The iPhone 4 is not yet available in India, and a few of you would be asking your relatives or friends to get an iPhone 4 from the US to use it in India.
Before you do that there are at least 4 things that you should know that might surprise you later. These are things that might make your iPhone 4 useless as a phone in India if you aren’t prepared for them.
1. Activate the iPhone 4 in US itself: If you get an iPhone 4 from eBay – it may not even be activated. This means that you can’t do anything at all with the phone. It just shows you a screen saying that it is not activated, and can only be used to make emergency calls. The phone is practically useless in this state, and the simplest way to activate this iPhone 4 is to insert an original AT&T iPhone 4 SIM card, and fire up iTunes. This will activate your iPhone 4, and let you past the first screen. Since it is a lot easier to find someone in the US with a iPhone 4 AT&T SIM card than it is to find one in India, you should ask whoever is bringing you the phone to at least get this done. There are other ways to activate the iPhone 4 called “hactivation” but they are much more complicated, and you would much rather get it activated than hactivated.
- After this step you will be able to use it as an iPod
- It will still not allow you to run third party apps.
- It will still not work with other carriers such as Airtel.
2. Jailbreak your iPhone 4: After you’re past activating the iPhone 4 – you will need to jailbreak it. Jailbreaking does not mean that this phone can be used with any other carrier. It just means that you can run apps that are not approved by the iTunes store on your phone. This is also a pre – requisite to “unlocking” the phone which does allow it to work with other carriers. This has also been deemed legal earlier this year. It’s quite easy, and there is a simple hack by “limera1n” that allows you to do it in a few minutes. You don’t need an original SIM for this.
- After this step you will be able to use it as an iPod
- You will also be able to run third party apps.
- It will still not work with other carriers such as Airtel.
3. Unlocking your iPhone 4: The next thing you need to do is get your phone “unlocked” which will allow it to work with other carriers like AT&T, Hutch etc.
The key thing to keep in mind is that so far there is no unlock available for iPhone 4 running on iOS 4.1 or 4.2 with a Baseband of 2.10.4 or higher.
To be honest, I don’t know what the Baseband actually means, but before you buy the iPhone 4 – ensure that it is a lower Baseband so that it can be unlocked.
If you have an iPhone 4 with a 2.10.4 Baseband then you will not be able to unlock it right – away. Sooner or later a method will appear to unlock them and at that time you will be able to unlock it, and use it with other carriers, but you will have to wait till that time.
I’ve read a few posts on lowering the Baseband, but those methods don’t look very promising, and seem to be complicated as well. If you’ve not already bought the iPhone 4, then try getting one with a Baseband lower than 2.10.4.
For others – you can unlock the phone with various techniques listed online, and you will be just one step away from using it with your carrier.
- After this step you will be able to use it as an iPod
- You will also be able to run third party apps.
- It will work with other carriers such as Airtel.
There is just one more thing you to do to actually use it though.
4. Cut your SIM to size: The iPhone 4 uses what’s called a micro sim, and is much smaller than your regular SIM. The two share the same technology, and there are quite a few instruction videos online that show you how to cut up a regular SIM to fit in an iPhone 4 and make it work.
iPhone 4 is quite a cool device, and hopefully will start selling in India soon, but if you are getting it from someone in the US – keep all these points in mind. Ideally (at least for you) if the person getting the phone can do all these things for you (except perhaps cutting up the SIM) that will work out the best, as doing these things in the US is always a little simpler than it is to do them in India.
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Hi
My uncle lives in US got iPhone 5s he given me an iPhone 4 to me that is locked and then I installed iOS 7 on that then it was showing error invalid sim I taked this to mobile servicing centre he told that this phone was sim locked and told that pay 3000 rupees to unlock the phone
Do I really need to pay 3000 rs to unlock the phone or is there any other ways to unlock the phone for free
Sorry for my bad English…
Hi,
Can I order a locked iPhone from the iStore and get it shipped using borderlinx.com?
I have not used a combination of these options so unable to say whether it will work or not.
i have a friend visiting us in 1 week is it possible for him to get a locked iphone 4s back. is there any implication to stay in us to get it
He can find one in eBay and get it.
what is the way to get an locked iphone???
first of all..how to get an locked phone???
You can get it from eBay.
i want to buy i phone 5 from usa by ordering online from india .,…. will they send me the phone … locked or unlocked ??? wat problem can i fACED in this process …. and is there any extra charges for shipping or not ??? kindly tell me …
As far as I know, you can’t buy this online and have it shipped from the US to India.
hey guys so i dnt get it, i saw iphone 4s for 150$ in a site in net.. so r u saying that we can use this phone for 150$ in India if we do as said in the page.,?
I have a totally different query!
Say, I have a relative in US who has a iPhone 4S and is been using it for himself. Now, iPhone 5 is released and he decides to buy it for him and he buys the new iPhone with AT&T 2 year contract. He decides to give the old iPhone 4S to me. In that case, are there any complications or how much money do I need to spend in India?
If that is unlocked then you don’t have to pay anything Shibin.
Interesting but sad we gotta pay extra in INDIA 🙁 that really sucks
I ve an iPhone 4 running on 4.3.3 bb 4.10.1.. I tried to update to 5.0.1 with preserve bb.Bt getting errors like 3194 than did edit host file than it gives 1600 or 1602.. Help me out plz and send me a link on youtube
Guys ,
i am planning to get Iphone 4 from japan ,, which is used… People say there will be an issue for unlocking it.. can someone help me what all i need to do before buying Iphone 4 from there..
hey guys I need some urgent help..
I have my relatives staying at U.S. They are coming to india next month and I am planning to ask them to get me an iphone 4 from there. The only thing I am not able to understand that when they buy it from US for 100$ and get it to me it in india. Than I jailbreak and unlock the iphone, do they still have to pay the per month rent that is 60$ over there.
if i get i phone 4 with unlocked from us.. that i can can use it in India? plz tell me bcoz my frnd bringing for me i phone 4.. and tell me the price of i phone 4 in us..
guys does this work with Iphone 4s? cuz i want to buy an iphone 4 but i could afford the 4s so i need to know if this method works with the 4s.:)
i am visiting us dis may..i wanted to knw dat if i buy a used at&t locked iphone 4g from ebay,wil i b able to use it in india aftr geting it unlocked??a used phone wil b already activated right?so i dnt need any at&t sim to activate it and can directly bring it to india..is my thinking right??please reply me soon..i have to leave on 1st and wnt to knw dis before leaving..and til which baseband iphone 4 is unlockable,
You can buy a brand new unlocked phone from Apple directly, and avoid all this headache. I’d say that’s a better option.
hey..do u have any idea about galaxy note?does it also require activation with at&t sim card if it is locked to it?
guys , why dont you buy one in thailand where you get unlocked phones @ just Rs.14000, as I too bought in last week from Thai itself…it is working in my MTNL Dolphin gsm simcard & I also tried with Videocon sim. Yaa, you need to cut the simcard.for the same. But it really works
Which iphone???
how can i get locked or contract iphone from usa because my father visit their and i want locked which is cheaper and then unlock in india
plz help….
I have seen many sites they are giving the used iphone mobiles at the cost of 130 dollars starting. with 8gb . I think it is better to buy used one if any body is arriving from US, we can plan with them.
Dear Manshu,
Which the best way to get a iphone from US at a decent rate and also which model (specs) should i opt for to work in Mumbai under Vodafone network. Also my friend is going to US , so can he get a used iphone or a new one ? Which will be a better deal ?
Hitesh