Unlock Your Out of Contract AT&T iPhone Without Restoring

In case you haven't heard, AT&T started officially unlocking out-of-contract iPhones for customers in good standing earlier this month. The only problem is that AT&T recommends a full restore at the end of the unlocking process, which will wipe an existing iPhone jailbreak.

ATT unlock iPhone

Luckily you can still unlock your iPhone through official channels without losing your jailbreak by following a few extra steps. When your contract with AT&T ends and you're ready to unlock your iPhone for use with other carriers, first follow the steps at this link to contact AT&T and determine your eligibility.

When the unlock is confirmed, you will receive an email explaining that you must back up and restore your iPhone to complete the process. Backing up your iPhone might be a good idea, but there's no need to restore completely for the unlock. Simply follow these instructions to preserve your existing data and jailbreak:

1. Download the latest version of redsn0w from iPhone Dev-Team.
2. Run redsn0w on your computer and connect the iPhone via USB.
3. Follow the steps in redsn0w to put the iPhone in DFU mode.
4. When redsn0w recognizes your device choose Jailbreak.
5. Options will appear with checkboxes. Make sure the only box checked is Deactivate then click Next.
6. Your device will flash words on the screen then reboot.
7. After the iPhone reboots, open iTunes on your computer.

When the above steps are complete, you should receive a message in iTunes confirming that your iPhone is officially unlocked. All of your apps and jailbreak tweaks will appear untouched.

Comments

Nice one guys..that worked great :)

Well, I have used imeiunlockcodes.com for unlocking my 4s, but it took them more than 5 weeks to do it, such a waste of time.

go check out attiphoneunlocking, I used their unlock for my phones at least 3 times, and always unlocked under 4 hours

Yea, 5 dollar sites are all SCAM, be careful next time

Does this means that we don't need to update/restore our devices?

Does this work for version 4.1??

Worked on 4.3.3 without restoring - thanks!

Just tried it and worked perfectly!

will this work on 5.1.1

YES Works fine with 5.1.1.
Thanks for the tip!

which version of redsn0w did you use?

Use the latest version of redsnow as a rule of thumb unless otherwise stated. redsn0w_win_0.9.14b2 is the most current version (as of 10/13/2012). I used this method and i got the unlock confirmation. Hope this helps.

this can be done without any additional software (redsn0w) and without putting the device in DFU mode or restoring the device:
0) (obviously) get your operator to unlock the device
1) acquire a SIM that the device is not authorised for.
2) install the SIM - the device should say 'invalid SIM' or 'No SIM'.
3) Connect the device to a computer that has (but is not running) iTunes and has an internet connection
4) Power off the device
5) Start iTunes
6) Power on the device - iTunes will deactivate it, and from there you can activate it usng iTunes or the device itself.
Comments on this procedure welcome. It worked for me; obviously I can only unlock my iPhone once.

After I turned on my iphone it started a bootloop but I saw it said Activate. I restarted my Iphone and plugged it back in and got the message in itunes confirming the unlock and T-mobile was on the status bar. My jailbreak on 5.1.1 still okay.

Especially on the 4S, which is impossible to restore to 5.0.1, I'd highly recommend fiddling with iTunes until it does work, rather than restoring the phone, or using a third-party tool on your phone or computer that might go wrong and make the device require a restore.

I used the method above as well (no 3rd party software, i.e., redsn0w). When I plugged it into iTunes the first time the phone displayed "Activate" and iTunes said "iPhone cannot be activated". I restarted the phone and the network status went from "invalid SIM" to "Searching" and when I plugged it back in, iTunes recognized the phone and indicated that the unlock was successful.

Thanks for the advice!

The process above worked on a jailbroken Iphone 4 running IOS 5.1.1. I did not loose the jailbreak or any of the other contents on the Iphone. I used a SiM card from the Philippines (Globe) and although my Iphone 4 showed AT&T on the status bar after I followed the steps above, the few prepaid Globe SIM card options I tried (i.e. checking my balance, calling a land line here in the USA) worked just fine. You my good friend are the bomb!! You prevented me from having to reset my Iphone 4 and getting the auto IOS update in the process!! Happy Thanksgiving to you. I am thankful for your post!!

Hey, thanks! That method worked for me too! Didn't have to use any third party software or anything. Just put in my T-Mobile sim without the GeveySim Unlock adaptor and followed your instructions. It initially said activation failed.

After a phone reboot while connected to iTunes, it told me my phone was successfully unlocked. I used this on both of my iPhones, and it worked on both... one was running 6.1 and the other was stuck on 4.3.3 with the Gevey (no more) Once it was unlocked, my T-Mobile service came up with just the sim installed.

Nice to see this method working in 2014 on a jailbroken iPhone 3G running iPhone OS (not yet iOS!) 2 - there has never even been a version of redsn0w that supports deactivating in that particular situation...

What if I want to unlock a NON-jailbroken iphone without restoring or jailbreaking?

You can do this on stock firmware; you do not need to be jailbroken.

That said, the process is *slightly* different in the new version of Redsn0w, but it's even *easier* now:

1) Connect your iPhone, booted *normally*
1.5) Close iTunes if open.
2) Download the latest version of Redsn0w.
3) Choose "Extras" > "Even More" > "Deactivate"
4) Confirm that you do want to deactivate.
5) With the iPhone now deactivated (You will see "Activation Required" on the phone), open iTunes.
6) Click past the "iPhone Successfully Activated" page and enjoy your new factory unlocked iPhone. :)

The easiest way to unlock iPhone 5 AT&T is to use legit IMEI service because this method is 100% working and you will get factory 5 which means that you can update it in iTunes to any new iOS firmware and still be unlocked forever. No software, no hardware and without restoring.