apple news/media reports
11/26/2007, 9:40am, EST
Monday, November 26th
German iPhones unlocking through iTunes
The ability to officially unlock German iPhones is already in effect, accounts say. The option reportedly first became available on November 21st, the same day T-Mobile announced that unlocked iPhones would be coming. Instead of buying a pre-unlocked device however, shoppers simply pick up a regular one for €399, and then pay T-Mobile the extra €600 premium. A phone's particular IMEI number is then forwarded to Apple, which updates its database such that the next time the device is synched, iTunes will unlock it automatically within a matter of seconds. A SIM card from any carrier can then be inserted.
No new firmware is required or installed for the unlocking process, which may suggest the potential for new exploits for American and UK iPhones. Traditionally, unlocking these has required methods used outside of iTunes, even to the extent of physically modifying the default SIM card to be used in tandem with another. Apple has so far resisted any attempts to unlock English-language iPhones, despite the fact that laws should permit the process; this is likely because it receives a portion of the carrier revenue for each phone's two-year contract.
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People often confuse the idea of something being legal with the idea that the ability to do it may be mandated. Such thinking is a classic non-sequitur.
Does this mean that my legit [german bought] iPhone will not be unlocked?
Or is tthis actually handled more along the Activation Process than the Syncing process?
You had better know how to swim....
Locking an unlock via the iPhone IMEI number seems the most logical, as does the fact that the process is handled via iTunes, during the activation phase.
Beast way to approach a hacked unlock, at this stage, is for the more reliable group (that would be, the iPhone Elite Team) to figure out the communication between iPhone and iTunes, and then spoof the 'OK' authentication from the mothership - though I suspect all of that communication is handled in an encrypted fashion.
Nevertheless, the way I see it now, the best option (aside from a bruteforce spoofing) would be a small System Preferences or Extension file, which lies in wait, and tells iTunes it's 'okay' to unlock a given iPhone - then, any given iPhone should be able to be unlocked (that is, unless Apple has an extra safety in place that simply excludes all North American registered IMEIs from any unlocking).