How To: Unlock Your Non-Contract iPhone 5 from AT&T via iTunes

Unlock Your Non-Contract iPhone 5 from AT&T via iTunes

Did you buy your new iPhone 5 without a contract? We'll, if you bought it from Apple, AT&T or Verizon, you can have it unlocked pretty easily.

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Why Have It Unlocked?

The reason why some like to have an unlocked iPhone is because the phone can be used worldwide and with different cellular providers. It's especially beneficial for people that travel constantly. The phone carrier you have in United States may not be available in another country, so having an unlocked phone that can be used on other phone carriers is essential.

How to Unlock Your AT&T iPhone 5

If you bought your non-contract iPhone 5 from AT&T at full price, you probably noticed it didn't come unlocked out of the package. But you can easily unlock it by simply restoring the iPhone via iTunes. After restoring the phone, the user is greeted with the following message:

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From there, you can trim your micro-SIM card into a nano-SIM card for the iPhone 5—or just use your nano-SIM of choice.

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How to Unlock Your Verizon Wireless iPhone 5

Usually, phone companies are reluctant to unlock their phones because of the possibility of having the customer change carriers. So why has AT&T allowed their iPhone 5's to be so easily unlocked? It might have to do with Verizon offering unlocked iPhone 5s for everyone right out of the box—permanently—whether you paid full price or the subsidized cost.

Well, why would Verizon want to even offer unlocked phones? Simply put—they have to. Verizon is being forced to unlock their phones by the FCC for using the 700MHz spectrum that is being used by the LTE iPhone 5.

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Sprint User? You're Out of Luck

With Sprint, there is no easy way to unlock the iPhone 5. Customers in good standing for at least three months can ask to have them unlocked for international use only. Speak to the proper representative and they should unlock the phone for you.

The last resort would be to wait for the iOS 6 jailbreak. It should happen soon enough.

Just updated your iPhone? You'll find new Apple Intelligence capabilities, sudoku puzzles, Camera Control enhancements, volume control limits, layered Voice Memo recordings, and other useful features. Find out what's new and changed on your iPhone with the iOS 18.2 update.

Photo by DarGadgetZ

3 Comments

Okay I really need help with this and I was wondering if someone could help. I have a at&t iphone 5s and Im trying to change it to verizon. I read some blogs online and I seen something about GSM and CMDA but this article makes it seem possible. HELP?

I'm just curious, after doing lots of internet research, and hearing people's complaints, could you please answer this question for me?

If an insured USA AT&T Samsung Note 4 or Apple Iphone 6 is reported lost or stolen which is under AT&T contract, and the insurance company pays out on the claim, does the lost Phone's IMEI number become "blocked"?

If so then I would like to know the possibilities for unlocking the blocked phone & use it in India.

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