Unlock your contract-free AT&T iPhone 5: just restore in iTunes

AT&T customers who bought their iPhone 5 off-contract can easily unlock their phone to work on another carrier, says a report in TechCrunch. Instead of faxing paperwork to AT&T and waiting for authorization, customers without a contract can simply connect their iPhone 5 to iTunes and restore it to unlock the device. After the restore process is complete, customers will be greeted with a message saying, "Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked."

TechCrunch reached out to AT&T, which confirmed that a restore will unlock the iPhone 5 for customers who are not under a contract. Writer Romain Dillet tested it with his device and was able to get a signal on T-Mobile after he inserted a microSIM that was trimmed to fit into the iPhone 5. Other users on AT&T's support forum also report success with this procedure.