Not that it’s that difficult any longer, but I unlocked my shiny new iPhone this morning. Took all of 45 minutes, and 42:30 of that was spent going hither and yon on the internet looking for concise instructions. I ended up using this page as my guide.
The iPhone went from out of the box to running on the T-Mobile network, no stops in between for bathroom breaks, scenic views or 64-ounce Slurpees™. Why did it take a fair bit of time to find out what I was supposed to do? Most unlockings are post-honeymoon phase of iPhone ownership, and so are their tutorials. Few deal with in-the-cellophane unlockings. I found several out-of-the-box unlocking videos on YouTube, but they were either outdated or featured different software than that which I wanted to use.
At first I didn’t even know if I should attach it to my Mac via the included USB cable, or if I needed to perform a key-combo on the phone first. That’s how far out of the loop I was. But after reading perhaps 5 sites on how to unlock the iPhone, none said do not attach!, so I attached.
iTunes sprang to attention when it sensed the iPhone (heart: beat beat beat beat!). I ignored it and ran ZiPhone 2.4. It’s a Mac OS Terminal app, and thus a “command line” geeky thing, but overall wasn’t hairy at all. However, if you’re the type that has difficulty setting preset stations on your car radio, get someone to help you.
I read a fair bit last night about which software to use, and all indicators point to ZiPhone as the best. Right now. Things like this can and do change overnight, so do your homework.
Download ZiPhone
Unpack it (it comes zipped)
Move the resulting folder to /Applications
Open your Terminal application (in Applications/Utilities)
type
cd /Applications/ZiPhone
On a new iPhone, type
./ziphone -a -j -u
…and wait for about 2 minutes while the unlocking happens.
That was it for me. I’m still waiting for T-Mobile to enable my $5.99/month data add-on, so for now it’s just calls and WiFi data. I’ll for sure have more on this amazing device in the next few days.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I’d read that hacked iPhones won’t work with the latest release of Leopard (10.5.2) – any problems so far?
February 18th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Everything’s working well here, Keef… 10.5.2, iTunes 7.6.
Contacts, music, podcasts, video, photos from Aperture(!) all syncing correctly.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Let’s do a data shootout. Your T-Mobile setup vs my AT&T (hacked to a by the month plan w/unlimited mobile) setup. I’m very curious about EDGE speeds on the two networks.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Are you paying for the AT&T plan, but not using it? How are you avoiding paying for two cell/data plans?
February 19th, 2008 at 2:35 am
Never activated AT&T. Plugged the iPhone in and cracked it. Didn’t even get to the iTunes/AT&T activation. No SS#, no AT&T. Plug in & Crack.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
My question was more of a financial one. How did you buy an iPhone without an AT&T contract, even if you didn’t activate the contract?
February 19th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Oh I getcha… I bought it at the Apple Store online. At no time did that purchase process ask or say anything about AT&T.
That transaction, and, I suspect, any iPhone transaction, covers the hardware only. There are no ties between simply buying an iPhone and AT&T, until you get it home and purposely perform an activation through iTunes, AFAIK.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Moving from my Sony Ericsson T610 to this iPhone is like going from black and white to color in the Wizard of Oz.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:31 pm
There is a new ZiPhone 2.4 GUI version. That means no terminal.
March 1st, 2008 at 12:55 am
I definitely agree with the Wizard of Oz comment. I think iPhone is a misnomer. It’s more like an iMicrocomputer. I think it does more than what most people use a computer for. Apart from the tedious input interface, most people could get by with one in lieu of a computer.
March 13th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Sure, rub it in. I’m sure all us non iPhone users aren’t jealous in the least. Just kidding (grumble, grumble). Enjoy your new purchase. The CEO of the Big Contract™ will be getting an iPhone soon and I hope for him to be just as happy.
Nathan
March 16th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Anyone know if an unlocked iPhone will work on Verizon?
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:35 am
Nick,
An unlocked iphone will not work on Verizon since they’re using a CDMA network. The iPhone only works on GSM networks (such as AT&T and T-Mobile).
March 29th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
so Matt, I just got an 8gb iphone. I have some difficulty on the wifi but I am more intrested in finding out if your phone with the ziphone unlock is able to work on tzones without downloading anything else. thanks.