Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Seriously considering an iPhone need some help

J

Jayzz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 8, 2010
26
0
Hello everyone.

i am on a recent 18 month contract with t.mobile on the android HTC Hero, but i want to trade it in for an iPhone 3GS. What i need to know is:

if i buy an unlocked iphone can i then simply put my current t.mobile contract SIM in the unblocked iphone and have it work?

or is there an easier rout around all this that i don't know about?

thats the most important questions out the way.

but also heres another one:

are there any caveats that come with having a unlocked iphone? i've done some research (how accurate or honest they are i am not sure) that say things like:

"Important: You must connect the iPhone to a computer each time you switch it on after being powered off. This applies to all unlocked new iPhones. Straight-forward instructions are provided."

"Restoring or updating the iPhone will cause it to lock to O2. Current firmware on iPhone: 3.1.2."

"THE PHONE IS UNLOCKED BUT AS EVERYBODY

KNOWS THAT 3GS IPHONE IS LOCKED AGAIN IF ITS TURN OFF - AND THERE IS A SOFTWARE TO UNLOCK IT AGAIN WHICH COMES WITH THE PHONE"

Is there a specific type of unlocked iphone i would need to buy to avoid these caveats? like a "factory unlocked iphone" or something?
 
i'm from the UK, but what is EDGE data? i keep seeing this.
 
Jayzz said:
i'm from the UK, but what is EDGE data? i keep seeing this.
Click to expand...

It's a slower, non-3G network. I don't know about the rest of the world, but when those of us in the US don't have 3G service, our phones default to the EDGE network.
 
The caveats that you refer to clearly apply to iPhones that are being offered for sale as 'unlocked', but the unlock is an unofficial software unlock that requires connection to the computer when powering the phone on. In the UK, O2 will officially unlock iPhones that they provide but you'd need to check with them the terms under which they'd unlock a Pay and Go phone as it would make no sense (I imagine) to enter into an O2 contract and then use a T-Mobile sim card. Or why not check out the O2 contract deals and if you find one that suits your needs, port your T-Mobile number to it?
 
I would just go o2 but I'm stuck in a contract so can't switch.

Yep o2 will unlock a pay as you go iPhone if I first buy it with them.
They said I would get my current t.mo package except internet which they weren't sure about.

Spoke to t.mo and asked them if I would get internet and they said no, but they have the settings to configure it once I get the phone unlocked.

What they didn't know if it would be on 3G or not. I doubt it would. And she wasnst so sure it would work exactly like a normal iPhone, syncing with mac etc.

I've decided to go with ipod touch which will do 80% of what I want, wait till t.mo contract is up, bin it and buy the new iPhone cos it will be out by then.

Not ideal but a good. Enough work around. And a safe one.
 
Another of these threads. Macrumors needs a built-in MRoogle function. :rolleyes:
 
Asking T-Mobile about a phone they don't carry has, surprisingly enough, yielded not very helpful answers.

Jayzz said:
I would just go o2 but I'm stuck in a contract so can't switch.

Yep o2 will unlock a pay as you go iPhone if I first buy it with them.
They said I would get my current t.mo package except internet which they weren't sure about.
Click to expand...

Ok this is hazy so double check but if you buy a pay as you go iPhone from O2 you pay £15 or thereabouts and they unlock it. You lose the 12 months free data you get when you buy one pay as you go but since you're not going to use it on O2 that doesn't matter.

What I'm hazy about is if you have to own the phone for a certain amount of time before they'll unlock it. Check their T&Cs, they're online.

Jayzz said:
Spoke to t.mo and asked them if I would get internet and they said no, but they have the settings to configure it once I get the phone unlocked.

What they didn't know if it would be on 3G or not. I doubt it would. And she wasnst so sure it would work exactly like a normal iPhone, syncing with mac etc.
Click to expand...

You would need to change the network information from O2's data settings to T-Mobile's. These are the settings they're talking about.
This is not hard. Google "T-Mobile UK VPN" and you'll have them. You just go to Settings>General>Network>Cellular Data Network and type in T-Mobile's settings.

3G should work fine (the confusion here is that T-Mobile USA's 3G doesn't work on iPhones). T-Mobile do not have an EDGE network though so if you don't get 3G you'll drop down to GPRS, which is quite a drop although still usable (just). You'll know how good 3G coverage is in your area.

And it would work exactly like a normal iPhone. It still would be a normal iPhone, just on a different operator so yes it would still sync perfectly.


Jayzz said:
I've decided to go with ipod touch which will do 80% of what I want, wait till t.mo contract is up, bin it and buy the new iPhone cos it will be out by then.

Not ideal but a good. Enough work around. And a safe one.
Click to expand...

This a fine enough work around, but there is absolutely nothing unsafe about using an O2 unlocked iPhone on T-Mobile.
 
instaxgirl said:
What I'm hazy about is if you have to own the phone for a certain amount of time before they'll unlock it. Check their T&Cs, they're online.
Click to expand...

The last I heard, you have to have a pay-as-you-go iPhone for at least 12 months before O2 will unlock it, this may have changed since though.
 
charltonx said:
The last I heard, you have to have a pay-as-you-go iPhone for at least 12 months before O2 will unlock it, this may have changed since though.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I sort of thought.

But, I returned my pay as you go 3GS but kept the sim to use with my iPhone 2G. I was looking into unlocking it and the terms said something like "if you have an iPhone pay as you go sim then unlocking will cancel your 12 months free data" which sort of implies you can unlock earlier than 12 months . . .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back