Safety 

Methods for unlocking iPhones

Smartphones from Apple, which are sold on the world stage, are certainly an example to follow and a desire for owners of other mobile gadgets. However, those devices that are sold in the United States or shipped from there have one significant drawback - they are tied to a specific cellular operator. In order for it to work on SIM cards of other operators, you will have to unlock your iPhone. Methods for performing unlocking and features of the process will be discussed further.

What is unlock?

The problem of the limitations of operator smartphones in relation to various SIM cards is well known to the domestic audience. In fact, each of the big three Russian cellular operators (MTS, Beeline, Megafon) sells similar gadgets. Owners of such devices are attracted by the excellent ratio of price and technical characteristics, but after the end of the promotional period (several weeks), they all begin to think about changing the operator and being forced to unlock the gadget.

As for the iPhone, a similar situation can arise in two cases:

  • Firstly, the smartphone was purchased in the United States, where it was initially contractually locked to a specific network;
  • Secondly, the smartphone was purchased in Russia, but before that it was purchased or used in the USA.

From the point of view of American law, there is nothing illegal in the unlock procedure. Indeed, if the owner of an iPhone, after the expiration of the contract for the provision of mobile communication services, decides to sell it, then he or his new owner can freely contact the subscriber service center and remove the blocking. It should be clarified that such a procedure can only be carried out if the financial obligations under the contract have been fully complied with.

Considering the existing schemes for importing phones into Russia and their not entirely transparent past, it is quite possible that someone might end up with a gadget with debts. Such a device costs much less than its analogue in the official retail chain, and it can be unlocked in one of the following ways:

  • Official. This is the so-called IMEI unlock, carried out through the manufacturer’s servers. It consists of changing the status of the phone in the database.
  • Software. Soft-unlock or Software-unlock involves flashing the software used.
  • Hardware. In this case, it is necessary to use additional equipment or perform actions that will lead to a change in the electronic or logical circuit linking the smartphone to the operator.

Now let's look at each of the options in more detail.

Official procedure

The method offered by the company itself is based on the procedure for activating the device in the corresponding Apple database. Obviously, you can link a specific phone to an operator using its unique identifier - IMEI code.

The essence of the method is for the subscriber to contact the company's representative office, where its employees are required to unlock the device. Naturally, the phone must be clean in terms of financial and contractual obligations. There is also a precedent for unlawful actions on the part of representative office employees who, in the spirit of our government, organize gray schemes, making money on gullible customers.

Software method

The essence of this method is to flash or reflash the running software in order to make it accept other SIM cards. This is formally a free way to fix the problem, but while there are several utilities for doing it, there is practically no significant development in this direction. Consequently, those approaches that gave results on younger iPhone models up to 4 do not work on new ones (5-6).

Hardware crack

If in the previous two cases software commands were used to separate the smartphone from the parent network, then here the issue can be resolved using auxiliary equipment. Classic examples of this method of unlocking Apple smartphones are:

  • Changing the electrical circuit of a smartphone. This approach was used on models of the 2nd series and consisted of closing the necessary contacts on the modem chip.
  • Clone ID data. In this case, so-called Multi-SIM cards are used, which contain input data from several different media.
  • Tray adapter. In the iPhone 4 series, the unlocking procedure was solved by installing a special tray with an intermediate electronic board in the SIM card slot.

Unfortunately, older models of Apple smartphones cannot be fooled in this way, so you cannot do without first unlocking the smartphone’s operating system.

Unlock vs/and Jailbreak

Unlock and jailbreak, although they involve the removal of restrictions as a result, are different procedures, although most owners tend to identify them. In the first case, as already mentioned above, the smartphone’s attachment to a specific SIM card/operator is eliminated, and in the second, the operating system is hacked.

The goals of these procedures are different and, in principle, they can be carried out independently of each other. However, in some cases, such as in software types of unlock, you simply cannot do without first unlocking iOS. This is how the SAM utility from Cydia works.

Will it work out or not?

If everything is clear in principle with the official unlock and no problems should arise, then the effectiveness of software or hardware procedures is a big question. The following factors need to be taken into account:

  1. Compatibility of iPhone modem versions and iOS operating system, as well as the possibility of downgrading them to acceptable.
  2. The version of the operating system that determines the possibility of jailbreaking. This procedure is necessary for software types of unlock.
  3. The approach of the operator, or more precisely, of his employees who have access to the activation database.

All of the above procedures should be approached with caution, since there is always a risk of breaking the software process, which can lead to unpleasant consequences.