In countries such as North America, Australia or the UK, it is possible to purchase an iPhone directly from the Apple store or Apple on-line, that is factory unlocked, meaning it can be used on any network in any country, without restriction. But the vast majority of iPhone customers opt for the much cheaper version of Apple's flagship smart phone, a carrier locked iPhone handset. If you look at the difference between a factory unlocked iPhone compared to a locked version, the unlocked handset can be used on any network, anywhere around the globe, but cost five times the price.

That all sound great, being able to get an iPhone at a fraction of the cost it would be if you bought it from Apple, but what if you want to use your phone on another network? Possibly you have seen a much better deal being offered by an alternative service provider or the same service for a lot less money.

unlock iphone
Before the loophole was closed in 2011, there used to be two different options available to an iPhone unlock . The old method, referred to as software unlocking, and the newer, more robust method, known as official iPhone unlocking. To clarify - an official iPhone unlock is permanent, meaning once it has been applied your phone will never have to be unlocked again. A software unlock, on the other hand, had to be applied each time the phone was turned off and then back on again.

Many years ago it was possible to trick an iPhone into thinking it was unlocked using a program that could be installed in the root directory of the iPhone. The primary problem with this software was, rather obviously, it was not approved by Apple. Unless of course a handset has been jailbroken. Jailbreaking is a process which involves hacking the iPhones operating system to enable the installation of third party software. In fa