[gorilla]

Unlocking your iPhone
From 10 November, the iPhone can be unlocked for O2 customers in the UK.

Pay Monthly customers

Your iPhone can be unlocked at anytime free of charge. If you unlock your handset and place a non-O2 sim into it, you will still have to honour the remainder of the minimum term on your contract.

iPhone Pay & Go customers

For iPhone on Pay & Go, unlocking can take place 12 months after you've bought your iPhone for a one-off £15 fee which will be deducted from your airtime balance.
What do I need to do?

Firstly, complete the unlocking form - it will take up to 14 days for the iPhone to be unlocked and we'll text you to confirm the unlock request. Then place a non-O2 sim into the iPhone and connect to iTunes via a USB cable. iTunes will confirm that the iPhone has been successfully unlocked.

http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/unlockmyiphone.html

So all those that bought the 3GS as a PAYG will not be able to unlock their iPhone until their 12 months is up!
I will definitely be cancelling my contract now. O2 really do suck!

[Ben]

Hmm, but I bought mine on PAYG as an upgrade to my contract, as they officially recommended on their website. This will surely not be black-and-white.

Edit: form submitted with iPhone 3GS IMEI...

[@NickyColman]

DONE!!!!

Im so happy O2 have done this. Means I can go back to a "virgin" iPhone handset rather than worry about bricking it should an update come out from Apple.

I wonder how many people will take advantage of this?

[miffed]

So , for a Contract customer like myself.... the o2 iPhone has just become the easiest official unlock on the market ?

Yet another aspect of the iPhone that folk have whined like babies about it , (like the lack of MMS / 3rd party apps / Cut & Paste ) - Then , when the solution comes , it puts the rest of the industry to shame !!

Come on then ? who else is going to offer free unlocks by web based form ?
:D

[@NickyColman]

@Miffed totally! I cant imagine a nokia unlock being this easy!!!!

Im slightly concerned that as i already have an unlocked iPhone done via Blackra1n, this official unlock may brick the phone!

[chagle]

Well I've applied/filled in the form. I have a contract 3GS, so not sure if they will allowed an unlock for me.

But I hope they miss it and give me the code or whatever.. after all they'll be have many.. many requests! Here's hoping....

[a_ukboy]

Hmmmm, interesting.... Because my o2 contract has now gone, i've unofficially unlocked my handset and moved to Orange, i can't fill the form because i'm no longer a customer!!

[Hands0n]

Okay, I've done it also . The iPhone unlock request is off and running. Now all I need to do is to undo the Jailbreak and Unlock. So that'll be a restore then :D

[Biohead12]

Another one to the list of requests. I've got a feeling O2 may just underestimate the demand on this! Might be a bit longer than 14 days.

[gorilla]

I've submitted the form as well, but not holding out much hope. 3.1.2 is perfectly reliable for me, so I can carry on with the unofficial jailbreak for now or at least until O2 agree to unlock the PAYG 3GS after 12 months.

[a_ukboy]

So i've contacted o2 today and they tried to help me but couldnt submit a form either because my account is closed, so they suggested using my other o2 phone number and if it doesn't work then contact them and hopefully by then something will be in place for customers who have left..

[Ben]

Hm, yes, bit of an omission there! Hope you can get it sorted.

[miffed]

...of course , all the other networks would be falling over themselves to provide a free unlock for an out of contract handset :rolleyes:

;)

[gorilla]

I've not had to get a phone unlcoked in a couple of years, but that was a nokia on 3 and I rang up, listened to all the crap about getting a better deal, they would give me a better phone etc, but in the end they were able to generate the code over the phone and text it to me as well. If you fulfill your contractual agreement with a network I do not think it is unreasonable that the same network should provide the unlock for the handset so that it can be reused on another network.

Has anyone had any response from O2 yet? I emailed them last week about the poor 3g coverage I was getting and I didn't even get an acknowledgment. Their CS has gone down hill in little over a year.

[Ben]

No nothing yet, but I think they said 2 weeks.

If they do 'officially' unlock me then I really don't know whether to wait for official iPhone tariffs on Vodafone or just ring them and see what the best deal is I can get. Will probably try the latter...

When I last emailed O2 about coverage it did take longer than before for them to respond, a few days I think. The response I got was generic, basically saying tough luck.

[@NickyColman]

I cant wait to get my text to tell me to update my iPhone!!!

[Ben]

Yeah, apparently people are receiving messages... not me so far!

[chagle]

Yeah, apparently people are receiving messages... not me so far!

Me neither. Then again, I'm not going anywhere. Got an O2 24 month contract with the 3GS - Although I probably will try other networks via a SIM only 30 day contract - Out of curiosity. Already tried T-Mobile.. was OK. Interested to see how Orange perform...

[3g-g]

Righty, form submitted, and the missus is already making comments about taking "ownership" of my phone... however, it's 6 months till upgrade time... and I don't really wanna fork out £500 for a 3GS on PAYG.

I really must be patient.

[miffed]

Got my SMS this morning - Can't try it out till I get home tonight though :(

Can't remember the last time an operator made an unlock so easy (& free!) but I suspect the majority will still find some reason not to give O2 any credit for this :)

[gorilla]

I got the text this afternoon and have now been unlocked. I just swapped the O2 sim for a vodafone sim, turned the handset off and on and synced with iTunes. Seems pretty straightforward. When I swapped the sim over it said 'no service' and when I connected it to iTunes it said it was activated. It was at this point I turned the handset off and on and it was unlocked. iTunes says 'congratulations' you have an unlocked iPhone. Does Apple want all their iPhones users to be unlocked? :D

[chagle]

Tsk! Still waiting for mine!

Is anyone is a O2 contract still here? I am... 24 months! :-) But I'll still have a play with other networks me thinks!

[Hands0n]

I'm still on O2 at the moment - waiting for the unlock to be sent to me. My contract finishes on 01/02/2010 at which point I will be a free man

[Ben]

I'm green with envy! Where the hell is my unlock?

I'm waiting until it's a done deal before I go ahead and sort out my contracts. Grrr.

[miffed]

Mines all done ! , chucked a 3 sim in and iTunes unlocked it :D

Can't see me giving up o2 just yet though - might swap sims with the HTC Magic though , just to see how the magic gets on with 3G .

[Ben]

Grrr! Did you just get the text? Where the hell is mine?!

[Hands0n]

I just tried, on spec, popping a Vodafone SIM into the iPhone and plugging it into iTunes. I got an error message saying that the SIM is not supported in my handset.

Oh well, the wait continues :D

[miffed]

I got the text yesterday AM and did the unlocking last night.

....Oh , I should mention my Jailbreak was not affected in the slightest ! I was all prepared to have to re-jailbreak , and also prepared for the possibility that the re-jailbreak may not work after the unlock , but no , my concerns were completely unfounded and it all worked fine

Now just need a reason to leave o2 , as yet I can't see one !

[Ben]

Yeah, I think I echo the sentiments of many when I say you're probably better off staying with O2!

I'm getting properly impatient, now. Still no sign of my 3GS unlock code, I hope O2 aren't going to try and screw me out of my unlock because my 'upgrade' was a pre-pay handset.

[gorilla]

I hope O2 aren't going to try and screw me out of my unlock because my 'upgrade' was a pre-pay handset.

They shouldn't as you are in the same boat I was. I wondering whether my original 3G (currently used by GF on O2 contract) can be unlocked using this official method? Anyone tried this?

Don't forget many O2 users don't currently get a strong signal, so leaving is just their way of getting decent phone coverage. Other than a poor network (and not responding to online messages) I have no gripes with O2. That said, they are compelling reasons to want to switch.

[chagle]

I'm getting properly impatient, now.

Me too! Every forum I look at, more and more people have got their unlock msgs. Where's ours!? Grr..:D

[gorilla]

When did you submit your details? On the 10th or the 9th?
Have you tried submitting them again?

[chagle]

9th for me. Plus I resubmitted a couple of days ago too. Grr :-(

[Ben]

I don't remember when I did mine :/ I've only done it once.

[miffed]

I was quite late submitting mine , I think it was the 10th or even possibly the 11th - I reckon you guys have lucked out !

[chagle]

I hope not! I never like to be left out :-(

[Hands0n]

I originally did mine on the 9th, the day this OP was made. That means that there are at least another five days to go for the fourteen to have expired.

But not being a trusting soul, and having read enough about O2's CS to be moderately concerned, I have just re-ordered mine today (18/11) on the O2 website. Either way, one of the two are bound to come through!

[@NickyColman]

I did mine the night the unlock was announced - still received nothing yet!

Just a case of waiting!

[3g-g]

well chaps, submitted mine less than a week ago... text arrived today and from zero 3G O2 coverage at home I now have full Orange 3G HSDPA!

[Ben]

I wonder why they're not taking place in any particular order :S Can anyone remember how long O2 said it would take? Was it up to 2 weeks?

[miffed]

Tee hee hee !

....Just got a second text too :D

[Ben]

I officially hate you all.

[@NickyColman]

Ditto.




(Submitted mine again! See if that prompts a reaction)

[Hands0n]

O2's page for registering for the Unlock says that it will take "up to 14 days" to receive a text from them confirming your unlock.

[chagle]

O2's page for registering for the Unlock says that it will take "up to 14 days" to receive a text from them confirming your unlock.

I know.. we know but, patience isn't our strong point! :-)

[Ben]

I'd be more than happy to wait if you all had to wait, too =D

[chagle]

I'd be more than happy to wait if you all had to wait, too =D

I agree Ben - Everyone seems to be teasing! I bet they haven't really got their Unlocks yet! :-)

[@NickyColman]

AAAAAARGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[Ben]

^ What he said!

[chagle]

I 2nd that! :mad:

[Heidi]

LOL !!
im sooo almost tempted to try
See if i get it done before any of you guys :p

[chagle]

Nooo!! It's not fair! lol

[Hands0n]

Right, thats 10 days done ... four to go for the first registration to show up ... The suspense is killing me.

If this keeps up into the weekend I may just wander into the Apple store in Bluewater and see what they have to say...

[Ben]

I wonder what the Apple store would say? I'm guessing they'd just say it's O2's way or the highway but, well, you never know.

[miffed]

...I remember back when I got my unlock , ....Ah , the good old days

...Does anyone know how I can re-lock my 3GS , so I can apply for another unlock and appreciate o2's impeccable service all over again ;)

[gorilla]

I'm getting impatient :p now as well, I submitted my request for my old iPhone the other day and still not heard anything :mad:. I mean, how am I meant to cope with only one unlocked iPhone? :D

[Hands0n]

...I remember back when I got my unlock , ....Ah , the good old days

Some people think they're soooooooo funny ;)

[chagle]

Mmm, it's getting annoying now!

I have a few PAYG Sims sitting here to test the 'best' network.. at least for me in my area! I keep trying a SIM in the iPhone (Just in case my unlock SMS has been lost(!)) but iTunes just ain't having it..! :-)

Impatient.. yup! That's my middle name.

[@NickyColman]

Finally got my text!


Strangely i had to restore my iPhone to remove the unofficial unlock and replace the sim card. Maybe iTunes saw that the iPhone was already unlocked and didnt bother attempting the official unlock.


Just restoring now. . . . WOOP!

[Hands0n]

Me too, I got my unlock text just before I left work for home tonight.

It was a bit of a palaver when I got home. Plugged into my Mac and it synced. But no unlock, grrrrrr. Did the old power cycle, plugged back into the Mac and this time iTunes said it was trying to contact the iTunes Store. Nothing much more happened then, except the iPhone went into restore mode (according to its screen). Soooooo, I unplugged the iPhone and then plugged it back in. This time success!

Not quite plug n play and a bit scary when it seemed to go wrong! But all's well that ends well :)

NB: That Vodfone signal is 3G by the way, you can see the difference to O2

[chagle]

I'm unlocked too.

I"ve been trying to find the settings for things like MMS to check - For the life of me can't find them! Anyone..

Anyway, Got 3 other SIMS to try.. out of curiosity! I'll perhaps post results later.

Whoop whoop! :-)

[@NickyColman]

Depends which operator you're looking for really.

This site seems to have the most info for all the operators. http://www.filesaveas.com/mms.html

[chagle]

Depends which operator you're looking for really.

]

Sorry, I meant where the settings are in the iPhone? Just like to check them for each carrier/network after installing new sim.

*** Ignore, just found them!

Network > Cellular Data

Doh!

[Ben]

Well this sucks. Resubmitted my request :/

[Hands0n]

Today is the 14th day if you booked yours on the 9th.

I re-submitted mine the other day (see above) so I don't really know which one came through yesterday.

[miffed]

My hunch is that they'll only unlock the handset that you bought with your contract (or served a 12 term with on PAYG)
Does anyone know of anyone who has successfully unlocked under other circumstances ?
If this is the case I wonder if this will be negotiable with o2 ? i.e. if Ben phones them and stomps his feet will they concede and supply an unlock ?
I had an awful dream last night that I had swapped my HTC Magic & iPhones' SIMs over , and ran up a giant bill with Vodafone :D Funny because I was considering doing this for a few weeks ! I'll take this as a warning :D

[gorilla]

I bought the iPhone 3G on a £35 per month contract on the day of it's launch. I then bought the iphone 3GS PAYG on the day of it's launch, staying on my existing iPhone contract. My iPhone 3G was given to my GF for her to use on an O2 simplicity tariff (30 day notice).

I have had both handsets unlocked by O2. My handset using my details and the 3G using my GF's details. All I did was complete the online form with the relevant details and then wait on the unlock texts.

Hope this helps.

[a_ukboy]

I submitted mine on the 9th too, and again about 5 days ago, still no unlock!! May have to call o2 :-(

[chagle]

I have to admit, I submitted mine about 3 times. Me no like waiting!

Unlocked and the best signal so far.. is 3! Full 3G.. where as Vodafone... is the worst! No 3G and only 1-2 bars...!

Orange has no 3G but a full 5 bars..

So far, me for anyway:

Top with full 3G - Three (3)
then Orange, no 3G but 5 bars!

Not tried TMOB but from my last experience they were also tops.

[Hands0n]

My hunch is that they'll only unlock the handset that you bought with your contract (or served a 12 term with on PAYG)
Does anyone know of anyone who has successfully unlocked under other circumstances ?

My iPhone contract was renewed when the 3G came out and has until 1/2/2010 to run.

Earlier this year I bought a 3GS and sold on the 3G. I popped the contract SIM into the 3GS. It is that 3GS that they have now officially unlocked.

As I see it Apple/O2 will unlock any iPhone that is currently on a contract SIM - and from Gorilla's experience that includes 30-day SIM-only contracts also :)

Those on a PAYG SIM will have to wait until the handset is a year old - I guess they can tell the age of a PAYG SIM from its initial activation or first top-up date.

[miffed]

Unlocked and the best signal so far.. is 3! Full 3G.. where as Vodafone... is the worst! No 3G and only 1-2 bars...!
.

Yes this sounds pretty "Vodafone" to me , I know of several places where I barely get a signal at all ( Broadstairs ton / seafront being one of them )
Not sure how they get away with it , and certainly don't know how they come out of it with a rep for "good coverage" !!?? - I suspect this is based on the findings of inner city folk .
Classic case of trying to please some of the people all of the time , rather than all of the people some of the time :) ... and all the while vodafone customers are stup ...... erm , fortunate enough to have the opportunity to buy femtocells , I can't see them improving it !

[chagle]

I have to say, I very much dislike Voda - I have Voda for work and it's probably the worse signal out of the bunch - even compared to O2!

Surprised 3 (Three) is shockingly good.

[a_ukboy]

Ok now 19 days after i submitted the form have now called o2, all they could say is they have the form on record that i submitted on the 9th and 17th, and said it can take up to 28 days! so i have to wait more, just find it strange that lots of peeps have submitted a form long time after me yet they're unlocked???

[a_ukboy]

Strange, just decided to do a restore on my iphone, went through the whole process and got the Congrats your iphone is unlocked!! :) Strange it took a restore for that to come trough on itunes!!

[Ben]

That's odd, oh well, at least it's done!

I got my unlock text at the weekend, checked it tonight and it's all done now. Woohoo! :D

[dgilbert2]

That's odd, oh well, at least it's done!

I got my unlock text at the weekend, checked it tonight and it's all done now. Woohoo! :D

Ben, did you still have Blacksn0w installed when you connected to itunes?

[Ben]

I have never unofficially unlocked the 3GS, so I'm no help there I'm afraid.

[gorilla]

Ben, did you still have Blacksn0w installed when you connected to itunes?

I did have Blacksn0w installed, but I did a full restore while waiting for the unlock sms from O2, which removed it.

I'd do a restore just in case.

[a_ukboy]

Mine didn't come through while I had blackrain jailbreak installed, it took a restore for my unlock to come through..

[dgilbert2]

Thanks for the replies. Did a restore and the unlock came through :)

[Ben]

Good to know, will probably restore the 3G and try and unlock it officially on my O2 contract once the 3GS is over on Voda.

[dgilbert2]

Good to know, will probably restore the 3G and try and unlock it officially on my O2 contract once the 3GS is over on Voda.

FYI, the iphone works fine on Vodafone now I'm unlocked from O2. SO much faster ;)

[Ben]

I hope Voda get Visual Voicemail soon. Does anyone know if it works on Orange?

[chagle]

I hope Voda get Visual Voicemail soon. Does anyone know if it works on Orange?

Not as far as a know! I've seen a few threads elsewhere saying it doesn't.

Ever since the unlock I've been running on a T-Mobile Solo SIM. (TMOB being my preferred network) - Perfect! Very good deal too..

600 Mins, Unlimited Text, Unlimited Web and Family Booster FREE! All for £20.

[getti]

Nice deal you have there!.

[Ben]

I've got 600 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data for £20/mo on 30 days notice from Vodafone. I give that more value than a similar offering from T-Mobile, but I appreciate everyone's situation is different! ;)

Amazing how competitive these tariffs have become.

I'll miss Visual Voicemail, though :( It's a great innovation, I don't understand why the networks aren't rushing to roll it out.

[getti]

Intereting times for me, T-Mobile have a new mast as of tonight near me and i get FULL HSDPA!.

Might now buy a factory unlocked iPhone and use a free staff sim card instead of using Vodafone

[Ben]

That's great news, congrats! O2 would need to carpet-bomb Kent with 3G masts to keep me interested, lol.

I just hope that in 30 days time I'm not whinging about Vodafone! It's safe to say that I've never used another phone half as much as the iPhone, and I've only heavily used that on O2.

[chagle]

So out of all of us that have now officially unlocked the 3GS and put another networks sim in, who's still got an O2 contract running. I have! :-) But it's so nice to be back with TMOB with a full coverage!

[Ben]

Me too - I'm not porting the O2 number so I'll shove the SIM into the N95 8GB until Jan I suppose, pick up any stragglers/refuseniks :D

[chagle]

Me too. I've got the O2 in a Nokia 3100 - How old is that! :-)

[Ben]

LoL! Hmm! :D

Voda SIM came, looks like we're on track for tomorrow!

[chagle]

Nice to be 'Home' :-)

[Ben]

Had a fantastic first day with Vodafone in the iPhone 3GS today - been bathed in strong signal all day. I really wish Apple had been with Vodafone from the start. Oh well.

Nice to have the official carrier settings now, too. Bravo.

I've restored the 3G, put the (now unused) O2 contract SIM in and requested an unlock. Hope that all goes through OK, will be nice to have an officially unlocked spare.

[chagle]

For me it's just nice to be able to make phones calls on the mobile at home. As basic as that sounds, O2 at home was/are terrible!

Now full 5 bars! :-)

[Ben]

Same here you know, I had terrible problems in my current house with people not being able to hear me due to poor signal, and at the new house there's no O2 at all. Vodafone is full 5 bars 3G here, and a bar or two 2G (best of any network) at the new house - but that matters not, because they had the foresight to provide the Vodafone Access Gateway :D

[DBMandrake]

Unlocked and the best signal so far.. is 3! Full 3G.. where as Vodafone... is the worst! No 3G and only 1-2 bars...!

Orange has no 3G but a full 5 bars..

So far, me for anyway:

Top with full 3G - Three (3)
then Orange, no 3G but 5 bars!

Did you ask specifically for a 3G sim from Orange ? Believe it or not they sell 2G only sim's by default!

I bought one in store and later found out it was not a 3G sim and had to go back and ask for a 3G one. Apparently the online store does not sell 3G sim's either, the only way to get one is to go in store and specifically ask for a 3G sim.

The 2G one's are light orange in colour with a narrow chip on the bottom while the 3G one's are green with a large chip on the bottom.

I've found in my area 3 give the best 3G coverage but Orange are close behind, I get 3G in nearly all areas with Orange that I do with 3.

Same result as you with vodafone for me at home - 1 to 2 bars of GPRS only.

[Hands0n]

@DBMandrake - Hi and welcome to Talk3G.

Orange really make me laugh. They drip-feed their technology out to the punter. It must cost them a small fortune running two distinct lines of SIMs. How many must get wasted as when the punter finds out it is not a 3G SIM and has to have a replacement. Time is money, and plenty of time is getting wasted around this.

Thanks for the hint on how to spot which SIM is which. Very useful.

[chagle]

Did you ask specifically for a 3G sim from Orange ? Believe it or not they sell 2G only sim's by default!


Really? - How bleedin' stupid! :-)

In that case, it was a 2G - No wonder it was soooooo bad! Still TMOB now and loving it.

[Ben]

Welcome to Talk3G DBMandrake!

I simply cannot believe that Orange are still selling 2G SIMs. I know they used to, but now? I can't believe it!

[chagle]

I was seriously thinking of getting a pay monthly SIM with them.. of course they lost me as a customer because of this silly state of affairs honestly..

[DBMandrake]

Yes I was very surprised (and a bit annoyed) that it wasn't a 3G sim and they hadn't warned me or even asked me what kind of phone it was going to be used in, and I had already put credit on it before discovering it wasn't 3G.

To transfer the credit over I would have had to buy another sim with a minimum £5 topup and then fill in lots of forms, and at the time I tried to get it transferred their computer system was down nationwide and they couldn't do the transfer so I decided to just buy a new sim and forget about the lost credit...

My guess is the reason for selling 2G sim's is that old 2G only phones won't work with a 3G sim. (More modern ones will)

But they are still the only provider who sells 2G sims by default - I've ordered online or bought over the counter Pay&Go sim's with all the other providers and they were all 3G sim's, which is why I was caught by surprise.

In an iPhone it will only connect on GPRS or Edge with such a sim, and it tends to drop the connection a lot because it tries to connect to 3G and has to revert to 2G again.

I wonder just how many iPhone owners who have unlocked themselves from O2 have ordered an Orange sim, not got any 3G signal, cursed Orange's "poor" 3G coverage, and then gone with someone else, none the wiser ?

In fact with the right sim, I've found their 3G coverage excellent, albeit less pervasive and not as fast as that from 3. If it wasn't for their high pay&go data pricing, and the fact that I'm already happy using 3, I would have considered Orange.

[Hands0n]

Yea, thats the funny thing with 3 - when they're good they're bloody good. When they're not so good, they're quite carp (sic).

I've been put off 3 for quite a long time - but there may be light at the end of that particular tunnel https://talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7565 If 3 really are refocussing their customer services back into the UK then it may well give me, and a lot of their other "lost" customers, the confidence to return to their network.

Orange really are a turn off with these 2G shenanigans of theirs. A tenner is not a lot of money in the big scheme of things - but it is money that Orange have not earned and I really am not in the habit of sponsoring multi-million £ companies. :eek:

[Ben]

That's quite funny really, yes, owners of 3G phones may well encounter a dire experience due to being unable to log onto the 3G network.

Hardly any phones in circulation in the UK these days will reject a USIM. It's a bizarre policy that Orange need to fix. Though someone will need to fix Orange, first.

ouch ;)