Will upgrade to 2.2 lock my legally unlocked iPhone?

Here is an article in an Indonesian web site
http://iphoneall.org/index.php?s=fake
It lists some of the Fake Unlocked iPhone symptoms that they have seen. It's in Indonesian so I'll summarise for you. You can see from their pictures.

Note: This is a different Illegal Unlock to the one with a small circuit board in the tray. In my fake one there is no circuit board as per the ones in the photos. see Malcolm Rayfield's entry in this thread.


1. The phone won't work after 2.2 update which updates the baseband Modem Firmware to 2.28. If you go back to 2.1 the Baseband stays the same. So if you have a fake one, stay on 2.1.

2. The "carrier" option is missing in the settings page. This may also be missing with some sim cards as "markogin" says in this thread, so don't panic if that is your only symptom.

3. The phone may not work properly unless "Settings>Nework>Data Roaming" is on.

4. The box it comes in is shorter than normal. It is less than the width of the iPhone. The real ones are 1.5 x the width aproximately.

5. Inside there are modifications that can be seen by a technician but not dummies like me.

6. When you sync with iTunes it will give a message iPhone is Activated if it is real. I'm not sure if this is only for the first time or each time you sync. (because I've never seen it) 😟

7. the other one is the Model number origin. Mine MB048LL is from USA AT&T as "eclau" points out which has no unlocked iPhones. It was bought from HK.

The other symptom is that the guy/girl who purchased it is very ****** off as they have paid extra for a fake. Usually the fakes are cheaper.

Anyway, the shop I bought it from is going to replace it for me with a real Unlock with the next shipment. He claims he was cheated as well. Let's see.

I had no idea that there were legally unlocked iphones available or that it could be legally unlocked. How can I legally unlock mine?

Read this as to where you can buy them.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937

icebike wrote:
Thats an Australian phone, they are all carrier locked.

True, but all three Australian carriers have the ability to provide an authorized software unlocking service, so it cannot be assumed that all unlocked iPhones within that model number range were unlocked by unauthorized or illegal means.

I have a legal unlocked phone, purchased direct from Apple in Hong Kong, which I upgraded to 2.2 with no issues at all.

I use it regularly with PCCW Hong Kong and AT&T US SIM cards.

However I am a bit puzzled about some of the information in this thread.

In particular Apple's interesting list of model numbers http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937.

This list does not include the model number for legal unlocked phones purchased direct from Apple.

For instance, under Hong Kong, it only lists model numbers for 3, the local iPhone carrier.

My legal unlocked phone has an MB499LL model number, which shows as a US AT&T model number in the list.

Finally, my question: The list does not include the model number for legal unlocked phones purchased direct from Apple. What model number should I expect?

Mine is complete. I see everything including Carrier. SO I am perplexxed why my 3G won't work properly with my carrier here. If 3G is switched on then my incoming SMS is also affected.

It is officially unlocked by Apple that was activated by Telstra, the Aussie Carrier.

greg h wrote:
I had no idea that there were legally unlocked iphones available or that it could be legally unlocked. How can I legally unlock mine?

One thing is we're not supposed to talk about "unlocked" iPhones here if I recall. Don't think Apple would be happy with any of us at all on this subject.

Also this voids your warranty with AT&T or whomever else the carrier is. Meaning if the iPhone broke, your out of luck on getting a replacement for free. You'd have to pay the full price when you break it.

Secondly, I've never heard of the "unlocked" iPhones being _legally unlocked_ at all.

JoeZinVA, there are many ways to get a legitimately unlocked iPhone.

It is quite funny how AT&T, by not allowing unlocking of the phones they sell under any circumstances, has everyone freaked out.

First, in many countries iPhones are not locked to begin with:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937

Next, in many of the countries where they are initially shipped locked, the carrier must unlock them at the request of the owner, by law (e.g. Australia).

Lastly, Apple themselves sell unlocked iPhones in certain markets, for instance Hong Kong, where I got mine:
http://store.apple.com/hk/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=MTE2NTQ

In the US unlocking has taken on an "underground" or "illegal" aura because so many people want to unlock their cheap AT&T-subsidized iPhones for use with other carriers.

And a RESTORE can lock an legally unlocked iPhone?. Anyone has tried this? (Anyone with an legally unlocked iPhone...China, Italy, etc. etc.)

Good news for me in the end, my phone supplier replaced my phone for a real unlocked iPhone. It works great and switches sim cards without any problems.
The best way to avoid getting dupped by a fake unlocked phone is to buy at the Apple store in the countries that have unlocked phones. (not USA sorry).

I bought an Legal unlocked phone in the Dubai Airport, worked perfect for a week. Model No: MB496NF. Updated to new 2.2.1 via itunes while stopping in Denmark now its locked. Wont recognise my Sim Card. Tried everything from the massive amounts of blogs, Tried restore etc via itunes, tried settings/general/reset all but still phone wont find signal. 1 bar/no phone action. Do i own an expensive iPod now?
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Just to answer my own post - After a few days searching for a solution to my RE-locked previously factory unlocked iPhone 3G its become obvious that since I've updated with the official iTunes 2.2.1 firmware and my Baseband is now 2.30.03, then now there is absolutely nothing I can do (legally) to regain use of my very expensive iPhone. I made several visits to 2 separate Apple stores in the past few days and even though they understand i paid top dollar for a factory unlocked device their answers was literally "We cant help you!". Sooooo...... options are?
A) Wait for Apple to release (in their own good time) some sort of patch to help those countless people like myself who did the right thing and paid for a proper legal Unlocked iPhone.
B) Wait for the someone like the Dev-Team to come up with some sort of work around
Ive been an Apple Mac user since my first Mac Plus and even though i love their products I have had no end of trouble with getting any type of backup from them in terms of servicing etc.
***** to be me!