iPhone from Apple store is locked to Vodafone Australia

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Level 1

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iPhone from Apple store is locked to Vodafone Australia

I have a plan with Vodafone Australia. My original iPhone had water damage and Apple replaced it in the Apple Store for $250 with a brand new one. I though I got a unlocked phone (I got it from the shelve) , but I think it is still locked to Vodafone network. Non-vodafone sims don't work and its Carrier is "voda AU 7.0" in Settings/General/About
I tried to unlock it online (I'm traveling overseas) but my IMEI is not registered by Vodafone.
I contacted Vodafone and they said they only lock phones which they sell by themselves.
I suspect that somehow it was locked to Vodafone during the registration/Restore.

Any idea how could I make it work with other sim cards?

iPhone 3GS 16GB, iOS 4

Posted on Jul 27, 2010 12:39 AM

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Answer 1

wegras

Level 6

15,311 points

Jul 27, 2010 1:44 AM in response to Tonzion

*I suspect that somehow it was locked to Vodafone during the registration/Restore.*

I read somewhere that when the replacement phone details are put through Apple retail store till
there are two codes ...one lock and one unlocked
Don't know if this true but looks like you should return to Apple and have them fix the problem

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Answer 2

wjosten

Level 10

95,369 points

Jul 27, 2010 1:46 AM in response to Tonzion

If in fact its locked Vodafone, only Vodafone can unlock it. Fact is, all iphones sold in Australia are initially sold as carrier locked to one of the four official carriers. However, ALL of the Australian carriers offer authorized unlocking, so contact Vodafone.

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Answer 3

Tonzion Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 27, 2010 10:09 AM in response to wegras

This is that I suspected as well. I think something must have gone wrong when I registered/restored my new phone from the old (locked) phone's backup.

It was also funny that every time I connected my iPhone to my mac iTunes wanted to register the phone again. At the end I just clicked never register or something

Unfortunately I cannot go back to the Apple store because I'm traveling now.

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