if you really want my advice, i would suggest that you pay the unlocking fees (since it is an OZ unit) through the proper channel.

it saves you a lot of time and hassle in the near future.

just a one time "pain" (monetary and time wise), for a permanent "gain"

no, provided that you restore your unit immediately to complete the unlocking process, upon receiving the text message (asking you to do so)


however, there are reported cases that the iPhone was locked back to the carrier upon a new firmware upgrade. these reported cases are the minority and could be attributed to the above.

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Added on May 3, 2009, 2:56 pmi'm not gonna elaborate the entire process in detail, but will give a gist of it.

first you need to determine the carrier that it is locked to (optus? vodafone? telstra?). if you are in doubt, you can try to ring the apple (australia) customer service and provide them with your IMEI number. or of course you can opt for the old fashion, conventional manner (like how i did for a friend), locate all three sim cards (doesn't matter if it's prepaid or not) and conduct a trial and error experiment.

once you have determined the carrier, then ring up that respective carrier for further information on how to unlock the iPhone (for optus, the general thumb rule is to have at least $120 of prepaid credit loaded inside). wait for the text to come in (suggested waiting period is 10 days, but typically it takes much less) and from what i have gathered in the OZ forum, the text might sometimes be a case of "lost in transition". hence you can always try to restore your iPhone via iTunes and then try with another foreign sim card.

This post has been edited by nokia2003: May 3 2009, 03:09 PM

if you have restored your iPhone via iTunes after you have received the text, you ought to be alright (the restoration process essentially records your IMEI on their database and hence it is imperative for you to do so).

however, if the bad star decides to shine upon you, no worries as well, because you can always ring optus to complete the process again.




AFAIK, calling australian landline numbers, using the maxis IDD combination number will only cost you RM0.20/minute. you can even attempt to "boil porridge" or "bergayut telefon" with the consultant if you have the time to spare!

This post has been edited by nokia2003: May 3 2009, 04:13 PM

for starters, read Section B to determine the origin of the iPhone

This post has been edited by nokia2003: May 3 2009, 11:48 PM