Unlock iPhone without restoring?
 

Sorry to hijack this thread but since at&t and unlocking the iPhone were mentioned, I was wondering if the phone can be unlocked without having to back up and restore the phone. The phone is currently out of contract. I'm hesitant to back up and restore the phone because I really don't like iOS 7. I prefer iOS 5.1.

Thanks!

Unlocking the official way will not require any restores.

I would strongly advise to upgrade OS to the current one. This will fix several critical security bugs, including the "goto fail" SSL handshake and certificate validation bugs.

(moved this to its own thread)

Which model do you have? While 7.1 does plug security holes, you might be just fine with 5.xx, POV?

I currently have the 4s. It looks like i'll be dumping iOS for Android soon since Apple is now playing catch up to Android devices.

www.iclarified.com has wizards to walk you through the process.

You're comparing an old version of iOS to current versions of Android? That hardly seems fair.

I'm not comparing anything.

I'm really not sure what you are saying or what your point is.

Then you're provoking.

Hmmm is this new? All the iPhones I have unlocked (the official way) requires backup and restore for it to unlock? Pretty much Apple email you something like to unlock your iPhone, just do a backup and restore.. :p

No need to restore, despite what your carrier's support or unlock instructions email might say.
Just pop in any other carrier's SIM, connect to iTunes, and your unlock will be pushed through.

You only need to restore if you don't swap in a new SIM (restoring is another way to force an activation server check).

The easiest and most convenient solution, IMHO, is to stick with 5.xx, jailbreak and unlock on your own....iclarified.com can literally walk you thru the baby steps. Or pm for help;)

If and when you move to android, the 4s can be backup phone. Or sell on CL. You'll get good resale value....I now have 5s, upgraded from 4s but only because had free upgrade and wanted 32gb.

Ah. Good to know for next time! I wish they would have told me. I remember the last time I did the unlock using the Restore method.. iTunes forced me to update the iOS and it took forever and make my older iPhone so much slower...

Yup. If you've got access to wifi then you don't even need to connect to iTunes.

Please clarify if you can as I am confused on what this means. Thanks

I think this is what he said....

If you put in a request to your carrier to unlock your iPhone, they will do it and then email you to tell you that in order to complete the unlock you will need to connect to iTune and do a "Restore" on your iPhone. That's the way I had been doing mine. But what he is saying is that you don't really have to do the "Restore". You could also swap the SIM to another carrier and connect to iTune and it will do the same thing.

I don't know if that would work or not as I have never done it that way, but if it does it would save me a lot of time next time.

Let's suppose that your iPhone is locked to AT&T. It currently has an AT&T SIM card in it, and is working happily. You request an official unlock, which is approved. AT&T tells Apple to flag your phone's IMEI (a sort of serial number) as being unlocked.

Your phone, though, has no way of knowing this until it checks in with Apple's activation servers. This happens under three situations:

• Initial setup
• A restore or major OS upgrade (e.g. iOS 6 to 7)
• You insert a SIM that the phone thinks is unauthorized, so it checks to be sure

Many people who request an unlock don't actually have another carrier's SIM—they're just unlocking it to sell, or they're planning on buying a SIM in another country. Thus, the "sure" way of triggering the unlock is to do a restore.

However, you can also force an activation server check and get your phone to learn it has been unlocked by inserting the SIM card for a carrier that would otherwise be unauthorized. For instance, sticking a T-Mobile or Vodafone UK SIM into your previously locked AT&T phone. This will make it phone home to Apple, unlock itself, and let you use the new SIM without restoring.

So I can just basically pop in any GSM sim and I won't encounter any problems at all?

Any GSM SIM other than one for the phone's original carrier, and sync with iTunes (or connect to Wi-Fi) and the unlock should be pushed through.

So just to be clear, pop in any SIM other than at&t and it'll work instantaneously?

No, as previously stated you'll be prompted to go through the activation process either by connecting to wifi or iTunes.