November 17, 2011   iPhone, iPhone 4S, iPhone Hacks & Tweaks, Tutorials

Tutorial: How To Temporarily Unlock iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, 3GS Without Jailbreaking (No Hardware Or Software Modifications) (Updated)

Many of you will be more than aware of the difficult – often impossible – task that is carrier unlocking a brand new iPhone.

It used to be rather simple with Ultrasn0w back in the early iPhone era, but these days, users tend to be limited to either requesting the carrier to unlock the device, or using the ethically-dubious GEVEY interposer, which requires a spoof-dial to the emergency services.

Completely out of the blue, though, there seems to be a method circulating around the Web which suggests that Apple’s latest and greatest smartphone effort can be unlocked, without ANY hardware or software mods – including jailbreak. Sound interesting? Read on.

Now, before we present to you this rather simple step-by-step, we must clear up a few things.

  • Firstly, this has not been tested, thus proceed at your own risk, and be prepared for a disappointing conclusion.
  • As far as we know, it only unlocks AT&T devices.

Step 1: If you haven’t already, insert your AT&T SIM into your iPhone 4S.

Step 2: Make a drop-call to 611, which is AT&T’s customer service number. Once you’ve dropped the call, activate Airplane mode.

Step 3: Remove your AT&T SIM and replace with the T-Mobile one

Step 4: Ensure that Wi-Fi is deactivated completely by ‘forgetting’ any automatically connected networks.

Step 5: Now deactivate Airplane mode. Your device will begin searching for a signal. You will be met with the Apple splash screen followed by the familiar activation screen.

Step 6: EDGE network should automatically activate, and if all has gone well, you should see that “E” in the top-left corner of your iPhone’s screen.

Step 7: After a 20-30 second waiting period, switch your phone off, and back on again. You should once again see that Activation Required screen.

Step 8: Once you notice a signal bar, hit Use Cellular Connection

Step 9: Eject your SIM, after which you will see the activation notice for the third and final time.

Step 10: Finally, re-insert your SIM, and your device should be unlocked!

Update x1: Apparently, this trick is said to be working on iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS too.

Update x2: As confirmed by MuscleNerd, this trick isn’t really a great solution as it will only work until the TMSI is refreshed, which means the unlock wont stay for that long.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/shahnawaz.kingkhan Shahnawaz Khan Solangi Solangi

    nice dear

  • RayG

    This worked on my iPhone 4 with baseband 04.10.01, but not on my iPhone 4 with baseband 04.11.08, both on iOS 5.0.1.

  • Gki0x1

    The Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) is the identity that is most commonly sent between the mobile and the network. TMSI is randomly assigned by the VLR to every mobile in the area, the moment it is switched on. The number is local to a location area, and so it has to be updated each time the mobile moves to a new geographical area.
    The network can also change the TMSI of the mobile at any time. And it normally does so, in order to avoid the subscriber from being identified, and tracked by eavesdroppers on the radio interface. This makes it difficult to trace which mobile is which, except briefly, when the mobile is just switched on, or when the data in the mobile becomes invalid for one reason or another. At that point, the global “international mobile subscriber identity” (IMSI) must be sent to the network. The IMSI is sent as rarely as possible, to avoid it being identified and tracked.
    A key use of the TMSI is in paging a mobile. “Paging” is the one-to-one communication between the mobile and the base station. The most important use of broadcast information is to set up channels for “paging”. Every cellular system has a broadcast mechanism to distribute such information to a plurality of mobiles.
    Size of TMSI is 4 octet with full hex digits and can’t be all 1 because the SIM uses 4 octets with all bits equal to 1 to indicate that no valid TMSI is available.[