I have been given an I phone 4s and it was used on the Vodafone network, I am currently on o2 so I will have to get the phone unlocked? I have seen some prices on the web but some are around £50 which seems a bit steep . Is there some easier/cheaper ways? Thanks.
yes, if the person who gave it to you was the previous owner, then they can call vodafone and ask for it to be unlocked, it costs you nothing.
I have just bought an I phone 4s from a mate and to unlock it cost £20.and a few pence. We are now waiting for the email to confirm as it takes 7-10 days for Apple to flick a switch somewhere. Good luck if you get it done free
Yeah the operator has to apply to apple for an unlock code based on the IMEI of the device, that's a 1time unlock. Should be fine as long as that phone isn't tied to your mates contract (or any)
When my contract ended I got mine unlocked by Vodafone for nothing. Their website shows how to get the IMEI # then I just called them up to unlock it. Took a couple of days.
I bought my first iphone off my mate who was with t-Mobile. They unlocked it for him without cost or issue, but importantly it was him that did it and he was out of contract - their rules may have changed since them. Vodafone will only charge if you are still in contract, or not the original account holder. Otherwise they're pretty good. When my four came out of contract I just filled the form out and it was done. They need to register it with Apple who then change the IMEI status at their end to show its totally unlocked. Following that you may need to resync or do a clean install. I had to do that and then restore from a back up, but others might be different.
