When we moved from USA to India, one of the gadgets my wife wanted to bring was an iPhone. Just before returning to India, we bought an iPhone from AT&T in USA and paid the cancellation charges to cancel the contract with AT&T. We were of the impression that once we pay the contract cancellation charges, the phone will become ours to keep and use it how and where we want to use it.
Once we reached India, we realized that is not the case. We failed to unlock the iPhone 4 anywhere in India. After making several attempts in various ways, we gave up on unlocking iPhone. Finally, we were able to make the iPhone 4 work in India using a Gevey Ultra we imported from USA.
Even though Gevey Ultra worked reasonably well, it often required reconfiguration on the iPhone, which was a pain to do all the time.
The good days came to an end when we accidentally upgraded our iPhone 4 to the latest iOS 5.1 operating system. When iOS 5.1 was installed on iPhone, it locked out the Gevey Ultra and the Airtel SIM was no longer working. The iPhone would no longer recognize the SIM and it became another toy on our table.
Unlock iPhone 4 through AT&T
After keeping the iPhone in the shelf for several months, we heard the official announcement from AT&T about the unlocking process. We immediately called AT&T to find the reality. We were not very confident since I had called AT&T several times in the past asking for help to unlock but they refused to unlock the phone even though we said we had paid out all contract cancellation fees.
When we called this time, one of the menu options in their automated phone system was 'Press 1 if you are calling to unlock your iPhone'. That was music to our ears!
The process was very easy and simple this time. See the steps we followed which results in unlocking our AT&T iPhone:
1. Called AT&T customer service
2. Gave our original AT&T cell phone number which we used with the iPhone more than a year ago and the IMEI number of the phone.
3. AT&T representative verified the record to make sure we had paid out all contract cancellation fees. In case you did not cancel your contract but completed your 2 year contract period, that would qualify.
4. AT&T representative updated their system and recorded our request for unlocking. They suggested us to wait for an email from Apple explaining the unlocking process.
5. Within a day, we got an email from Apple asking us to do a simple process - backup the iPhone using iTunes and then restore from the backup.
6. We went to Airtel office in India, applied for a new Micro SIM to match the iPhone. Within 2 minutes, we got the new Micro Sim and it got activated within 10 minutes.
7. We came home from Airtel, connected iPhone to the computer, opened iTunes and selected "Backup iPhone".
8. Once the backup was completed, we chose "Restore from Backup".
When the phone was restored from backup, Apple pushed the unlock code to our phone which unlocked the phone permanently!
Here is the welcome message we got:
My wife was literally dancing because it has been more than a year she was struggling to use her iPhone 4 in India with Airtel service provider.
However, the joy did not last long. Even though the iTunes showed the phone is successfully activated, the phone was still showing "No Service" error. My wife was about to explode but I suggested her to complete the wizard in iTunes and click "Continue" until she get out of the wizard to complete the restore process.
Once we completed the restore wizard in iTunes, the phone started flashing and then it gave the moment of celebration to us with the label "Airtel" appearing in top left corner of the phone.
The one year long wait seem to have come to an end. We made couple of calls from the iPhone 4 and the unlocked iPhone 4 appears to be working great with Airtel.
We are using an iPhone 4, but I am pretty sure the same process will work for iPhone 4S. Also, even though we are using Airtel, you should be able to follow same unlock process and should be able to use your iPhone with any other service provider in India.
SIM not found error in iPhone when using Airtel micro SIM
When we received the micro Sim from Airtel, we had no patience to wait until we connect to iTunes and perform the backup and restore process suggested by Apple to complete the unlock process. We thought since we had done several backup and restore in the past, that would be enough to complete the unlock process. So, we inserted the Airtel micro sim card to the iPhone and wife started pressing everywhere on the phone in the effort to get it working. No matter what she try, the phone kept on giving various erros including SIM not found, invalid SIM, No Service etc. At some point, she even called Airtel complaining that the Sim was not activated and is giving error with the iPhone.
Finally, it all turned out that following correct process solved the problem. Once we backed up the iPhone and restored from backup as suggested by Apple, the iPhone started working perfectly with Airtel in India.
If the above steps did not work, you may try the following phone unlocking services. GSM Unlock Labs offers affordable unlocking services for iPhone.
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| Guest Author: Prasad 03 Jul 2012 |
Thanks for this article and explaining how to unlock iPhone.
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| Guest Author: katrina 07 Jul 2012 |
Thanks. I already received an email from AT&T with the instructions to backup and restore iphone thru iTunes. However, after doing that several times, that message with the "congratulations, you're iPhone has been unlocked" hasn't appeared. When I inserted my local sim, it says SIM not found or invalid SIM. I tried to insert that sim to my other phones and it's working perfectly fine.
Did you backup and restore with your Airtel sim inserted on iPhone? i do not know what i am doing wrong.
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| Guest Author: katrina 07 Jul 2012 |
After restoring, it just says, "The settings of your iPhone have been restored. Blah, blah..."
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| Author: Tony John 07 Jul 2012 | Member Level: Diamond Points : 2 |
Even I had to do it few times because I did not have an Airtel SIM when I started doing it. After I purchased the micro SIM from Airtel, it worked on the first try. Yes, I tried back up and restore keeping the Airtel SIM inserted in the iPhone.
I just did the same steps for a friend of mine and the iPhone was unlocked on the first try itself.
By the way, the unlocking instructions for the iPhone should come from Apple and not AT&T.
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| Guest Author: Peterson 09 Jul 2012 |
I bought iPhone in the US, but when I reached herein India it was not working. I tried to contact its customer care, it seems no exact response and no solution. I had to go to iPhone service center for further enquiry. Finally, I got it done, now I got this article with co-incident which helped me a lot.
Thanks. Appreciate it.
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| Guest Author: Shakul 12 Oct 2012 |
Dear sir,
Did you use that iPhone with the original AT&T SIM in it?
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| Author: Tony John 12 Oct 2012 | Member Level: Diamond Points : 1 |
Shakul,
I did not use the iPhone with AT&T SIM card in it but I am pretty sure it will work. But what is going to happen is, you will paying AT&T for international roaming, which will be a pretty big amount.
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| Guest Author: Shkaul 13 Oct 2012 |
Dear tony,
I would be glad if you could check this link posted by me :
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuGkOJsCAgh_uJZ5.r0ugpcazKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20121012123534AAoDEnm
Extra info : The iPhone is to be working in India.
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| Guest Author: shakul 23 Oct 2012 |
Please help me factory unlock my phone in India
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| Guest Author: Mahrukh 11 Nov 2012 |
How much cancellation charges have to be paid for the contract cancellation?
And how much time does the process take to complete ?
Will it work with and iphone5 too ?
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| Guest Author: kothilphun 21 Nov 2012 |
What is the unlocking price of iPhone 5 in India?
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| Author: Tony John 21 Nov 2012 | Member Level: Diamond Points : 0 |
Kothilphun,
I doubt if there is any iPhone 5 unlock option available in India yet. I will update if I find anything.
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| Guest Author: Sachin 29 Nov 2012 |
Calling up AT&T did not give me an automated option for unlocking the iPhone. Is there any specific number you called up? I tried the technical support listed in http://www.att.com/econtactus/callUs.jsp?serviceGroup=wireless
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| Guest Author: Sudarshan 29 Nov 2012 |
Hi All,
This is Sudarshan. I really need an expert advice in buying an iPhone from USA and use in India. One of my friend is coming from US in 15 days time. I wanted to ask him to get me an iPhone 5.
When I asked the price he said $850. It's pretty costly I felt. When I check the iPhone store AT&T locked phone is only $200. So I am planning to tell my friend to buy the AT&T locked phone, which will come in my budget. And get it unlock it here in Bangalore.
What do you feel about this deal? Unlocking cost only 1000rs in India. So is there any disadvantages by doing this?
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| Author: Tony John 29 Nov 2012 | Member Level: Diamond Points : 5 |
Sudarshari,
Your approach will not work out. The AT&T iPhone from USA is not only locked, it comes with a 2-year contract as well. This means, when your friend buys that phone from AT&T, he is making a commitment that he will use AT&T phone services for next 2 years. To come out of that contract, he will have to pay a lot of money, which will be almost equal to the price of buying an unlocked iPhone. The savings will be very less - may be some $100 or so.
By the way, what is you suggested is exactly what I did when I moved from USA to India. I bought an AT&T iPhone at $200 or so, used it for a month paying 1 month data charges of $85, then got out of contract by paying a good amount of money. And I had a tough time getting it unlocked reliably in India.
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| Guest Author: Sudarshan 29 Nov 2012 |
Hi Tony John,
Thank you for your reply. I Still have a question what if I break the contract of AT&T. I say to them I will stay for 2 years. But I will come back to India without any intimation to them. After that here I will unlock it and use it.
Probably I may not be able to update the new version software, but still its ok for me to use the existing software.
What do you say? Or if you have any other option, please let me know.
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| Author: Tony John 29 Nov 2012 | Member Level: Diamond Points : 5 |
Sudarshan,
In USA, if you break a contract and walk away without paying the contract breaking charges, you will end up having some nasty remarks in your Credit History. In future, you may not be able to apply for a credit card, buy a house or get a car in USA. If you have absolutely no plans to return to USA, you may be escaped from these penalties. Also, if you do not have a social security number in US, you may be able to get rid of the bad credit appearing in your history since the credit history is on the SSN.
However, in future, if something happens to your phone, you may not be able to get any support. In my case, my iPhone from USA became completely useless when I accidentally ran the software update. I could not get it back to life without help from AT&T. Luckily, I had paid all contract breaking fees and so they helped me restore it.
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| Guest Author: Sudarshan 29 Nov 2012 |
Hi Tony John,
Thank you very much for your email. I am decided not to buy a phone from USA. instead buy it here though its bit costly and be in a safer zone.
Once again thank you very much.
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| Guest Author: Dinesh 14 Dec 2012 |
Hi Tony John,
This post was really useful. I completed my ATT contract for iPhone4 and also received the mail from ATT to backup and restore in iTunes. But, the ATT sim in the phone is deactivated now and I gave the phone to my family in India. When I try to restore with the same ATT sim, it displays No Service at the top and also the restore process stops at a certain point and is not progressing. So the restore process is not getting completed. I still have the iOS 5.1.1 version. I am not sure if the old iOS or inactive sim or any other reason for the problem. And, one more question is, do we need to sign in with our Apple ID (created for United States - iTunes) while doing this process? Please advice. Thanks in advance.
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| Guest Author: Mukundan 16 Dec 2012 |
Hi All,
No more tough time to get unlock code for AT&T iphone which also includes iphone 5. Anything related to unlocking your iphone any carrier and specialist in AT&T can contact s.g.muku@gmail.com. 100% safe, fast and reliable.
Thanks,
Mukundan
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| Author: Tony John 16 Dec 2012 | Member Level: Diamond Points : 2 |
Dinesh,
You do not need to use the original AT&T SIM from USA. Try with any other SIM in it. It should work. And it is not required to use the same iTunes account. As long as you have a valid iTunes account and your phone is connected to it, you are good to go.
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| Guest Author: Kishore 17 Jan 2013 |
Hi, i have bought the iphone from others and as per them the phone is unlocked by AT&T. Now when i tried to use airtel sim, it say no service or sometimes sim failure.
I have checked iphoneox.com site and observed the phone is unlocked but still it is not working in India.
Please help me...regarding this
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| Guest Author: Ravin 26 Mar 2013 |
I have iphone 3 from u.s. i have unlocked and started using it here.But when i updated the software it cannot be and when i restored it cannot be now what to do??
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| Guest Author: utkarsh jaiswal 04 Apr 2013 |
What are the cancellation charges? Is it the remaining contract term amount or there is some specified amount that have to paid?
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| Guest Author: tanmay 16 May 2013 |
The same thing happend to me too, my friend gave iPhone from USA, I was using it with Gevey unlock chip for last 1 year. Now I updated the phone, and it is going locked.
I don't know how he was using it there, even whether he gave extra charge for using it in India or not.
Kindly help me what to do with this iPhone? Whether I throw it in dustbin or there is some chance to restore it?
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| Author: Tony John 16 May 2013 | Member Level: Diamond Points : 3 |
Tanmay,
Check with your friend if has any contract in USA for the phone. If there is no contract or if he has paid off the compensation amount, then you should be able to get it legally unlocked. Otherwise, your options are probably limited to go for a paid unlocking service.
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