iPhone - unlocked edition

wunderbar

Here it is people, it's finally happened. The iPhone has been unlocked, in software. No opening the case, no soldering.

engadget article

Video evidence in the article.

Claimed FULL features after the unlock.

There is also a link to the original site. Looks like this won't be a free solution, but it's been done.

Love it or hate it, this is a big deal.

Discuss.

043

What exactly are full features? Does it work with Flash, or whatever big thing it was that it didn't do before?

Spoit

It's only really that big a deal internationally; it's not like there's a lot of choice in GSM providers in the US

precisionk

Well shit I better rush out and by a $599 dollar phone....




Wait...




No phone is worth that.

wunderbar

043 wrote: »

What exactly are full features? Does it work with Flash, or whatever big thing it was that it didn't do before?

well, there were some hacked unlocks before, but things like data, or youtube didn't work.

This unlock ensures full functionality of the iPhone, as if you were on the AT+T Network.

MegaMan001

Does this mean I can use an iPhone with a non-shitty provider yet?

wunderbar

MegaMan001 wrote: »

Does this mean I can use an iPhone with a non-shitty provider yet?

as long as it's a GSM provider, yes. At least, once the company starts selling the unlock software.

MegaMan001

wunderbar wrote: »

MegaMan001 wrote: »

Does this mean I can use an iPhone with a non-shitty provider yet?

as long as it's a GSM provider, yes. At least, once the company starts selling the unlock software.

Well, the iPhone just became more appealing. Not $600 dollars appealing, but it's making headway.

OtakuD00D

MegaMan001 wrote: »

wunderbar wrote: »

MegaMan001 wrote: »

Does this mean I can use an iPhone with a non-shitty provider yet?

as long as it's a GSM provider, yes. At least, once the company starts selling the unlock software.

Well, the iPhone just became more appealing. Not $600 dollars appealing, but it's making headway.

Agreed. If it was a few hundred bucks cheaper AND compatible with Cricket, I'd be down. Sort of. Especially now that it's unlocked. I wonder if it's now compatible with PDFs....

FirstComradeStalin

Are you legally allowed to make money off of hacking someone's product?

Spoit

Actually, wouldn't it be more than $600 since that's only the price they give you after you sign your soul over to AT&T?

Karenna

FirstComradeStalin wrote: »

Are you legally allowed to make money off of hacking someone's product?

They could sell you the software along with a notice stating that 'by installing said software onto your iPhone, you violate Apple's terms of service, and are subject to prosecution, so uh..don't do it, yeah...but thanks for your money!'

Einhander

The two people I've seen with iPhones have both deeply regretted their purchases. Partially because they spent $600, and partially because they had to sign a two year agreement with AT&T, and partially because the iPhone is all in all pretty shitty for it's pricetag.

A good amount of features but not as many as the competition, a really shiny case, and a ridiculously high price tag. The trifecta of a good Apple product. But having the ability to purchase the phone and then use it with a different provider is a huge bonus, since having the option to choose beats paying AT&T a minimum of $60 a month for two years.

The Cheese

Einhander wrote: »

A good amount of features but not as many as the competition, a really shiny case, and a ridiculously high price tag. The trifecta of a good Apple product.

Just shut the fuck up.

Einhander

You know I'm right.

cloudeagle

This might be noteworthy if you could somehow buy an iPhone without also buying a two-year contract with AT&T.

wunderbar

cloudeagle wrote: »

This might be noteworthy if you could somehow buy an iPhone without also buying a two-year contract with AT&T.

which, you know, you can. Very common misconception.

You've been able to do that since day one. You go to the store, buy the phone, go home, and sign up for the contract in iTunes.

The reason everyone to this point has said that you *have* to buy the contract, is because the iPhone is pretty much useless until you activate it.

Einhander

cloudeagle wrote: »

This might be noteworthy if you could somehow buy an iPhone without also buying a two-year contract with AT&T.

I heard a dirty rumor that you could go month to month for a really, really stupid high fee. So technically you may be able to pay for the phone, pay for a month of service, and then tell AT&T to sod off. But then, if you bought the 8GB iPhone, between that, activation fees, and the first month's bill, you're over $700 in the hole. For a phone.

Mithrandir86

You can get a refurbished 8GB for $499. But it's still not worth it. Why?

You're buying a $500 phone that is not 3G. The data transfer is so slow it makes browsing the internet nearly impossible if you're not on a wireless network.

Also, the mail client is terrible. If you are spending $500 on a phone, it should be able to at least replace your blackberry/smartphone.

That having been said, the iPhone shows remarkable promise. Whereas the iPod required 4 generations before became properly usable (the click-wheel grayscale is probably when everyone started using them), the iPhone will probably be up to snuff in 2 or 3. A good improvement, overall. I'll probably get one then.

wunderbar

Mithrandir86 wrote: »

You can get a refurbished 8GB for $499. But it's still not worth it. Why?

You're buying a $500 phone that is not 3G. The data transfer is so slow it makes browsing the internet nearly impossible if you're not on a wireless network.

Also, the mail client is terrible. If you are spending $500 on a phone, it should be able to at least replace your blackberry/smartphone.

That having been said, the iPhone shows remarkable promise. Whereas the iPod required 4 generations before became properly usable (the click-wheel grayscale is probably when everyone started using them), the iPhone will probably be up to snuff in 2 or 3. A good improvement, overall. I'll probably get one then.

indeed. I'm still rocking my 4G iPod with NO colour screen.

nexuscrawler

sure AT&T sucks but is the competition any better? I have Sprint and trust me they're worse. Much much worse. Least with the sim card system(which neither Veriozn or Sprint does) I can sell my phone for something.

SniperGuy

Guys, the iPhone is 500 bucks. Yes, it can be worth it. No, it's not a ridiculous price. It's a fucking smartphone. Look up some other smartphones. I personally wouldn't buy it without 3g and a customizable interface, but smartphones are goddam expensive. Saying "oh man, 600 bucks for a phone? Fuck that!" is unreasonable.

Einhander

SniperGuy wrote: »

Guys, the iPhone is 500 bucks. Yes, it can be worth it. No, it's not a ridiculous price. It's a fucking smartphone. Look up some other smartphones. I personally wouldn't buy it without 3g and a customizable interface, but smartphones are goddam expensive. Saying "oh man, 600 bucks for a phone? Fuck that!" is unreasonable.

The issue is those other smartphones can do all the iPhone can and more, for a much more reasonable price. The iPhone has a touchscreen and iTunes, but still. All that money and you can't do something as simple as use your own sounds as ring tones or have voice recognition for dialing, and you can't carry your shit on a memory card since the iPhone doesn't have a memory card slot (which is nice if you want to listen to music but you don't want to buy it on iTunes), and no phone as modem support (which isn't a huge deal since mobile broadband cards aren't as expensive now as they used to be but still), is pretty damn lame. Especially considering that my shitty SLVR can do all of that, and it's not a smart phone.

For $600 you could get a better smartphone, and have enough cash left over for your first couple of bills.

wunderbar

Einhander wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

Guys, the iPhone is 500 bucks. Yes, it can be worth it. No, it's not a ridiculous price. It's a fucking smartphone. Look up some other smartphones. I personally wouldn't buy it without 3g and a customizable interface, but smartphones are goddam expensive. Saying "oh man, 600 bucks for a phone? Fuck that!" is unreasonable.

The issue is those other smartphones can do all the iPhone can and more, for a much more reasonable price. The iPhone has a touchscreen and iTunes, but still. All that money and you can't do something as simple as use your own sounds as ring tones or have voice recognition for dialing, and you can't carry your shit on a memory card since the iPhone doesn't have a memory card slot (which is nice if you want to listen to music but you don't want to buy it on iTunes), and no phone as modem support (which isn't a huge deal since mobile broadband cards aren't as expensive now as they used to be but still), is pretty damn lame. Especially considering that my shitty SLVR can do all of that, and it's not a smart phone.

For $600 you could get a better smartphone, and have enough cash left over for your first couple of bills.

not to pick apart everything, but you do know that you don't actually have to buy music from the iTunes store online to use iTunes right? I have 1800 songs in iTunes, not one purchased from the store. every one is ripped from a CD.

And other smartphones have reasonable prices because they are subsidieze at time of purchase. Just taking a quick look here, a Blackberry 8830 bought un subsidized goes for $700 CAD, so probably $650 US.

so ya, it's not like it's actually that off on price, Apple just chose to not let AT&T subsidize it.

Dracil

Why not just get a PDA phone if smartphones are so expensive? Seems about the same price and even more features.

cloudeagle

Einhander wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

Guys, the iPhone is 500 bucks. Yes, it can be worth it. No, it's not a ridiculous price. It's a fucking smartphone. Look up some other smartphones. I personally wouldn't buy it without 3g and a customizable interface, but smartphones are goddam expensive. Saying "oh man, 600 bucks for a phone? Fuck that!" is unreasonable.

The issue is those other smartphones can do all the iPhone can and more, for a much more reasonable price. The iPhone has a touchscreen and iTunes, but still. All that money and you can't do something as simple as use your own sounds as ring tones or have voice recognition for dialing, and you can't carry your shit on a memory card since the iPhone doesn't have a memory card slot (which is nice if you want to listen to music but you don't want to buy it on iTunes), and no phone as modem support (which isn't a huge deal since mobile broadband cards aren't as expensive now as they used to be but still), is pretty damn lame. Especially considering that my shitty SLVR can do all of that, and it's not a smart phone.

For $600 you could get a better smartphone, and have enough cash left over for your first couple of bills.

Einhander, you're just mad because you can't afford one. It's the fox and the vine argument all over again.

Gotcha. :P

That said, the iPhone really is absurdly expensive. A quick check of AT&T's site shows that the next most expensive phone with a two-year contract is $300. And that's for several smartphones, all of which have more capabilities by far than the iPhone. Sure, the iPhone's interface is utterly delicious and its features are handy, but it's just flat too expensive at this point.

SniperGuy

Einhander wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

Guys, the iPhone is 500 bucks. Yes, it can be worth it. No, it's not a ridiculous price. It's a fucking smartphone. Look up some other smartphones. I personally wouldn't buy it without 3g and a customizable interface, but smartphones are goddam expensive. Saying "oh man, 600 bucks for a phone? Fuck that!" is unreasonable.

The issue is those other smartphones can do all the iPhone can and more, for a much more reasonable price. The iPhone has a touchscreen and iTunes, but still. All that money and you can't do something as simple as use your own sounds as ring tones or have voice recognition for dialing, and you can't carry your shit on a memory card since the iPhone doesn't have a memory card slot (which is nice if you want to listen to music but you don't want to buy it on iTunes), and no phone as modem support (which isn't a huge deal since mobile broadband cards aren't as expensive now as they used to be but still), is pretty damn lame. Especially considering that my shitty SLVR can do all of that, and it's not a smart phone.

For $600 you could get a better smartphone, and have enough cash left over for your first couple of bills.

Agreed, there are probably better alternatives, but it's not an outlandish price for a smart phone. And as always on Apple, you're paying partially for the interface, which appears to be practically flawless (if not particularly feature rich). Just wait for the inevitable refurb with 3g.

SniperGuy

cloudeagle wrote: »

Einhander wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

Guys, the iPhone is 500 bucks. Yes, it can be worth it. No, it's not a ridiculous price. It's a fucking smartphone. Look up some other smartphones. I personally wouldn't buy it without 3g and a customizable interface, but smartphones are goddam expensive. Saying "oh man, 600 bucks for a phone? Fuck that!" is unreasonable.

The issue is those other smartphones can do all the iPhone can and more, for a much more reasonable price. The iPhone has a touchscreen and iTunes, but still. All that money and you can't do something as simple as use your own sounds as ring tones or have voice recognition for dialing, and you can't carry your shit on a memory card since the iPhone doesn't have a memory card slot (which is nice if you want to listen to music but you don't want to buy it on iTunes), and no phone as modem support (which isn't a huge deal since mobile broadband cards aren't as expensive now as they used to be but still), is pretty damn lame. Especially considering that my shitty SLVR can do all of that, and it's not a smart phone.

For $600 you could get a better smartphone, and have enough cash left over for your first couple of bills.

Einhander, you're just mad because you can't afford one. It's the fox and the vine argument all over again.

Gotcha. :P

That said, the iPhone really is absurdly expensive. A quick check of AT&T's site shows that the next most expensive phone with a two-year contract is $300. And that's for several smartphones, all of which have more capabilities by far than the iPhone. Sure, the iPhone's interface is utterly delicious and its features are handy, but it's just flat too expensive at this point.

You're also checking At&T's website. I believe the Nokia n95 is like 800 dollars. There's some damn good smart phones, better than the iphone, but the iPhone certaintly isn't a bad product. It's got it's flaws, but it's also got it's ups.

cloudeagle

SniperGuy wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Einhander wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

Guys, the iPhone is 500 bucks. Yes, it can be worth it. No, it's not a ridiculous price. It's a fucking smartphone. Look up some other smartphones. I personally wouldn't buy it without 3g and a customizable interface, but smartphones are goddam expensive. Saying "oh man, 600 bucks for a phone? Fuck that!" is unreasonable.

The issue is those other smartphones can do all the iPhone can and more, for a much more reasonable price. The iPhone has a touchscreen and iTunes, but still. All that money and you can't do something as simple as use your own sounds as ring tones or have voice recognition for dialing, and you can't carry your shit on a memory card since the iPhone doesn't have a memory card slot (which is nice if you want to listen to music but you don't want to buy it on iTunes), and no phone as modem support (which isn't a huge deal since mobile broadband cards aren't as expensive now as they used to be but still), is pretty damn lame. Especially considering that my shitty SLVR can do all of that, and it's not a smart phone.

For $600 you could get a better smartphone, and have enough cash left over for your first couple of bills.

Einhander, you're just mad because you can't afford one. It's the fox and the vine argument all over again.

Gotcha. :P

That said, the iPhone really is absurdly expensive. A quick check of AT&T's site shows that the next most expensive phone with a two-year contract is $300. And that's for several smartphones, all of which have more capabilities by far than the iPhone. Sure, the iPhone's interface is utterly delicious and its features are handy, but it's just flat too expensive at this point.

You're also checking At&T's website. I believe the Nokia n95 is like 800 dollars. There's some damn good smart phones, better than the iphone, but the iPhone certaintly isn't a bad product. It's got it's flaws, but it's also got it's ups.

Oh, it certainly does a lot of fantastic things... I got to use one for a week at work, and I hated giving it up. But it still has some baffling issues (network, text entry not rotating for all features, no other ringtones, etc.), and the price needs to come down. That and a revision or two would make it into a genuinely great product across the board.

Dog

its still not 3g = no thanks.

Marty81

I haven't been following the iPhone stuff at all, but the shocking thing to me about this thread is that the iPhone didn't come unlocked. The fact that there's even a notion of unlocking for it is baffling to me.

Ronen

I highly doubt that it will be 100% feature complete due to one feature: Visual Voicemail. Visual Voicemail only works because AT&T installed a whole shitload of Apple servers at their distribution centers to handle the feature, and it all probably runs on some fancy proprietary system that only the hive-mind at Apple knows what it's about.

Everything else, though, is standard and will work just fine.

Personally, I've been using a phone with the iPhone's capabilities for five years now, and I bought my last one (the one I'm still using) a year and a half ago for $300. As much as I love Apple stuff (and I do, I have way too much of it) the iPhone is a $600 slick-looking gloss of paint. It'll take a 3G, really unlocked model with a better camera than 2MP to have me consider buying one, which won't ever happen, so I'll stick with my Symbian for now.

Marty81 wrote: »

I haven't been following the iPhone stuff at all, but the shocking thing to me about this thread is that the iPhone didn't come unlocked. The fact that there's even a notion of unlocking for it is baffling to me.

This is Apple we're talking about. If they can't have control over the system from top to bottom they don't do it. Period. Selling an unlocked phone will be the last thing they ever do.

Kalkino

Yah, without 3G capability I won't even consider buying an iPhone when it becomes available in the UK. Hell, I find 3G annoyingly slow with my decidedly non smart phone - the SE K810i. I'd hate to think how frustrated I would get with a phone with genuinely cool smart phone features that had a connection like the late 90s.

That being said, I do love my phone, the camera is actually quite good (main reason i got this phone), and the Google java apps for Gmail and Google Maps have been dammed useful. Pity the battery life sucks.

TheMorningStar

OtakuD00D wrote: »

MegaMan001 wrote: »

wunderbar wrote: »

MegaMan001 wrote: »

Does this mean I can use an iPhone with a non-shitty provider yet?

as long as it's a GSM provider, yes. At least, once the company starts selling the unlock software.

Well, the iPhone just became more appealing. Not $600 dollars appealing, but it's making headway.

Agreed. If it was a few hundred bucks cheaper AND compatible with Cricket, I'd be down. Sort of. Especially now that it's unlocked. I wonder if it's now compatible with PDFs....

Umm, it's always been able to read pdfs...

Kalkino

Speaking of cellphones and stuff - does anyone actually download and play all those dammed games that exist for these phones?

Games like Prince of Persia - Harem Adventures

h8b1llg8ts

Ronen wrote: »

I highly doubt that it will be 100% feature complete due to one feature: Visual Voicemail. Visual Voicemail only works because AT&T installed a whole shitload of Apple servers at their distribution centers to handle the feature, and it all probably runs on some fancy proprietary system that only the hive-mind at Apple knows what it's about.

Correct ...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/08/24/iphone.unlocked.ap/index.html

But it's cool that a 17 year old cracked it. That kid has got a good future set for him ...

FanciestWalnut

precisionk wrote: »

Well shit I better rush out and by a $599 dollar phone....




Wait...




No phone is worth that.

You might also not want to BUY one.

Target Practice

Kalkino wrote: »

Speaking of cellphones and stuff - does anyone actually download and play all those dammed games that exist for these phones?

Games like Prince of Persia - Harem Adventures

That can't be legal.

Anywho. I never understood all the hype for the iPhone.

nexuscrawler

cloudeagle wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Einhander wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

Guys, the iPhone is 500 bucks. Yes, it can be worth it. No, it's not a ridiculous price. It's a fucking smartphone. Look up some other smartphones. I personally wouldn't buy it without 3g and a customizable interface, but smartphones are goddam expensive. Saying "oh man, 600 bucks for a phone? Fuck that!" is unreasonable.

The issue is those other smartphones can do all the iPhone can and more, for a much more reasonable price. The iPhone has a touchscreen and iTunes, but still. All that money and you can't do something as simple as use your own sounds as ring tones or have voice recognition for dialing, and you can't carry your shit on a memory card since the iPhone doesn't have a memory card slot (which is nice if you want to listen to music but you don't want to buy it on iTunes), and no phone as modem support (which isn't a huge deal since mobile broadband cards aren't as expensive now as they used to be but still), is pretty damn lame. Especially considering that my shitty SLVR can do all of that, and it's not a smart phone.

For $600 you could get a better smartphone, and have enough cash left over for your first couple of bills.

Einhander, you're just mad because you can't afford one. It's the fox and the vine argument all over again.

Gotcha. :P

That said, the iPhone really is absurdly expensive. A quick check of AT&T's site shows that the next most expensive phone with a two-year contract is $300. And that's for several smartphones, all of which have more capabilities by far than the iPhone. Sure, the iPhone's interface is utterly delicious and its features are handy, but it's just flat too expensive at this point.

You're also checking At&T's website. I believe the Nokia n95 is like 800 dollars. There's some damn good smart phones, better than the iphone, but the iPhone certaintly isn't a bad product. It's got it's flaws, but it's also got it's ups.

Oh, it certainly does a lot of fantastic things... I got to use one for a week at work, and I hated giving it up. But it still has some baffling issues (network, text entry not rotating for all features, no other ringtones, etc.), and the price needs to come down. That and a revision or two would make it into a genuinely great product across the board.

Apple simply does not drop prices. They will introduce, without announcement, a new version in like a year with new features for the same price. That's how they work.

Spoit

Kalkino wrote: »

That can't be legal.

Anywho. I never understood all the hype for Apple products in general.

maximumzero

Einhander wrote: »

(which is nice if you want to listen to music but you don't want to buy it on iTunes)

Oh, ye of little intelligence.