[garvatron]

I recently purchased an iPhone (the original version, not 3G) in the US and plan to take it to HK in a month where I will live for a year. Since I am leaving the US I am obviously going to forgo the 2 year contract with ATT. However the "unlocking" process is a little unfamiliar to me. I know I will be able to unlock it and use it in HK, but I am looking for a little more detail. If I have it unlocked in HK will I be able to use SIM cards from anywhere (ie China or the US) with my iPhone after I leave HK or will it only work exclusively in HK? Where would I go to get it unlocked? How much would it cost, roughly? What does the "unlocking" process entail (is it just adding software or is their hardware also involved)? Thanks in advance!

[garvatron]

Hmm...I am surprised no one had a response for this one. Can anyone point me in a direction to get info on this subject? Perhaps a link or another forum? Thanks!

[MXZ]

Hi,

I'm no expert so take this with a pinch of salt

As far as I know there are two ways to unlock the iphone. You can have it done in hardware - in which case you can use it with any sim card you like or you can use a sim card adapter.

I have no idea how much they charge to have it unlocked in hardware - but those models retail for about $2,000HKD more than the unlocked models.

You can buy the sim card adapter thing relatively cheaply - I think they were around $200HKD. This fits over your sim card and pretends to be an AT&T card (or it might be a test card) before passing control over to your real sim.

The guy in the shop says that this only works once and with only one sim card (i.e if you change sim card you need a new one) but I have never used this type of unlocking so I don't have any more details on how it works.

HTH...

[FilipH]

Originally Posted by garvatron

If I have it unlocked in HK will I be able to use SIM cards from anywhere (ie China or the US) with my iPhone after I leave HK or will it only work exclusively in HK?

It works everywhere depending on your sim card. It will even work on the sim cards you can buy at the local HK 7/11 ...

Originally Posted by garvatron

Where would I go to get it unlocked? How much would it cost, roughly? What does the "unlocking" process entail (is it just adding software or is their hardware also involved)? Thanks in advance!

1. it's free
2. it's super easy
3. Your guide to do it ...

Feature: Jailbreak Any iPhone or iPod Touch in 45 Seconds

[theflyingbeagle]

I agree with FilipH, it is very easy to do.

I used to have the 2G iphone and have just upgraded to the 3G iphone. For the 2G iphone, you need to decide if you want to upgrade to the 2.0 software or just want to stay at the 1.1.4 software.

For the 1.1.4 software, you can go to Iphone.unlock.no where you will find a tutorial and software you can download to jailbreak and unlock. This is what I used and it worked fine. You will then be able to use any SIM card in any country which I did many times as when I travel to other countries I have various pay as you go sim cards that I put in my phone to save costs.

If you want to use the 2.0 software you can upgrade and unlock the phone using the pwnage tool. I have done this on my old 2g iphone which I gave to my wife when i upgraded to my 3G phone. I found it very easy and there are a number of tutorials which you can use to make it easier. You can find the software and the instructions at this blog blog.iphone-dev.org.

Best of all everything is free although you can donate to the guys for their efforts if you wish. Basically the bottom line is never buy any software or hardware to unlock as this is just people taking advantage of other people's work and selling it!!

If you need any more help or more links to tutorials, just post back here or PM me. I will be happy to help.

Cheers,

TFB

[FilipH]

theflyingbeagle makes a good point : there is a distinction between the 1.1.4 firmware and 2.0 firmware. The link i provided above is for the 1.1.4 firmware and can recommend it. It's stable and considered very safe.

Unlocking to 2.0 seems a bit more risky as there are more reports of bricked iphones (= newer software). I would wait a couple of weeks with that one ...

[sp1key]

those of you who purchased your 3g iphone from the states. was it bond with a contract as well or you could simply buy the iphone alone for more? how much would that be?

I'm planning to get one over from my cousin the the states if I could buy the phone alone with contract which should make it a tad cheaper perhaps.

thanks

[BenderLives]

the pwnage tool is awesome and works like a charm.
i unlocked two 2G iphones upgraded to 2.0, as well as two 3G iphones on 2.0.

[YVR-HKG]

Hmm.. the 3g iphones can't be unlocked yet through software alone.. you'll need to jailbreak it first using pwnage, then use the hard ware adapter sims.

But yeah.. for those who want to learn/read about everything iphone.. check out howardfourms.com

[Skulleye]

ziphone.com is my tip ! works like a dream