The Dangers of Unlocking Your iPhone

You may have heard that there is an unlock for the iPhone. Not only can you unlock iPhone firmware 1.0.2, now firmware 1.1.2 is also cracked and so is firmware 1.1.3. There are many ways to unlock your iPhone. If your read all of the hype, then you might think that this is not a big deal and anyone can do it. You have the choice of purchasing an unlock from iphonesimfree.com or you can search YouTube for the latest video on how to unlock your iPhone. There is risk associated with this, especially if you start messing around with the bootload program. The dangers of unlocking your iPhone may actually outweigh the benefits.

Before we go any further, we need to be certain that everyone understands what we are talking about. An unlocked iPhone is an iPhone that has its firmware hacked into. The most common reason for this is so that the user can bypass the Apple – AT&T exclusive agreement that AT&T is the sole provider of cell phone service for the iPhone. When you unlock your iPhone, you are allowing the iPhone to be used on any cell phone network using standard GSM technology. Now that we have the terms cleared up, we need to see if it is really worth risking the dangers of unlocking your iPhone.

There are risks, make no mistake about it. Some of those risks are recoverable, some are not. If you make a serious mistake, you can "brick" your iPhone. In a sense, this is exactly what happens, your iPhone locks up, cannot be recovered from, and is now nothing more than an expensive brick. In order to prevent this from happening, you need to be certain that the instructions you are following are accurate. Even iphonesimfree.com will not guarantee that their software will not harm your iPhone. All they state is that it will work. They do not offer money back guarantees.

Why do you need to unlock your iPhone? If you are happy with AT&T as a cell phone service provider and you enjoy their visual email (an AT&T exclusive) then there is no reason to unlock your iPhone. Just keep using it as is. You can keep upgrading to the new firmware releases without worrying about killing your iPhone. If however, you would rather use T-Mobile as a cell phone provider or if you are looking to get enhanced music and video content then you can unlock the iPhone.

Here is the risk; right now, there are hacks to unlock the iPhone through firmware versions 1.1.4. However, only iphonesimfree.com states that their product is guaranteed to work with every firmware update from Apple. They claim that any unlock from them is good for every firmware update. Others claim to be able to have unlocking instructions for free that will unlock your phone without having to downgrade to firmware version 1.0.2. The problem is if you unlock your iPhone this way and then you upgrade to a higher version and it does not work, your iPhone will re-lock. If this happens then you might not be able to use your iPhone even if you go back to using the SIM card that originally came with your iPhone. Then you will have to go and figure out a way to get it to work. Apple will not be of any help to you if your iPhone bricks or even refuses to connect to a cell phone service because you decided you wanted to hack the firmware.

What about buying an unlocked iPhone? Here again the dangers of unlocking your iPhone still hold true, only this time you have no idea of how the phone was unlocked. If you purchase an unlock from iphonesimfree.com and have problems you can contact them and they will help you. Vendors selling unlocked iPhones may not be so helpful.

The dangers of unlocking your iPhone may not be apparently clear. However, there is a danger of ruining your iPhone. That makes it very expensive experiment. Are you sure you want or need your iPhone unlocked? If you do remember the dangers of unlocking your iPhone before you do something that cannot be undone.

                                                                                                            - Mohammed Zahran -