I have just upgraded my iphone 3G to 4s on orange contract, I have passed my old phone to my wife who is on Vodafone so obviously the phone needs u
Locking I phoned orange and they said there would be a £20 charge and they needed the imei number and it would take 30 days to generate a unlock code, so what the hell is that a out 30 days, it does not take 30 days surely ?

To unlock an iPhone Orange need to contact Apple with your IMEI. Apple then generate a code which is sent out to your phone. You sync with iTunes and hey presto your phone is unlocked.

The process is actually free and takes 48 hours maximum. Network operators can charge if they wish, though Apple do not entirely agree with this, and the 30 days you have been told is a total fabrication. It is seriously only 2 days.

So I would need to plug it back in my own iTunes account with a sim or no sim?

You should get an email or text from Orange saying your phone is unlcoked. Once you get this you erase all content and settings so the phone goes back to its default brand new phone look and sync with iTunes with the new sim card in. It should come up on the iTunes screen saying "Your iPhone is now uncloked" then you can restore from a back up if you wish or give it to your wife as a new blank phone.

This is handy info cos I just upgraded mine and gave the phone to one of my kids who is not on orange.

Thanks.

So the problem is that my partner has defaulted to factory settings with her iTunes account, so what now?

The phone should be back at factory settings and restoring the phone from iTunes should put all the music and apps etc back onto it.

Just put my request in with Orange and we have gone from 30 days to 2 weeks strange that, so in people's experience how long have you waited for apple to respond ?

They replied to O2 within 24 hours for me. And they replied to Voadfone with 48hours. It's a dedicated service Apple have for this, so it literally is 48 hours. Nowhere near 2 weeks.

So am I right in saying that apple get a valid request from an operator ie Orange, then on approval from apple they allow an unlock but the iphone needs to be plugged into any iTunes programme with an account?

Yup thats right. But if your iPhone is on iOS5 and back to factory settings when your setting it up you should be able to set it up with WiFi alone (its an option as you go through set up "Activate on WiFi" or "Activate with iTunes"), but as a back up always keep iTunes open and ready

From 1.10 to 2.05 will be relevant for you if you do a WiFi Activation after the phone is unlocked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr0f7qNMjvc

Hope this helps!
Last edited by madscotsboy : 26-01-2012 at 18:28

What's the best telephone number to get apple on for unlocking ?

As far as I'm aware there isn't a number you can get Apple on specifically it's a computer system the Network providers have. Apple won't help you directly with this, sadly we're totally at the mercy of the phone company. Sorry

Well nearly 48 Hours since the request was put into Orange and still awaiting a confirmation ?

How long I wonder ?

I asked for an unlock code from Orange on the 10th January for my iphone 4s and still waiting

I requested an unlock for the 4S from O2 and was told they're not unlocking them yet as they want to ensure they're only for "genuine and loyal" customers. I only wanted to unlock it so I can use another sim abroad. O2 still won't get my roaming data cash, I'll just use my unlocked Android phone instead. Idiots!

That's not good

When I spoke to orange last week sorting the unlock procedure, the guy on the other end said the request was now going through to apple, so how long do they take dam it ?

I have just spoken to Orange CS again and the time is back up to 30 days, the guy told me that Orange had a dedicated unlocking team and when I asked him if I could speak to that team the answer was it wasn't a department I could speak too, I just wonder what the best email address I could send too ?

Any ideas ?

Wow orange a really ripping it aren't they. I would email their main customer service email. Siting that no other company take such lengths and you want to know the process for making an official complaint. Even just for the fact the time keeps changing.

madscotsboy, you've not given out 100% reliable info I am afraid.

Process is that as long as the iPhone is/was paired to the account and the account has been open for more than 3 months and has no outstanding balance then Orange will unlock for a fee of £20.42 (PAYM) or £20.00 (PAYG).

Unlock time is from 3 days to 30 days. Usually the lead time is 5-7 days for iPhones, however it depends on how busy our unlocking team are. It's to cover Orange's back in case there is a delay.

And AFAIK, Apple charge the operators to releasing the lock (let's face it, Apple would charge for breaking wind if they could), however the actual terms may be operator specific and I'm not in a position to discuss.

Hope that helps

Apologies. I was operating off the information my Sister in law gave me as she works for Apple. And I was using my experiences of unlocking from O2, Three and Vodafone. I didn’t realise Oranges technique would be so different.

Is it 30 working days, I've been waiting 16 working days for mine from orange

Current lead time is 7-10 days (or at least it was a few days ago!), so 16 days would indicate something may be amiss. I'd call 150 to check everything is OK

Hi

I sent a PM via Orange Helpers on Facebook and they said

"Hi Andy,

Thanks for confirming this.

We can see that the unlocking hasn't been fully completed as yet. The process can take up to 30 days to complete and we will get in touch with you if there are any difficulties"

I have paid off my contract off




,Orange Helpers