X-SIM II claims to unlock some iPhones, looks way sketchy

If you're ready to drop 45 bones on a tricksy SIM from a back-alley internet joint called One-Stop-China.com in the hopes of unlocking an iPhone, then behold the X-SIM II. While not hardly the first SIM-based unlocking effort, this "Turbo SIM" (or so they call it) won't work in Germany, UK, Australia, but it will supposedly free up an iPhone running v1.1.2, and bootloader 4.6. Caveat emptor (as if we really had to tell you).

[Pentium @ Jan 5th 2008 1:11PM]

so what's the difference between this Turbo SIM and other Turbo SIMs that unlock the OTB iPhone 1.1.2 already?

[Rohit Kapur @ Jan 5th 2008 1:49PM]

I just wrote this same thing as a response under another comment below yours, so I'm just pasting the same thing for you too. :)

Basically, when you put in your SIM card in your phone, the phone checks twice as to which carrier's card is put in. If, say, on a US phone, you put in a non-AT&T card, the phone will check as soon as you put it in, and recognize that it's an invalid SIM.

The way these cards work is that they spoof the carrier response when the phone checks which SIM is inserted in there. That is also the main difference between a TurboSIM and these other "clones". The TurboSIM is reprogrammable, and hence, you can program it to spoof any carrier's response, whereas some of the other clones are preprogrammed, and simply spoof an AT&T response. Therefore, they only work with US phones.

[nh @ Jan 5th 2008 2:05PM]

How does the sim know what phone number it is supposed to be?

[Pentium @ Jan 5th 2008 2:34PM]

I knew this info that US AT&T Turbo SIM differs from UK O2 one...but that's not what I meant..
Turbo SIM is not new and all iPhone community knows it..so why posting this? there is nothin new here! 1.1.2 Turbo SIM is known from a while ago!
That's my point.


nh: This Turbo SIM only to trick the iPhone..u need a part from ur SIM to use it with, your original SIM.

[Constable Odo @ Jan 5th 2008 4:43PM]

The X-Sim II is making a carrier list and checking it twice.
Apple's gonna find out who's naughty or nice.
Then iPhone firmware upgrade 1.1.4 is coming to town.
(Merry Brick-mas! Hohoho)

Won't buying all those SIM cards everytime new firmware comes out cost an awful lot?

[Lisa Smalls @ Feb 14th 2008 3:20AM]

i found the x-sim here for $36.99 shipped .... there should be online updates for the v1.1.3 x-sim unlock as well... http://www.chinagrabber.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1533

[ednacell @ Mar 21st 2008 3:53PM]

There are many X-sim cards in the market that claim it works Iphones, Nokia, Motorola, LG, Samsung etc . These cards market with no-support and no-updates and no money back grantee. So buyer beware.

GSM Unlockers Awareness Report http://gsmhosting.bravehost.com

[Jeremy Thames @ Jan 5th 2008 1:13PM]

I purchased an unlocked iphone v1.1.2 from www.elite-electronix.com. They used this method. But they used something called a Hyper Sim card instead. Looks very similar to this card except it had the microchip at the top center instead of to the side.

[Sam Zebian @ Jan 5th 2008 1:19PM]

Ha, you iphone owners still having trouble unlocking your phones?? I have been able to do that since day 1 of owning my AT&T Tilt, and that's just another one of the reasons why Smartphones that run windows mobile, palm os, blackberry os or whatever else are much better than the Iphone, which shouldn't even be considered a smartphone, it's just a music phone with a flashy, gimmicky interface.

[bob @ Jan 5th 2008 1:47PM]

shut up and comment on win mobile article then, ssesh.

[Senor_Tom @ Jan 5th 2008 1:36PM]

you don't own one, i don't own one, most people don't own one. but the general population thinks its a decent piece of kit, why can't you. It does exactly what it is built for and for a reasonable price if you think about it consiering the email (blackberry), internet (not really sure), phone (nokia/sony ericsson) and music (ipod). Your saving a hell of a lot of money on one small effective gadget, so shut up and just comment about the sim not ur hatred.

Personally i think its good, but i wouldnt trust anythin that looks like that or is sold from somewhere with china in the shop name.

[Salam Zebian @ Jan 5th 2008 3:27PM]

The iphone isn't going to save you any money, you can trust me on that one senor.

[OBM @ Jan 5th 2008 1:31PM]

I call BS, there's no difference in UK/Australia/USA 1.1.2 FW and 4.6 boot loader so there's no reason it shouldn't work with all OTB 1.1.2 iPhones.

[Rohit Kapur @ Jan 5th 2008 1:47PM]

Actually, there is a reason why it may not work with any phone other than a US one.

Basically, when you put in your SIM card in your phone, the phone checks twice as to which carrier's card is put in. If, say, on a US phone, you put in a non-AT&T card, the phone will check as soon as you put it in, and recognize that it's an invalid SIM.

The way these cards work is that they spoof the carrier response when the phone checks which SIM is inserted in there. That is also the main difference between a TurboSIM and these other "clones". The TurboSIM is reprogrammable, and hence, you can program it to spoof any carrier's response, whereas some of the other clones are preprogrammed, and simply spoof an AT&T response. Therefore, they only work with US phones.

[OBM @ Jan 5th 2008 2:06PM]

You've just contradicted yourself, I know the card spoofs the phone into thinking it's an AT&T sim, that's the reason it should work all over the world. As long as the iPhone thinks it's AT&T what does it care where in the world?

[srw985 @ Jan 5th 2008 2:10PM]

because a UK iphone for example will be looking for an O2 response, not AT&T

[Twitchy @ Jan 5th 2008 7:36PM]

OBM is partly right - in countries where the iPhone hasn't been released officially (such as Australia and NZ) this SIM would do the trick. Damn some of you lot are narrow minded dickheads.

[SuperPrime @ Jan 5th 2008 1:31PM]

Can anybody read what it says on the IC? If we can extract that text we can get the datasheet.

[Jagannath A @ Jan 5th 2008 1:34PM]

and do what ? ;)

[SuperPrime @ Jan 5th 2008 3:20PM]

... figure out how to build one ourselves. How thick can you be?

[ssuk @ Jan 5th 2008 4:25PM]

TATA-AZU or TATA-A2U

[ssuk @ Jan 5th 2008 4:26PM]

oh wait, ignore that, I'm an idiot. =(

[Wwhat @ Jan 5th 2008 5:57PM]

I make it
F304
D323

But with a very large margin of error.

[Dylan Gul @ Feb 4th 2008 4:56PM]

it is F301

[Vohaul79 @ Jan 5th 2008 1:33PM]

Sam Zebian is a moron. The iPhone is a fantastic device. I used a chip that looks identical to this one (Next Sim II) for my fathers iPhone, and it worked wonderfully. They may look cheap but they work. Just find one that works in your region etc and is pre programmed. Turbo Sim requires programming or paying extra for one that has been programmed. Stealth sim is programmed but costs upwards of 100$...Buy a cheap Chinese knockoff thats pre programmed and forget about it. (Unless you MUST have Stealth sims shiny black logo on back, they are identical).

[AdamK @ Jan 5th 2008 2:06PM]

Don't know if it works or not, but the company at least took the time to match the IC pins to the CB. I'd like to know the code on that IC too if anyone drops the $45 or if they can snag a better picture.

[Carl Vitullo @ Jan 5th 2008 5:20PM]

http://www.kashar.net/it/complete.asp?id=2691
hmm.... engadget would appear to have a copycat. no credits to you either.

[Simon @ Jan 5th 2008 10:12PM]

I have tried all different sim patches, I think smart patch is probably the best, http://www.gadgetkey.com , easy to use and thinnest, so fit into iphone easy

[Brett Lennane @ Jan 8th 2008 6:22AM]

I bought two iphones (1 x 1.0.2 and 1 x 1.1.2) in Hong Kong last week with these "Turbo cards". They work fine on both Optus and Telstra in Australia. Now, if anyone could explain how I would upgrade 1.0.2 to 1.1.2 without corrupting the by-pass I would appreciate it.

[ifenga @ Jan 13th 2008 10:02PM]

There are two newest types of X-SIM, X-SIM can only unlock iphone wich locked by at&a in USA, but X-SIM Pro can unlock which locked in USA, UK and Germany. I just found these new things on www.totobay.com, X-SIM is cheaper than Turbo SIM card, click the url to check it out:
http://www.totobay.com/iphone-sim-card-device-c2273.html

[thaitanium @ Jan 21st 2008 6:00PM]

Another advantage of xsim is that it is flexible where as the stealth sim can be easily broken. These can be bought very cheaply in Asia and seem to work without problems. FWIW, they also use iWorld to load the settings for any country which is nice.

[Raymond @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:29AM]

http://www.totobay.com/x-sim-pro-iphone-unlock-card-p5604.html#description

X-sim pro also can unlock iphone in France.

[Mai @ Jan 24th 2008 2:02PM]

Look what I found http://www.x-freesim.com They said shipping new Free SIM for the new firmware next week..

[Desmond @ Jan 26th 2008 2:40PM]

Apparently, X-SIM has an upgrade now and it works with all locations as claimed here: http://www.sourcingman.com/turbo-xsim-unlock-iphone-otb-112-all-location-p-104.html

Has any body try it?

[Desmond @ Feb 5th 2008 9:18AM]

just to follow up. I got mine from www.sourcingman.com and it works perfect at a cheap price too.

[saqib @ Jan 29th 2008 11:54AM]

this is saqib i want tounlock i phone and i want xsim can u help me
thanks

[saqib @ Jan 29th 2008 12:11PM]

hi i want to unlock i phone anybody help me

[Desmond @ Feb 5th 2008 9:20AM]

check on the site I posted above. It gives very clear instrution in how you can unlock your iphone. good luck!

[sh4508 @ Jan 31st 2008 12:47AM]

I have been using xxxSIM for my 1.1.2 OTB (week 51) iPhone, which has no software unlock yet, and using Installer only 1.1.3 Dev Team Jailbreak, I am now using 1.1.3 Jailbroken iPhone, with the same xxxSIM. Only an iPhone is needed, no PC or MAC required for that process.

For those of you that are using 1.02 or 1.1.1 iPhone, why don't you use a free anySIM software unlock? it is available from the Installer. Browse http://unlock.iphone.no or http://www.modmyifone.com . Use Google.com or other search engine to help you find free applications. Good luck.

[Dylan Gul @ Feb 4th 2008 4:54PM]

Hi, I purchased my X-Sim (multi region) from
www.fonesunlock.com or www.fonesunlock.co.uk - works perfect.

[Bernard @ Feb 7th 2008 2:41AM]

so I bought an iPhone off ebay - 1.1.2 bootloader 4.6 and ordered the xsim from another ebay user after reading reviews that it would be the only thing that would work. And it did!!! I am in Saskatoon Sk Canada using the iPhone with Rogers! A brilliant product.

[wilson @ Feb 17th 2008 9:52AM]

Dude, get a clue about GSM, unlocking etc.

This method is nothing new, phaking MCC-MNC in PMLV using PIC has been about since 1997!

one-stop-factory is not a "shady online operation", it is one of the biggest suppliers of GSM related equipment online.

all your "profesional" high street shops and "geek" friends use equipment most likely originating from there.

Next time, wait til you have some experience before opening your mouth!

[Jean-Claude @ Mar 6th 2008 4:52PM]

We are selling a universal x-sim that can unlock Nokia, Motorola, Iphone, Samsung etc. And it works perfectly. If you want to try you can buy from us and if you dont like you return the product and we will refund your money. The thing is that when you make comments about if it works it only looks bad because i know it works for sure but we have our own design which is different from turbo sim. So they may have a problem with their code but x-sim works perfectly. send me and email at [e-mail].