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Thursday June 28, 2007
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A few signs have come out recently to enlighten the millions of slavering Canadians, T-Mobile users and Europeans who have been wondering if they can unlock their iPhones for use on non-AT&T carriers.
The bad news: yes, the phone is locked. According to Apple, "AT&T is the exclusive wireless carrier for iPhone in the United States." But Apple's iPhone Q&A page implies that yes, you can put in another SIM card, though it won't work. That's good news for unlockers, because it means the lock is somewhere in firmware - the AT&T SIM isn't physically welded or glued into the unit.
Now, it will probably take many months to unlock the iPhone, if it ever becomes possible. The iPhone runs an entirely new operating system for phones, and there's no obvious easy way to access the OS. Hackers will first need some sort of hardware or software solution to get at the phone's internal file system, then will need to disassemble key files and figure out what data to change. It's a bigger deal than hacking, say, an Apple TV. It may take a long time. But at least it's not inconceivable.
By the way, no amount of wizardry will ever make this iPhone work on Sprint or Verizon. It will never happen. Sprint and Verizon use totally different radio technologies than AT&T - the problem is far beyond simple unlocking.
This topic will be one of the many covered in our full iPhone review, of course.
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