in the UK, but I also want to wait and see if anyone develops modem scripts for the iPhone so that it can be used to transmit data to/from my MacBook Pro.

 

[marksman]

Actually, I have read that another ATT SIM card would work, but Apple prefers that you use the SIM card that came with the iPhone. The key here is the locking of the iPhone -- that is what will usually prevent another SIM card from working in any GSM phone. If the iPhone can be unlocked (and I strongly suspect that it can be, as there are news reports saying folks are already doing this in India), then any SIM card should work in the iPhone. But I would strongly recommend to anyone that they wait and see how the unlocking process works first before buying an iPhone with the hope of using it on a non-ATT network.

I fully expect that within a few months I will be able to purchase one and use it on T-Mobile in the US and Orange in the UK, but I also want to wait and see if anyone develops modem scripts for the iPhone so that it can be used to transmit data to/from my MacBook Pro.

People have already unlocked the sim card in India. Amazing. Unlocking the SIM is not going to unlock access to the entire phone. That is where I think people are confused. You might be able to use it to make phone calls, but that does not mean the iPod, Wifi, web browsing, mail or anything else will work.

 

[TurboPGT]

You guys do realize how many people with be using the iPhone to its fullest, enjoying every little feature.... and never touching the SIM card. Ever.

 

[jshbckr]

You guys do realize how many people with be using the iPhone to its fullest, enjoying every little feature.... and never touching the SIM card. Ever.

I don't get what you mean from this. Are you saying they'll never use features that are SIM card dependent (iPod, etc.) or that they'll just sign up for AT&T and use the iPhone and never even realize there is a SIM card?

And onto a different topic: iPhone hacking. I'm pretty confident that if it gets hacked in the next week or two, Apple will release an update saying "Oh hey guys, did you want MMS support?" and within the update is a hack fix. Then if it gets hacked again, "Guess what?! The camera can now capture video with this NEW UPDATE!" and contain another hack fix.

 

[ldhilljr]

People have already unlocked the sim card in India. Amazing. Unlocking the SIM is not going to unlock access to the entire phone. That is where I think people are confused. You might be able to use it to make phone calls, but that does not mean the iPod, Wifi, web browsing, mail or anything else will work.

They are not unlocking the SIM card. The SIM card is not what gets locked. It's the phone that gets locked/unlocked. Unlock the phone, and another SIM card will work. I've done this with Motorola and Sony phones several times. Once that's done, all you need are the data settings for your network to get the mail & web browsing. The iPod and WiFi should work without a problem -- they are not SIM-dependent. The only thing that will never work on a non-iPhone-approved network is the visual voicemail, since that is network-dependent.

 

[mpw]

...The iPod and WiFi should work without a problem...

Not true according to Apple. I guess the WiFi might work, but the iPod won't sync without the SIM. At least that's what I understand from the Apple registration video.

 

[ldhilljr]

Not true according to Apple. I guess the WiFi might work, but the iPod won't sync without the SIM. At least that's what I understand from the Apple registration video.

Most GSM cell phones will not boot up without a SIM card (e.g., my Sony K790i will not boot up without one installed, and neither would my old Motorolas). So the need to have some kind of SIM installed would not be unusual. But if the iPhone were unlocked, I don't think you would need the original SIM for the phone and almost all of its contents to work.

 

[StolenPhone]

Yes, but the Apple TV is running on Intel processors. There are no publicly available OSX compilers for ARM processors.

Not true. OSX is based on GCC, and wouldn't you know...a full tools kit for compiling ARM with GCC on MacOS:

http://www.gnuarm.com/

 

[appleii2mac]

Not true. OSX is based on GCC, and wouldn't you know...a full tools kit for compiling ARM with GCC on MacOS:

http://www.gnuarm.com/

I stand corrected.

That'll teach me to quote people from /.

 

[padrino121]

I stand corrected.

That'll teach me to quote people from /.

That's what you get for quoting posts from any large community without verifying first. Slashdot is frequented with a lot of well qualified individuals, and bozos all at the same time.

 

[SpookTheHamster]

There IS a SIM card slot/tray, but no other SIM will work other than that whish is registered with that handset, even another valid AT&T SIM from another iPhone will not work in another iPhone.

If that's the case, it's pretty stupid. What do you do if your battery runs out and you need to use your SIM in someone else's phone, or vice versa? Or when you carry around more than one SIM card?

 

[meagain]

There IS a SIM card slot/tray, but no other SIM will work other than that whish is registered with that handset, even another valid AT&T SIM from another iPhone will not work in another iPhone.

Did you or anyone actually try it?

I read on another forum where one guy took his Sim from his activated iPhone and put it in his RAZR and it worked for him.
I fail to grasp how moving the Sim from an activated iPhone to another non-activated iPhone wouldn't work.

But if one can put the iPhone's sim into another phone, that could solve the tethering issue for many. Anyone else play around with all this?

 

[mpw]

Did you or anyone actually try it?

I read on another forum where one guy took his Sim from his activated iPhone and put it in his RAZR and it worked for him.
I fail to grasp how moving the Sim from an activated iPhone to another non-activated iPhone wouldn't work.

But if one can put the iPhone's sim into another phone, that could solve the tethering issue for many. Anyone else play around with all this?

If that's the case, it's pretty stupid. What do you do if your battery runs out and you need to use your SIM in someone else's phone, or vice versa? Or when you carry around more than one SIM card?

Stupid or not that's how it is, the iPhone handset is locked to the SIM that is registered to it, otherwise SIMs can be swapped as normal.

 

[danny_w]

But if one can put the iPhone's sim into another phone, that could solve the tethering issue for many. Anyone else play around with all this?

I don't have an iPhone, but have read that at&t says that the data plan will not work if you do this (but the voice will work). If that is true, then tethering in this way is out.

 

[danny_w]

Stupid or not that's how it is, the iPhone handset is locked to the SIM that is registered to it, otherwise SIMs can be swapped as normal.

While I beleve that this is true, it flies in the face of the original intent of the SIM card. One of the real beauties of the SIM card has always been that you could simply plug your card into a different phone and get your "personality" transferred to that phone. When I worked for Siemens years ago (at the start of the GSM era) they even called it a "personality" card.