When Apple first announced the iPhone was going to be offered exclusively through AT&T it sparked a huge controversy. Many consumer rights groups were up in arms and in some countries the matter even went as far as the supreme court which ruled against AT&T exclusive deal forcing Apple to offer the customers to buy an unlocked version of the iPhone for almost twice the price. Fortunately for those of us living outside Germany it didn’t take long for someone to figure out how to crack the network protection allowing the iPhone to be used on a different carrier. Following the news Apple and AT&T were also quick to retaliate to protect their billion dollar investment by saying the crack would void any warranty and would prevent certain iPhone functions from being used.
Of course these statements were merely meant as scare tactics and were quickly proven to be false. If you are currently tied to a specific provider be it AT&T in the United States, Orange in France, or O2 in the UK rest assured you can unlock your iPhone and use it on your preferred network without any repercussions.
Paid iPhone unlocking vs. DIY unlocking
Once the information on how to unlock the iPhone was released there were a large number of iPhone unlocking providers that quickly sprung overnight charging anywhere from $20 to as much as $100 to unlock your iPhone. On the other side of the spectrum there are the philanthropists, like us, that believe the information should be shared freely.
Unlocking the iPhone yourself does not require any technical knowledge, and can be performed under 10 minutes if you follow the instructions step by step. The downside of course is the risk of something going wrong during the process and “bricking” your iPhone, a condition that essentially renders your iPhone completely useless and can only be solved using a hardware unlocking solution. while there have been a few reported cases the chances of this occurring remain slim and very very unlikely.
