Apple iPhone

[emperor_black]

hmm... I thought the iPhones are unlocked when you buy at the store... heard them say so on the tv. I think only if you buy them at a discounted price along with a plan, are they locked. Also, there will surely be someone hacking the phones and unlocking them the moment they are out.

[rjohnstone]

You cannot "unlock" these. They shipped de-activated.
They require an AT&T account (verified) and activation via the iTunes store.
Plus some of the features are tied to the network, not the phone.
Visual Voicemail for instance, is a network feature from AT&T that the iPhone uses.

While I'm sure someone will be able to "hack it", the SIM card is embedded, which means you cannot replace it with a SIM card from another carrier.
So what's the point of unlocking it if you can't replace the SIM card?
The ESN and IMEA numbers are etched onto the case.

[fett]

It's all Bullshit. Just how many pieces of technocrap before no one has to talk to anyone in person? You guys are missing life by being plugged in all the time. Says he, who has been online for hours.

[zeegler]

I agree Fett.

Fuck that. I have no interest in being part of the in-crowd. My phone works just fine thank you very much.

[Jason1212]

My sister inlaw did alot of the sales training materials on these for the call center here in Frisco. I want to hit her up for one, but I will give it awhile and let the buzz die down first.

[rjohnstone]

I'm waiting for the 3G version next year.
I'll let them work the bugs outta this one first.

[rjohnstone]

Interesting... http://stream.ifixit.com/
Guess the rumors were wrong. The SIM card IS replaceable after all... (evil laugh begins).

[Thrust]

Meh.....the only thing I want a cell phone to do is---get GOOD reception. My old Motorola v60 was an awesome phone. I replaced it with a Nokia and now I can't even consistently get the damn thing to turn on/off when I want. Reception is horrid and it's made of plastic (v60 had a metal case). For me, the iphone represents more "wasted" technology.

[sully]

yep. congress passed a law that gives customers the right to have their phones unlocked. granted, the carrier can have their parameters, but it's your phone, you can get it unlocked.

i was talking to a friend of mine who works in ATnTs engineering dept and we were talking about the whole exclusivity thing. his team didn't get a whole lot of the talking points, but unless they get oversized sims (the sim slots look kinda wide in pictures), there really isn't a whole lot of ways to keep it locked down and inline with the law. the itunes portion of that may be the missing link in the unlocking of the phone, but i'll keep my eyes open. no way would i switch to a different carrier for the phone.

Interesting... http://stream.ifixit.com/
Guess the rumors were wrong. The SIM card IS replaceable after all... (evil laugh begins).

[sully]

so much for an oversized sim.

[rjohnstone]

My guess is Apple embedded some code that prevents activation if an AT&T encoded SIM is not installed.
Plus that little requirement that you have to activate it through the iTunes store before ANY SIM card will work.

My issue with this is, the phone cost is not subsidized by AT&T, so by law, it should be completely unlocked.
I know some of the iPhone's features are tied directly to AT&T's network, like Visual Voice mail, so I can see those features not working on say T-Mobiles network, but the basic phone functionality should still work.

People have already tried using their T-Mobile SIMS only to get an error message about the SIM being invalid.
Other phone features have been "claimed" to still function with a non-AT&T SIM, but no phone service or network/WiFi access.
So what you get is an overpriced iPod Nano with video playback and a touch screen.
Not worth it.

[AlexL]

That's what I'm afraid mine would look like after I had it for a week...


- E.

[Argos]

So I went and checked one of these out at the Apple store today. I didn't drop the $500, but let me say, this thing really is pretty fucking cool. I might just have to get one.

[VinceV]

Call me a whore. I went to the Apple store to go get one for my son, and after playing with it for about 5 minutes I decided it was pretty slick, and got myself one too. I was way impressed with how slick the interface was. i was expecting it to be a little laggy and choppy, but not at all. It just plain and simple worked. Dam my 3rd phone I have gone through in 2 months. Well since I don't buy guitars anymore, my GAS had to go somewhere.

[Argos]

Vince, did you sign a ATT contract or are you just going to unlock it?