Passing on an iPhone 3GS
Sunday, June 27, 2010 at 10:27AM Hmm...
A couple of issues I'd welcome some feedback on.
Transferring a 3GS under Contract
So I have the unlocked new iPhone 4 - (nice phone, will blog more later) and I've moved the SIM from a current 3GS (which is in contract until December 2010)
So now I want to pass on the 3GS phone to another family member.
As I bought the 3GS from OS, I'm assuming the iPhone is locked to O2?
Consequently, Am I restricted to only getting a SIM only deal from O2 until December 2010?
Transferring a 3G
There's also the issue of a 3G which is now out of contract with 02 and has been running a Simplicity for iPhone rolling contract.
I can just sell this phone, but what if I also want to give this to another family member? I'm assuming it's locked with O2 but as it's out of contract, can I get it unlocked officially by O2 and if so, how?
Complicated all these mobile contract shenanigans.
Glad I got an unlocked iPhone 4 this time round to get away from all these hassles!
Any advice would be most welcome.
Reader Comments (13)
Hi Don,
Take a look at http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/unlockmyiphone.html
Mike
Hi Don,
No problem - you can get them both officially unlocked by O2 by filling in the following form:
https://www.o2.co.uk/apps/help/help?qid=1&q1=2&route=unlocking&case=Handset%20Unlocking%20Form
For an iPhone with a contract SIM currently in it, it's free, for a Pay&Go SIM it's £15. (Taken from the credit on the SIM) Takes a few days to a week.
Don, o2 have the facility to easily unlock iPhones for free via their website. I have personally unlocked 2 myself and was in a similar situation to you. I passed on my 3GS to my wife even though I was still in contract with o2 until Jan 2011. She is on t-mobile. Details on how to do it are here http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/unlockmyiphone.html Hope this helps, Tony.
Here is O2's page on unlocking. http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/unlockmyiphone.html
The 3GS is easy just fill out the form, the 3G if its out of contract looks like you will have to get a pay & go sim then £15 to unlock
Regarding the 3Gs... Hard to say, technically, it is the sim which is locked to O2 and seen as you have moved that and the monthly payments to the 4G, the 3GS is currently an expensive brick. It is definitely worth checking with O2, but I do think it will be locked until December and you will be best of with a PandG plan until then.
Regarding the 3G. I bought mine PandG and one can now unlock it if 12 months have passed. You can actually do this through the O2 Web site and it will ask you to fill out the iPhone IMIE number, when you last topped out, freqently called numbers, etc. Mind you, it might be different for a contract iPhone. Note however, that I have frequently read cases were people have unlocked through O2, upgraded the OS and found themselves locked to O2 again, especially now when converting to iOS4.
Hope it helps!
Hi
Use the O2 unlocking form as per this article
cnet
I got my payg 3G unlocked 10months after I got it. I think it's very straight forward really :)
Hope it works for you.
Chris
Wow! Thanks for the responses - I thought it was going to be more difficult than that!
Don, on a similar theme, do you know if it's possible to roll back a 3G from iOS4 to the previous version? I've got an iPhone 4 and out of curiosity I loaded up iOS4 on the 3G - not a good idea as it's slowed to a crawl, still usable, but I'm trying to persuade my wife to take it on and at present she's not impressed.
I wondered if setting it up as a new phone within iTunes might do the trick but I'm being cautious here.
Any pointers, or your own experiences would be great.
Cheers
David
I installed iOS 4 on the 3G by installing as a new Phone. Didn't notice any major performance issues and haven't attempted to roll it bak.
Sorry!
Thanks Don,
Set up as new phone in iTunes and that seems to have done the trick. Working pretty smoothly now!
David
Don,
I used the website listed to unlock my 3G which I have no passed on. Whole process was simple and only took a day or two (although I'd imagine they are quite busy right now).
Hi Don,
Did O2 give you a new micro-sim and were you able to keep your unlimited bandwidth contract?
Steve
Steve - yes on both counts