[OddyOh]

Hi there, I'll try and keep it concise. I finally received my unlocked iPhone 4 from Apple.ca on Tuesday. I understand "unlocked" to mean that I can choose any compatible carrier, and change carriers at any time.

My preferred carrier is SaskTel - I currently have 1 year left on my Blackberry contract with them, but they said they can switch me over no problem. But they do not have micro-sim cards in stock yet.

Anyway, I kinda hoped I could use my non-activated unlocked iPhone 4 as an iPod Touch in the meantime until I can activate it with SaskTel. However, the phone says on its screen:

"No SIM card installed. Install a valid SIM with no PIN lock to activate iPhone." When I plug it into iTunes, I get a similar message, and there doesn't appear to be anyway to bypass it. So I can't do anything with it. Which is fine, I knew the risk when I bought it, that I might have to just wait until SaskTel has the cards.

But, my question is can I buy a Rogers' micro-sim, pop it in, use it to bypass the iTunes SIM warning screen without activating it on Rogers, and then just pop it out again?

Here's where it gets complicated...

When a friend of mine bought two unlocked iPhone 4's from an Apple Store in Ottawa on launch day, the Apple sales person told him that if these unlocked phones are activated at home through iTunes, they will become "locked" to whatever carrier the card is from. That isn't correct, is it? EDIT: He said they have to activated "the right way" so that they remain unlocked, and then he unlocked those two iPhones, presumably in "the right way", and then activated them on Rogers for my friend.

I phoned Apple Tech Support this morning, and their guy said the same thing. He said unlocked iPhone's "become locked to the carrier" when activated, and if you want to move to a different carrier, you have to get the current carrier to unlock the phone again first...?

I'm no expert, but I was under the impression that "unlocked" means just that...you can swap in SIM cards from different providers as you please. Apple's own website says you can change carriers as you please.

It was an American tech guy I was speaking to, so perhaps he wasn't familiar with the situation in Canada (multiple carriers, buying unlocked, etc).

Thanks for any ideas. Basically I just wanna know if using a Rogers' micro-sim will somehow lock my unlocked phone? Cause I don't think it should.

 

[OddyOh]

Thanks for the responses, appreciate it!

I think I'll call SaskTel again and see what the odds are of getting them to sell me a regular SIM I can cut down to micro-size. I understand they can't support it, not all features may work, etc. Worth a shot. I think I read of someone else on SaskTel doing that, but it was the SIM from his other SaskTel 3G phone, not a new SIM in that case.

Thanks for the input, I'll see where it goes.

 

[OddyOh]

Success!

Thanks for all the replies folks...I am now up and running on SaskTel's 3G network with my iPhone 4!

Found a Jump.ca right near my workplace this morning. At first the girl said iPhone 4's don't work on their network, only 3G's and 3GS's...?! But then she phoned HQ, and they said iPhone 4's will work, they just don't have any micro-sim cards.

So I asked if she could sell me a regular SIM and I'll cut it down to fit, and she said she could, just need to change my plan first of course. She changed my CDMA plan to 3G, added a data plan and found a comparable voice plan, etc. I took the SIM to my work, did some cutting (had to have a few goes at it), and eventually made it fit.

Then I plugged it into my Mac Pro at work and iTunes found it, hit a couple "ok" buttons, and then it said congrats, your "iPhone is now unlocked."

I chose SaskTel because I still have another year on my contract from when I got my BlackBerry 2 years ago. I could have switched carriers, but I'd then have two phones, or have to pay the cancellation fee. And I haven't had any issues with SaskTel.

I don't think they're set up to activate iPhone's at home over iTunes...probably can't do that until they start selling iPhones for real.

Thanks for all the answers everyone...there's so much mis-information out there, and even less Sask-specific stuff. Digital Home FTW!

 

[OddyOh]

Been a few days now, I'm loving this device. Only thing that doesn't seem to work is the much-touted "FaceTime" video chat feature. There's a toggle switch to turn it on in the Settings, but when I toggle it, it warns me about SMS charges to initiate FaceTime calls, I click ok, and then the toggle turns off again. Or, I'll toggle the switch, and it'll stay ON, but it says "Waiting for activation...".

No big deal at the moment. Googling the issue seems to show tons of people with the same problem, multiple carriers, etc. so I don't think it's something SaskTel needs to fix, as it just uses SMS or a voice call to start the FaceTime call, and wi-fi after that. Might be something Apple needs to fix.

 

[OddyOh]

Apple just wants to sell devices...what the carriers do, especially in a province of less than 1 million people, are far from their concern. For true freedom, buy an unlocked one from Apple.ca, or jailbreak your current iPhone, at your own risk, if possible. Those are the options at this point.