I plan on buying an ATT iPhone 4 to unlock for T-Mobile, is unlocking easy now?

albo23 · Apr 3, 2014

So I plan on buying an iPhone 4 for my dad because they are much simpler than Androids, and he is a simple man.

However, I have been out of the iPhone game for sometime now. If I buy an ATT iPhone 4, what are my unlocking options to get it on T-Mobile?

willerz2 · Apr 3, 2014

You can purchase a remote unlock or an interposer that works on the iPhone 4. Read this prior to purchasing a second hand iOS device, particularly if it's via the internet.

thex · Apr 10, 2014

I am pretty sure one is gsm and one is CDMA networks you might want to check into this.

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Ziops · Apr 11, 2014

albo23 said:
So I plan on buying an iPhone 4 for my dad because they are much simpler than Androids, and he is a simple man.

However, I have been out of the iPhone game for sometime now. If I buy an ATT iPhone 4, what are my unlocking options to get it on T-Mobile?

iPhone 4 can only be unlocked with a software method if your baseband is 1.59.00, but it is very unlikely to get an iPhone with that baseband (it was a very old version).
Now if you want to get an AT&T iPhone, to use it on a different carrier, you will have to go for an Official IMEI Unlock (it will cost you around $60-$70, and it gets unlocked in about a week).
Now, AT&T uses GSM network, and T-Mobile is GMS too (this is what I found after a quick research), so you will be able to switch between them.
Now, if you do not care much about the performance of your iPhone, you can get an iPhone 3Gs model and you can do a software unlock, which is free!! It requires a jailbreak, but the latest iOS version that iPhone 3Gs supports it can be jailbroken!

willerz2 · Apr 11, 2014

thex said:
I am pretty sure one is gsm and one is CDMA networks you might want to check into this.

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Reread the post. He said AT&T iPhone 4, meaning he/she's aware of the band differences

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thex · Apr 11, 2014

My bad. I guess I can't read lol.

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zstairlessone · Apr 13, 2014

If it is out of contract and has the original SIM, AT&T will unlock it. You may need the original purchaser to put in the request though. Once submitted it may take a couple of days, then you will need to do a full backup followed by a restore from that backup and it will be unlocked. It was painless for me, I'm just glad I kept my old SIM when I changed my number at the end of the contract.