iPhone Sim Free or Unlocked?

nolimit

nolimit

nolimit

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Hi,

Friend has offered to sell her iPhone 2G, it was originally purchased from Asia.

I want to find out if the phone was sim free or unlocked by the sellers. Is there any way to find out?


Do you think £200 for iPhone 2G (16gb) is too much?
 
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Just try another sim in it, if it don't work then its locked to the network its currently on.

Id prob say £170 ish for a iPhone 2G. But you might get more.
 
It works with any sim.

Thats why I want to find out if Apple released it unlocked in some Asian countries or it was simply unlocked and sold as sim free.

Either way I will be able to use it but I'm just worried I won't be able to update the phone to the latest firmware.
 
nolimit said:
It works with any sim.

Thats why I want to find out if Apple released it unlocked in some Asian countries or it was simply unlocked and sold as sim free.

Either way I will be able to use it but I'm just worried I won't be able to update the phone to the latest firmware.
Click to expand...

The original iPhone was never released in any Asian countries, so chances are it's been unlocked by someone.
 
mrochester said:
The original iPhone was never released in any Asian countries, so chances are it's been unlocked by someone.
Click to expand...

I was chatting to a friend of mine last week and she said that she bought two 'SIM free' iPhones in Hong Kong a while back.
 
Are you sure these 'Sim Free' iPhones are not the fakes that are flooding the Asian markets at the minute? They are spot on fakes, hard to tell the difference (so i've read/heard).

Because Apple have not released any sim free version of the iPhone to any country, AFAIK.
 
Be careful, some fakes are no more than a shell with a battery.

When you turn it on it appears to boot, but actually displays a 3 second Apple icon before turning off.

The seller will usually say "oh the battery needs a charge" :rolleyes:

Japan didn't get an iPhone officially until the 3G came out, so it's been unlocked by someone.
 
Mull3t said:
Are you sure these 'Sim Free' iPhones are not the fakes that are flooding the Asian markets at the minute? They are spot on fakes, hard to tell the difference (so i've read/heard).

Because Apple have not released any sim free version of the iPhone to any country, AFAIK.
Click to expand...

There are a number of countries where SIM free iPhones are available, even in Europe France and Germany I know sell them for for a start.

Hong Kong, as I already said:
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2227089/apple-shifting-sim-free-iphones

The Hong Kong one is the most unusual because Apple sell it in their own shops rather than the operators being forced to sell both versions like in France or Germany. It also means the Hong Kong ones are a lot cheaper.
 
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thanks for the feedback.

The iPhone I'm getting from friend is not fake, because I have tried my sim and used it extensively.

So the original question, how to tell if its unlocked or sim free without having to install firmware because the phone is not mine and I don't want to break it.
 
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