By now, you’ve likely heard of the recent change in DMCA policy that makes the act of unlocking newer cell phones illegal. And even though the EFF clarified some things for us earlier today, it still sounds like we’re getting screwed.
In fact, some folks feel so strongly about the new law that they’ve started a White House petition calling for the Obama administration to either rescind the decision, or create a new bill making unlocking permanently legal… Read More
Last week, we reported that unlocking your cell phone was going to become illegal in the US on January 26th. And it did. While there are some exceptions to the law— you can still unlock pre-2013 phones—it’s still devastating for cell phone owners.
And it gets worse. According to a new report, the penalty for breaking this new unlocking law is a fine of up to $500,000, 5 years in jail, or both. That’s right, half a million dollars for unlocking your phone. And yes, that includes first-time offenders… Read More
If you’re interested in taking matters into your own hands when it comes to unlocking you iPhone, then you may want to act fast, or else potentially be at risk of being labeled a law breaker. According to a report by Tech News Daily: On Saturday, January 26th, a DMCA exemption expires that made unlocking a phone on your own terms fully legal.
In all actuality, the exemption was nullified back on October 26 (read the final ruling here), but due to a 90 day grace period of sorts, the final expiration date takes place this weekend. Obviously, unlocking is a big subject here at iDownloadBlog, so we’re interested to hear your thoughts on the matter. Bear in mind that it’s not all gloom and doom, though… Read More
Great news for folks in the US who have been waiting for Apple to start selling unlocked versions of its latest handset. As we were expecting, the company has begun selling contract-free, unlocked GSM models of the iPhone 5 tonight in both its retail stores and online… Read More
While Apple offers unlocked iPhone 5s in Canada and other countries, it has yet to give buyers inside the US that option. So unless you go through a third party vendor, you can’t get an unlocked iPhone 5 here in the States.
That could be changing in the near future though. Purported prices for unlocked versions of the new handset have been discovered hidden on Apple’s US website, which could mean that they’re preparing to roll them out… Read More
We just retired my wife’s iPhone 4 as she finally upgraded to the iPhone 5. After making sure she had backed up every picture of our beautiful daughter, I got in touch with AT&T so they can unlock the phone. As we explained before, the AT&T unlocking process is fairly simple, and before I got off the phone, the Customer Service Rep I was talking to notified me that the phone had been unlocked. Talk about being fast!
Before listing the phone for sale on Craigslist, I wiped it off clean by performing a restore. During that time, I went to Starbucks for my daily dose of overpriced caffeine, and when I came back, my wife’s iPhone was as good as new. I had missed something though. I hadn’t seen the screen telling you that your iPhone has been unlocked, which made me doubt: is this iPhone really factory unlocked? Besides putting a SIM from a different carrier into it, how can you tell the iPhone has been factory unlocked for sure? Read More
On July 26, 2010, the Library of Congress ruled that under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), jailbreaking was legal. This was a big deal at the time, as prior to the ruling the legality of jailbreaking was a bit of a mystery.
The decision was part of a list of DMCA exemptions, which unfortunately just expired. So the Library announced a new batch of exemptions today. And although jailbreaking is still legal, it appears there are some significant caveats… Read More
Apple has become the target of a new lawsuit this weekend. iPhone owners Zach Ward and Thomas Buchar filed a putative class action lawsuit against the company on Friday over the handset’s software lock.
The two plaintiffs are claiming that Apple violated the Sherman Antitrust Act and Digital Millennium Copyright Act by not obtaining customers’ permission to have their iPhones locked to AT&T’s network… Read More
Great news for folks who have managed to get their hands on an unlocked iPhone 5 and are looking to start up T-Mobile service with the handset. Reports are coming in this weekend that some of the carrier’s retail stores have started receiving shipments of iPhone 5-compatible Nano SIM cards… Read More
Last week, we discovered that the Verizon version of the iPhone 5 comes with an unlocked SIM slot. Our very own Jeff confirmed the theory by using his VZW handset to connect to AT&T’s GSM network.
While this was obviously great news, we were worried that things wouldn’t stay this way because carriers don’t generally like unlocked phones. But according to a new report, Verizon may not have a choice… Read More
I can confirm that the Verizon iPhone 5 is indeed GSM unlocked. Even though I bought an iPhone 5 from Verizon under contract, I was able to cut down my AT&T Micro SIM, and use it in my Verizon iPhone 5 to pick up an AT&T signal. By doing so, I was able to hop onto AT&T’s HPSA+ network, or “4G” as they so ridiculously name it.
AT&T’s so-called 4G speeds are nothing like true LTE speeds, but they are a bit better than typical 3G speeds. But the big news here isn’t about speed. The big news here is that we have confirmed that you can use a Verizon iPhone 5 on AT&T or T-Mobile, freely, even if you’re a brand new customer under contract. Read More
We’re t-minus three hours and counting until the iPhone 5 pre-orders begin, and some new information regarding model availability and pricing has just come to light.
According to several Apple customer service representatives, unlocked models of the iPhone 5 will not be available for tonight’s pre-order or even next week’s launch… Read More
Last week we reported that AT&T was reportedly starting to unlock iPhones that were still under contract. Though they had been a few reports of this, we hadn’t been able to verify the information ourselves.
I decided to take the matter in my own hands and submitted a request to unlock my under-contract iPhone 4S via AT&T’s handy online form. I was a bit doubtful because I had previously asked AT&T if they could unlock this device for me, and at the time, they kindly declined, saying that they couldn’t because I was still under contract.
A couple days after filling out the request form, I received the following confirmation email from AT&T… Read More
Earlier this year, AT&T started unlocking iPhones for subscribers that were out of contract. Prior to that, users had to be jailbroken, or utilize third-party services to unlock their handsets.
Well, good news for folks with AT&T iPhones that aren’t quite out of contract yet. According to a new report, the carrier has started unlocking iPhones that are still under commitment… Read More
By all accounts, T-Mobile isn’t getting the iPhone this year. The carrier will once again be put on the sidelines this month as the other three major US operators prepare for Apple’s massive handset launch.
But that hasn’t kept T-Mobile from trying to get in on the action. Yesterday, it started distributing iPhone-friendly nano SIM kits to retailers. And according to a new report, it’s also prepping in-store iPhone displays… Read More
It’s starting to look more and more likely that T-Mobile will once again not be receiving an iPhone nod from Apple this year, making it the last major carrier in the US without the handset.
But it’s not going to take this lying down. Recently-leaked flyers show that the carrier is about to launch a “Bring Your iPhone to T-Mobile” campaign, with an emphasis on plan price.” Read More
Recently, I’ve been interested in factory unlocking my still on-contract iPhone 4S. I’d heard of various services over the past few months, but never really investigated them until recently.
After asking around on Twitter, I stumbled upon Cellular Medic — one of many services available online that claims to be able to factory unlock the iPhone for a fee.
I was pleasantly surprised that the entire unlock process took a mere 10 minutes. I went from an iPhone 4S locked to AT&T, to a permanently unlocked iPhone 4S that’s usable on virtually any GSM carrier. Take a look inside for a video walkthrough documenting the experience… Read More
Last week, T-Mobile announced that it was going to begin offering truly unlimited data plans on September 5th. It says the plans will work in conjunction with 4G data speeds, and promises that users will never be throttled.
Well, good news today for current or potential iPhone customers on the network. According to a new report, the carrier is about to start offering 4G micro SIM kits, compatible with its unlimited plans, for unlocked iPhone users… Read More
Apple N Berry is an online parts vendor that also deals in iPhone unlock solutions. We actually point to the store quite often when mentioning GEVEY Ultra products — they usually have them.
But now it’s offering something much different than interposers. The vendor has just launched a new IMEI unlock service that, it promises, will permanently unlock all AT&T iPhone models… Read More
Over the past few months, T-Mobile has been touting its plans to upgrade its wireless network to be more friendly with Apple’s smartphone. Despite not being an official partner, the carrier sees a lot of business from unlocked iPhone users.
The upgrade, which allows iPhone users to enjoy 3G data speeds, has already started rolling out to a handful of areas. So that has some T-Mobile subscribers wondering, will they get to keep their old data plans on the new, faster network? Read More
