How to unlock iPhone 4 - genuine

johnny b

Hey there. Not a iphone user so don't know what the story is with genuine unlocking. Missus's bro gave her his iphone 4 after he got an upgrade. I have the phone here, the unlock code he got from vodafone 2 weeks ago, what looks like his old vodafone sim and a her cut down o2 sim card.

o2 shop said you just connect phone to itunes and bada bing but nada happens. Cant find any info on o2 or vodafone sites on what to do. Anyone able to help out?

(have set her up an itunes account and have the latest version of itunes downloaded)

snappieT

Unlock code? No such thing for an iPhone - it's all done through Apple-issued commands via iTunes.

If the phone was unlocked correctly by Vodafone (via Apple), then connecting it to iTunes with a non-Vodafone SIM, and doing a factory restore should perform the unlock.

johnny b

snappieT wrote: »

Unlock code? No such thing for an iPhone - it's all done through Apple-issued commands via iTunes.

If the phone was unlocked correctly by Vodafone (via Apple), then connecting it to iTunes with a non-Vodafone SIM, and doing a factory restore should perform the unlock.

I dunno, he just gave me a long code he got off Vodafone. Will give that a go now..

johnny b

Plugged it in with her cut down o2 sim in it and itunes is telling me the sim card inserted is not supported

aidan_walsh

He shouldn't have gotten anything off Vodafone. Get back onto them when they are open and make sure they know they are dealing with an iPhone.

biko

Perhaps instead of a network unlock they sent the PUK code, 15 digits?
Get onto them tomorrow and it'll be sorted

johnny b

aidan_walsh wrote: »

He shouldn't have gotten anything off Vodafone. Get back onto them when they are open and make sure they know they are dealing with an iPhone.

Might be a PUK code - 15 digits long. Surely they ain't going to deal with me though as its his old bill phone and has nothing to do with me or her?

dark_shadow

I put in an unlocking request with vodafone on their website. A couple of days later they emailed me telling me to connect to iTunes and do a restore. Followed the instructions in the email they sent and everything worked fine for me. After it was done a message appeared to say the iPhone was now successfully unlocked so happy days!:D

I never received any codes or anything like that from them for it either!!

Digidol

snappieT wrote: »

Unlock code? No such thing for an iPhone - it's all done through Apple-issued commands via iTunes.

If the phone was unlocked correctly by Vodafone (via Apple), then connecting it to iTunes with a non-Vodafone SIM, and doing a factory restore should perform the unlock.

Hey, I just got my iPhone unlocked by Vodafone, I have a a Vodafone sim in at the minute and did a backup and restore in iTunes, has my phone been unlocked know or does it need a non-Vodafone sim to do it?

dark_shadow

Digidol wrote: »

Hey, I just got my iPhone unlocked by Vodafone, I have a a Vodafone sim in at the minute and did a backup and restore in iTunes, has my phone been unlocked know or does it need a non-Vodafone sim to do it?

Did a message show up in iTunes to say it was unlocked when you did it??

eirlink

dark_shadow wrote: »

I put in an unlocking request with vodafone on their website. A couple of days later they emailed me telling me to connect to iTunes and do a restore. Followed the instructions in the email they sent and everything worked fine for me. After it was done a message appeared to say the iPhone was now successfully unlocked so happy days!:D

I never received any codes or anything like that from them for it either!!

same here, but i did not have to do a restore. Just connected to itunes , did a backup then unplugged. No onscreen messages either. stuck in a meteor and a emobile sim both worked. also used a voda sim.

dark_shadow

eirlink wrote: »

same here, but i did not have to do a restore. Just connected to itunes , did a backup then unplugged. No onscreen messages either. stuck in a meteor and a emobile sim both worked. also used a voda sim.

From what I remember I had to back it up, restore to original and than apply my settings. A message came up for me saying it was successfully unlocked, so I clicked ok and everything was back to normal. I've tried O2 and meteor sim cards and the phone has worked fine with either of them in aswell!

dodzy

eirlink wrote: »

same here, but i did not have to do a restore. Just connected to itunes , did a backup then unplugged. No onscreen messages either. stuck in a meteor and a emobile sim both worked. also used a voda sim.

I'm afraid it doesn't happen like that. If it did, then it was unlocked before you started. A restore is required, the backup is irrelevant to the process.

whiterebel

dodzy wrote: »

I'm afraid it doesn't happen like that. If it did, then it was unlocked before you started. A restore is required, the backup is irrelevant to the process.

It can Happen exactly like that. I got mine unlocked a couple of weeks ago with Three, they don't send any messages, so I tried after 10 days with a meteor sim and it was unlocked. And I had tried other sims in it prior to requesting the unlock, but it was locked.

dodzy

whiterebel wrote: »

It can Happen exactly like that. I got mine unlocked a couple of weeks ago with Three, they don't send any messages, so I tried after 10 days with a meteor sim and it was unlocked. And I had tried other sims in it prior to requesting the unlock, but it was locked.

How the hell does that work ?

brophs

whiterebel wrote: »

It can Happen exactly like that. I got mine unlocked a couple of weeks ago with Three, they don't send any messages, so I tried after 10 days with a meteor sim and it was unlocked. And I had tried other sims in it prior to requesting the unlock, but it was locked.

dodzy wrote: »

How the hell does that work ?

Dunno, but that's exactly what happened to me too.

eirlink

was deffo locked prior to.... i brought phone into CW causi i did not have a microsim to try. they tried 2 sims and the phone was locked. they then requested the unlock from voda. next day i got an sms from voda saying unlock request was granted and to connect to itunes
connected iphone, backup kicked in and i unplugged. switched off the phone and then tried to other sims...all worked fine.

also, my mate has a 3s on o2 and he got his unlocked also by same method. no restore necessary, just plugged it into itunes and tried other sim which worked.

CathalDublin

I think carrier updates can come in via data connection.

Digidol

Digidol wrote: »

Hey, I just got my iPhone unlocked by Vodafone, I have a a Vodafone sim in at the minute and did a backup and restore in iTunes, has my phone been unlocked know or does it need a non-Vodafone sim to do it?

dark_shadow wrote: »

Did a message show up in iTunes to say it was unlocked when you did it??

No I never got a message when I restored, although a message only shows on certain versions as far as I'm aware?

Just wondering can it only be unlocked using a sim from a network other than the one it was originally locked to?

johnny b

A week later and still no joy. Rang vodafone. Was told they couldn't do it for me and all I had to do was get someone with a vodafone account to ring and give them the emei over the phone. Got someone to ring and vodafone told them they have to do it via website. They did it on the website. Days later still nothing so asked them nicely could they do it for me over the phone after I explained. Dude said he'd take the emei and still now on Friday nada. Pain in the hole

I applied to Vodafone to get my iPhone 4 unlocked, just because I could. Anyway, I got the approval e-mail from Vodafone but never received the message from iTunes that the phone is unlocked. I'm guessing it is but it just didn't tell me.

johnny b

Karsini wrote: »

I applied to Vodafone to get my iPhone 4 unlocked, just because I could. Anyway, I got the approval e-mail from Vodafone but never received the message from iTunes that the phone is unlocked. I'm guessing it is but it just didn't tell me.

Poxy thing isn't even for me, it's for the missus! ( xperia arc ftw :pac: )

TomOnBoard

I have bought a few phones over the past few years from eBay that were locked to Vodafone UK, Never had a problem using them with Vodafone Irl.

However, recently I bought an iPhone, similarly locked to Voda UK, but ot wont work in Ireland. tried to get help from Voda shop- no help :-( Original seller ignoring my requests for him to get an unlock process going.

Any ideas?

guil

Only thing you can do is buy an unlock on eBay.

vahaa

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Hope this helps.