iPhone unlocked: AT&T loses iPhone exclusivity, August 24, 2007, 12:00PM EDT
By Ryan Block 
posted August 24th 2007 12:00PM
posted August 24th 2007 12:00PM
The iPhoneSIMfree.com team called us up to prove their claim that they cracked Apple's iPhone SIM lock system, and prove it they did. (No, we don't have a copy of the unlock software, so don't even ask us, ok?) The six-man team has been working non-stop since launch day, and they're officially the first to break Apple's SIM locks on the iPhone with software. It's done. Seriously. They wouldn't tell us when and how they would release it to the public, but you can certainly bet that they'll try to make a buck on their solution (and rightly so). We can hardly believe the iPhone's finally been cracked. No, scratch that -- we just can't believe it took this long.
Again: we can confirm with 100% certainty that iPhoneSIMfree.com's software solution completely SIM unlocks the iPhone, is restore-resistant, and should make the iPhone fully functional for users outside of the US. Read on for details and links to our video, and check out the gallery of images below.
Notes on the install
- The unlock process took only a couple of minutes. From our end it was totally painless.
- Once you put your new, non AT&T SIM in the device, you have to go through the usual activation process. This can, of course, be done by anyone anywhere with the right tools (like iASign or iActivator)
- We tested with an active T-Mobile SIM -- after the hack was finished and we reactivated we immediately got full bars and the T-Mobile carrier info popped up in the top bar.
- Everything is otherwise the same, except the menu system now has a couple more options. The root menu has Carrier settings where you can select your preferred network if you don't want to roam.
- The General -> Network menu now has an EDGE network settings area where you can input your carrier's APN and username / password. We put in our T-Mobile info, and were immediately online. (Apparently these hidden menus were added in the 1.0.1 update, they tell us. How convenient!)
- Visual voicemail isn't in the cards -- sorry. That was, of course, to be expected because it's a special AT&T network-specific feature right now. When you hit the voicemail button you are taken immediately to your carrier's default voicemail line though, and that works just like it would on any other phone.
- Everything is confirmed as working on a non-AT&T network: SMS send / receive, internet (including Safari, Mail, Google maps, etc.). YouTube doesn't work out of the box, but that's to be expected. If you're not on AT&T you have to manually activate YouTube -- here's the guide on how to do that. (YouTube is the only app you have to activate like this.)
- We know, it's kind of crazy, but this isn't a hoax.
- No, sorry, you can't have our unlocked iPhone.
- The iPhoneSIMfree.com guys claim this method is restore (though not necessarily upgrade) resistant. We have no way of knowing whether Apple will be able to disable this SIM unlock with future iPhone software updates, but we can confirm that it is restore-resistant.
- We performed a full restore (v1.0.2) on our iPhone and successfully activated it using an inactive AT&T SIM.
- After fake-activating our iPhone, you merely pop out the AT&T SIM, put in the foreign SIM of your choosing, reactivate, and you're done. "Boom," as Steve might say.
- Restoring from an iPhone backup in iTunes worked perfectly despite the lock and foreign SIM. The only thing to notice was the phone number is now listed as "n/a" in iTunes. Big whoop.
- No, seriously. You can't have our unlocked iPhone.
Before you get in a tizzy claiming it's a faked video, please note that:
- We show the T-Mobile SIM at the beginning and end.
- The video stream does get cropped toward the end. That's actually just a crop to make sure the phone number on the second iPhone isn't shown. No frames of the video stream were removed, it wasn't a cut.
- Just so you could be extra sure it's real, we even left in the GSM radio noise.
- Dude, you can unlock your own iPhone soon, ok? You can't have ours.
[MP4] Download in wide VGA (14MB)
[AVI] Download in 720p HD (44MB)
[AVI] Download in wide VGA (14MB)
oh my
That's what AT&T will say now when their iPhone plans will be plummeting. Apple on the other hand will be cheering when their iPhone sales will sky rocket.
Oh as soon as the software is out expect a fix from Apple. They will not let this one go by.
Don't certain European countries require the carrier to unlock the phone once contract term is over? (For that matter, is there any place that prohibits those activation-type schemes?) If they leave no way to unlock the iPhone, wouldn't they be non-compliant with said law, and face penalties?
so I just activated my iPhone with att a couple days ago. Am I mad? No... I have rollover minutes. But even better, this will make roaming much cheaper.
In response to Homeboy, who said: "Apple on the other hand will be cheering when their iPhone sales will sky rocket."
No they won't. Apple makes royalties from AT&T through their exclusivity agreement. Apple makes money on the phones, but they stand to lose royalties if people start unlocking their phones. You can bet they'll patch this quickly.
Matt, if more iphones are sold that wouldn't be if people had to use AT&T then it is a net gain for Apple. Assuming the iphone costs less than $400 to produce and ship.
Apple will make less money from the royalties through AT&T - however, i think they will make up for it through many more phones sold, because MOST people that will be unlocking their phones are in other parts of their world (keep in mind Americans, the world doesn't end at U.S. borders) and only a minority that is unlocking it to go from AT&T to T-Mobile.
Right, we are graced with Canada and Mexico...
I thought it's as simple as removing the sim and rebooting the phone.
Henna
http://www.prankvideoz.com
w00t! Down with the proprietary Apple regime!
Its about time.. Shessh.. So now I think its appropriate of Engadget to have an iPhone giveaway (read a fully unlocked iPhone giveaway) =D. I'll be expecting the giveaway in the upcoming week. Thanks =D.
apple? you mean At&T? you didnt stop the phone from being iphone.
Can i ha...oh dang :(
alright!!! now i can use the iPhone on my carrier!... wait... im on ATT already. damn.
Yes, but this now means you don't have to sign a two year contract in order to get an iPhone!
How, exactly? Considering you can't buy the iPhone sim-free yet, you'll still have to take out that AT&T contract to actually get your hands on the hardware.
No, you can buy the iPhone from an apple store, and then you unlock it!
You just walk in and buy the damned phone! There is no contract until you ACTIVATE the phone.
haha u cant get into the phone without activating it! sooo either way u must first join AT&T because the phone is on lockdown u cant do anything but stare at it until its activated with AT&T =/
@daniel, you can easily hack the activation and there's a link on the top of this page. so you just do that, run the unlock software, and pop in your non-att sim.
yee-haa iPhones for Switzerland!
I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME :) I travel to Zuri a lot :)
I gotta go to Zuri too :D
Woooohoooooooo!!!!!!
Heh... the first image that pops into my head is William Wallace splayed out on the disemboweling table screaming "FREEDOM!!!" but with an iPhone... ya know?
Gratz iPhoneSIMfree.
The only thing that needs unlocking is you apple dorks brains!
Why wood i want the crappy i phone on anothur network it's no way gonna work. I think this story is a load of bull
the advantage here is that it's a wifi enabled smartphone. Sure, data might not work (yet) but that means i don't have to PAY for data and i can piggyback off the superior to EDGE format called WiFi (you've heard of it, right?)
Anyways, this is awesome, once i get the scratch and know this works for sure i can have my iPhone on my $39.99/mo T-Mobile plan with more minutes, unlimited night/weekends. The major downfall is that i would need to sign up for the AT&T service, then cancel it (thats not cheap).
But if someone has an iPhone and doesn't want/need EDGE (or visual voicemail, and thats what callwave is for ;)) then this is a great way to sneak your iPhone in onto a network you actually like. i'm not going to bash them but i've never had a good experience with at&t/cingular and i'm glad that now I at least have some sort of option of a provider i like.
As for validity, this is engadget, not John Q. Hacker's Blogspot. I have no reason to believe this is a hoax because the first person to be skeptical would be engadget. [checks date] even if it was a joke, i doubt August 24th is August Fools day [checks google's logo] nope, it isn't.
Anyways, to sum it up. Stop bitching about not having an iPhone. This is probably the best story so far this week, if you don't want to read iPhone/Apple related stories stop reading them.
-_-
well "mr. angry" if you think it was a load of bull, why did you (a. click add comments (b. type in name and email (c. type stupid message not worth posting and (d. wait for email (e. get email and click activation link.
i think this is awesome and a real landmark for iphone hackers
you sir, seem to have failed second grade english.
You know...iPhones are supposed to be really good with spelling...
Hackers: 5
Apple: 0
Big deal, very few people will actually hack their own iphone just so it will work on another network. Also, do you hear that noise?? That's the ATT/Apple attorneys knocking on the hackers door.
ot- Tom Hands, any relation??
Actually,
Hackers: 5
Apple: 190832890123
This won't hurt Apple in any way, it will hurt AT&T, but this will only encourage more people to buy iPhones. Apple will only profit from the unlocking possibility.
Heh yeah I was wondering how long it would take the cease and desist to get going.
Oh and I don't know of any Rons in the family, plus I live in the UK.
@Ron Hands:
Explain to me exactly which grounds a cease and desist order would be based on? AT&T has a contract with APPLE to be the sole carrier, not with the general public or a purchaser of the iPhone. AT&T could therefore not bring a claim for cease and desist based on contract principles (maybe they could claim for breach of contract against Apple for failure take adequate precautions to prevent the phone from being unlocked, but that wouldn't stop 3rd parties from unlocking the phone). Therefore, there are no contract grounds on which to bring a claim.
So, exactly which grounds are you basing this statement on? Do you propose that AT&T can just come and say "stop interfering with my monopoly on the iPhone service"? If so, you're completely wrong. While they can include terms in the purchase and sale agreement disclaiming the warranty for doing things such as this, how the hell do you propose they stop someone from tinkering with their own damn property?? Come on!
actually this does hurt apple because old Steve Jobs get paid according to their exclusivity deal for every iPhone contract with ATT
"Hackers: 5
Apple: 0"
No big deal. When Apple is ready they just simple zap the PRAM to reset the counter back to 0/0
:D
Apple could only issue a cease and desist crap IF THE SOFTWARE INSIDE THE IPHONE WAS CRACKED TO RUN IN (say) A SAMSUNG from Helio.
The Software is still attached to the device it was meant for, and the license for the use of the device is not violated.
Hackers: 5
Apple: 190832890123
AT&T:.........../´¯/)
..............,/¯../
............../.../
........../´¯/'..'/´¯`·¸
......./'/../..../.../¨
......('(..´...´. ¯~/'.')
...................'..../
.................... _.·´
....................(
Also, don't forget that the Library of Congress within the last year determined that breaking phone carrier locks was fully allowed by the DMCA.
(This is where that rule actually comes in. When it first came out, most people misread it and thought it said that the carrier would have to help you. Not true at all, of course. The rule does say that if YOU want, you can do so without having the DMCA thrown in your face.)
It is not illegal to un-lock cell phones in this country. It was specifically excluded from coverage under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
How about tortious interference with a contract?
hackers 5
apple $10000000
Apple makes out in the long run on this. Win win for them.
selling a crack is probably the stupidiest thing i've seen in my life
it was unlocked when iphonesimfree unlocked it, not when engadget posted this article on 8/24/07 12pm edt.
lmao! i love how you get bashed for pointing the truth out.
Wow, now an iphone now only makes you "pretty" cool.
Yes, but given that you can now buy an 8GB iPhone from Apple for $499 (refurbished) and use the phone on any network that accepts a SIM, that's a lot cooler than those folks who stood in line outside of AT&T on June 29th and 28th and 27th and. And it's cooler than the fifty-seven people that are holding onto their Zunes.
57? Now your overdoing it ;)
@AC
lol that was funny