Unlocking Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

White House announces support for unlocking cell phones

by Mike Schramm (Mar 4th, 2013)

A petition on the White House's website to work for a new law universally allowing the unlocking of cell phones recently raised more than 100,000 signatures from the public, and the White House has now officially responded to the idea, stating its support. The petition refers to Section 1201 of ...

Unauthorized unlocking of new phones to be illegal in US

by Steven Sande (Jan 25th, 2013)

Have you been thinking about unlocking your iPhone? Unlocking is the process that allows your iPhone to work on multiple networks that use the same wireless standard, so it's perfect for international travelers who buy SIM cards from local carriers instead of being tied to international roaming ...

Daily Update for April 10, 2012

by Steven Sande (Apr 10th, 2012)

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player ...

iPhone unlocking service providers shut down

by Michael Grothaus (Apr 22nd, 2011)

About two weeks ago we told you about several websites that seemed to spring up overnight offering genuine iPhone unlocking. By "genuine" we mean the unlocks didn't require any hacks or jailbreaks as the websites appeared to directly access Apple's database and add IMEI device identifiers to it, ...

Websites now offering hack-free iPhone unlocking

by Michael Grothaus (Apr 12th, 2011)

Over the past few weeks several websites have popped up that allow iPhone owners to unlock their phones without a jailbreak or hack... for a substantial fee. The sites CutYourSim and Negri Electronics are advertising "permanent" iPhone unlocks, while the sites UnlockBase and GSMPhoneSource are ...

Telus to offer iPhone unlocking in Canada

by Kelly Hodgkins (Feb 7th, 2011)

Telus introduced a new unlock policy that will let customers unlock a GSM-based handset for a nominal fee of $50. This new unlock policy goes into effect on February 15 and is available for any GSM mobile phone that has been on the carrier's network for a minimum of 90 days. The iPhone will not be ...

Tune Runner rises to the top on a wave of free

by Mike Schramm (Feb 24th, 2010)

There's been some interesting discussion in our comments section lately about Ngmoco's freemium model -- first they made headlines by endorsing it even to the detriment of one of their most popular games, and then they bought Freeverse and the conversation started up again. But while customers don't ...

Contract-free refurb 8GB 3G $430 with free shipping

by Erica Sadun (Jan 4th, 2010)

TUAW reader Conrad N. tipped us off to a nice 3G iPhone deal this morning. Buy.com is offering an 8GB 3G for just $430 with free shipping. While I wouldn't classify this as a red hot deal (a 3GS would have qualified) it's not bad for anyone who wants to pick up an inexpensive contract-free unit, for ...

What will you do with your old iPhone?

by Erica Sadun (Jun 20th, 2008)

So like a gadzillion people have asked me: "What do I do with my old iPhone now that I'm upgrading to a spiffy new 3G unit?" I thought about doing a top ten list. I thought about clever and amusing ways to use an old iPhone. But seriously, it just comes down to this. So read my lips. Jailbreak it. ...

ZiPhone 3.0 released

by Cory Bohon (Mar 30th, 2008)

ZiPhone, the free jailbreaking and unlocking tool for iPhone, has hit version 3.0. According to the ZiPhone blog, new features include: NVRAM fix is no longer needed Greyed WiFi solution YouTube fix is no longer needed Apps installer is included Customized plug-ins You can download the ...

iPhone Dev Team announces free unlock

by Erica Sadun (Oct 16th, 2007)

For all of you who have been holding off on paying iPhone SIM Free $60-$100, good news. The iPhone Dev Team has announced AnySIM 1.1. According to the announcement by netkas, the software has been tested with both 1.0.2 and 1.1.1. AnySIM offers a free unlocking solution for iPhone users and ...

Is an iPhone unlocking app on the way?

by David Chartier (Jul 16th, 2007)

According to Computerworld in Singapore, a UK-based company claims to be closing in on an unlocking application for the iPhone, allowing the device to be used on other GSM mobile phone networks such as T-Mobile in the US and many others around the world (alternatively, you can go the contract-free, ...