Already unlocked?

Mtnmedic · Apr 9, 2012

I recently moved into an AT&T -only area. I have a Sprint iPhone 4S which I got from the Sprint Store as an upgrade in December. Because I'm now in an AT&T -only area, I'm no longer using this iPhone 4S, but another AT&T phone. The Sprint iPhone 4S is now off-contract and sitting on my desk.

For what it was worth, before cancelling my contract with Sprint (the out was I'm no longer in a Sprint area), I asked about unlocking my iPhone. Sprint said "no". One other rep said I should talk to Apple. I did. Apple looked up my phone and said it's in their system as already UNLOCKED.

Now I'm confused. Could this just mean that the phone was sold to Sprint as unlocked and Sprint put their own lock on it? Could this also mean, now that this phone is no longer on contract with Sprint, with regard to Apple saying they see it as currently unlocked, could it actually BE truly unlocked so that I can now use a GSM (AT&T or, say, Straight Talk) card in it without having to jailbreak, etc?

If so, I'd love to take this AT&T phone back and just use my SIM in this iPhone 4S, save myself some money with the refund or by pulling out of AT&T altogether (been with them only a week) and going to Straight Talk or something.

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holysmoke · Apr 9, 2012

I don't know where your at, the guy that unlocked my 4s can unlock your sprint phone for gsm. As long as its 5.0.1

Mtnmedic · Apr 9, 2012

holysmoke said:
I don't know where your at, the guy that unlocked my 4s can unlock your sprint phone for gsm. As long as its 5.0.1

Thanks, but I'm not into jailbreaking.

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Thomasjtsi · Apr 9, 2012

The Sim slot on the 4S can be unlocked but..... it's for use on international GSM carriers. Not US GSM carriers like At&t or T-Mobile.

holysmoke · Apr 10, 2012

That's fine have an expensive paper weight. Yes he can do tmobile and AT&T on that sprint phone

Thomasjtsi · Apr 10, 2012

holysmoke said:
That's fine have an expensive paper weight. Yes he can do tmobile and AT&T on that sprint phone

Please smoke... help us understand how this works? Within the guidelines of our Forum Rules of course.

Skull One · Apr 10, 2012

If I may inject with the caveat that I am a total newbie when it comes to "unlocking".

When Sprint got the iPhone 4S, there was a confirmed set of news reports that clearly stated that the first 10 days of sales where of unlocked iPhones. Now this has to be taken in context. The reports stated that Sprint was selling the iPhone 4S with the SIM unlocked for international only use out of the box. Sprint publicly responded to that statement and confirmed it as true. Sprint then stated that they were going to push an update to relock the phone but you could ask them to unlock it at a later time if you account was in good standing.

I believe Apple has responded with a "Yes it is unlocked" because that is how it was shipped to Sprint. Sprints relocking with the update probably didn't get pushed back to Apple.

Again, I am a total newbie, but I believe this may be the reason for the positive answer from Apple.

Mtnmedic · Apr 10, 2012

Skull One said:
If I may inject with the caveat that I am a total newbie when it comes to "unlocking".

When Sprint got the iPhone 4S, there was a confirmed set of news reports that clearly stated that the first 10 days of sales where of unlocked iPhones. Now this has to be taken in context. The reports stated that Sprint was selling the iPhone 4S with the SIM unlocked for international only use out of the box. Sprint publicly responded to that statement and confirmed it as true. Sprint then stated that they were going to push an update to relock the phone but you could ask them to unlock it at a later time if you account was in good standing.

I believe Apple has responded with a "Yes it is unlocked" because that is how it was shipped to Sprint. Sprints relocking with the update probably didn't get pushed back to Apple.

Again, I am a total newbie, but I believe this may be the reason for the positive answer from Apple.

You're absolutely correct, as I've found out. Apple told me that that's how they shipped the phone to Sprint-unlocked. I got my phone about two weeks after Sprint locked their phones. However, Sprint refuses to unlock, even if the phone is out of contract. They say the GSM slot is good only for international, which they would and lock for upon request, and that's because of the INTERNAL SIM card. As a result, it wouldn't work domestically even if they did unlock it. Again, that's what Sprint told me. I didn't even know an internal SIM card existed.

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holysmoke · Apr 11, 2012

I don't know how he does it other than it involves jail breaking. I can give you his number if you wanna call and ask him

shadowboricua · Apr 11, 2012

Why don't you just take it to an AT&T store and see if they can help you? It might be unlocked as Apple told you.

DRad2003 · Apr 11, 2012

According to Apple. If you buy an unlocked phone from them it is a GSM phone. It will not work with CDMA networks. If you get a CDMA unlocked it will only unlock for international GSM networks. It's pretty clear on their website. It even has a small paragraph about it when you go to order your phone through them.

Mtnmedic · Apr 11, 2012

Well, as I've read here in the thread, as well as speaking with Apple and Sprint, it appears that the phone is in fact, locked with Sprint only as a CDMA phone. With that, the GSM slot is international only. In any event, I found a buyer who took it off my hands for $450. Now I can put that towards an Apple factory unlocked GSM phone so I can go off contract with Straight Talk.

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