iPhone

My boy has an iPhone that we had "chipped" when we switched his mobile network from Orange to 3. I want to set up the Sky Go app on the phone however it says that the latest Apple softwear is required. Now, when we had it chipped the guy said not to "update" the softwear as it would lock it back to Orange.

Is that correct?

edit - I said chipped, I think I really meant to say unlocked.

Edited by deleted (Wed 20-Jul-11 18:38:55)

Yes, it will likely revert the lock depending on how it is upgraded and how it was unlocked.

It might be worth just paying Orange the £25odd fee to get it unlocked officially via iTunes.

Matt

Official unlocking is done by updating the phone's record at Apple. Since your phone record still says locked as soon as you activate it will relock.

If he was on PAYG then it could have been unlocked legally after a while.

Well, my iPhone 4 is almost going to be getting un-locked by Apple - I am just waiting to hear [anything] about the iPhone 5 first before doing so.

I don't really like the shape on the 4. It is not very good to hold - the audio, is faultless - except for the volume of it on hands-free. Apart from the shape, it is the best one yet feature-wise. I s'pose.

The iPhone 3 G[s] is still my favourite (design & covers for carrying).

In reply to a post by gilesjuk:

If he was on PAYG then it could have been unlocked legally after a while.

My contract iPhone 3GS on O2 was unlocked for free by filling in a web form on o2.co.uk

My Dad's contract 3GS on Orange was unlocked for £25 by calling Orange customer services.

It makes roaming in other countries cheaper using local SIMs

No chips involved here and the phone wasn't unlocked. The phone was jailbroken, which isn't the same as either and can be done by anyone for free with little effort. If someone charged you to do this then you were as near robbed as makes no odds.

As far as Apple are concerned the phone is still locked to Orange. And while it may seem unlocked if the OS is updated using iTunes it will be automatically locked again and that's assuming Apple don't opt to render it unusable if you attempt to update it because it was jailbroken in the first place.

I'm not sure about the status of any contract or any particular network, but many will unlock out of contract phones for free or at a nominal charge (Vodafone have unlocked both in contract and out of contract phones for me for nothing). Given the value of an unlocked iPhone I'm minded to suggest that you might want to have it properly unlocked and thus have the freedom to use it on any network and update it as you please.

In reply to a post by Desmond:

I'm not sure about the status of any contract or any particular network, but many will unlock out of contract phones for free or at a nominal charge (Vodafone have unlocked both in contract and out of contract phones for me for nothing). Given the value of an unlocked iPhone I'm minded to suggest that you might want to have it properly unlocked and thus have the freedom to use it on any network and update it as you please.

Concur, O2 unlock for free on their web page. Orange charge £20 to £25 fee.

Jailbreaking is "all the rage" on iPhones because in the US AT&T will not unlock ever; but it doesn't matter as there is no other US network that can support the frequencies for the iPhone today.

Edited by jchamier (Mon 25-Jul-11 19:34:17)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Concur, O2 unlock for free on their web page. Orange charge £20 to £25 fee.

O2 will 'unlock' a monthly contract iPhone for free anytime but you will have to continue paying until the end of your contract. Pay & Go customers are charged £15.

Search the O2 site for 'unlock iphone' and you will see full details