Everybody these days knows what it means to unlock iPhone 5s. It needs almost no explanation. Whether you’re using an iPhone or a different brand altogether, unlocking is just so commonplace that no explanation is needed.
Unlock iPhone 5s is a must if you’re stuck with high call rates charged by your mobile service provider. You don’t really want to be worrying about outrageous roaming fees for the next 2 years that you’re on contract, do you? Imagine coming back from a trip abroad and finding a bill so huge it cost more than the vacation you took.
That doesn’t paint a pretty picture, does it? That’s exactly why you need to start thinking of unlocking your iPhone 5s.
But it’s not just the financial savings that’s pushing people to seek iPhone 5s unlock keys. There are actually a lot of other benefits to doing this procedure. Unfortunately, until recently, people were under the impression that unlocking an iPhone 5s is unethical. Not only that, they also fear that the process is illegal. It’s enough to deter iPhone owners from doing it.
Apple actually played a very big part in propagating these ideas. And why not? It surely suited the company’s interests to keep the phone locked to one single carrier for the contract duration. Luckily for all of us, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act set the matter straight. It declared that unlocking an iPhone isn’t illegal and that there’s nothing wrong with it as long as the owner has already paid the price of the gadget in full. Since then, more and more iPhone users have been scouring the web for ways to unlock iPhone 5s.
Unlocking the iPhone 5s
While the term “unlocking” may be familiar, it’s a bit ironic that many people still do not clearly understand what happens when you choose to do it for your phone.
An iPhone owner has a CDMA phone. And changing the SIM card to a different carrier than the one he’s under contract with will not make the other SIM card work. Why? Because Apple locks the units to the network of the carrier selling it. This ensures buyers are able to pay back the cost of the unit through the monthly payments.
You have to admit, the only reason many people are able to purchase an iPhone 5s is because the carriers are offering them at ridiculously low prices. So they sign the dotted line and commit to a 2-year contract.
Months later, they start feeling the pinch. The high of being able to get the latest smart phone technology starts to wane and the reality of higher call rates and unbelievable roaming charges is suddenly staring them in the face.
It’s very unfortunate then that they can’t really do much about it. They can’t just switch to another cheaper carrier. The phone won’t read the different SIM at all. This is where unlock iPhone 5s AT&T comes in handy.
The Many Ways to Unlock iPhone 5s
There are many ways to unlock an iPhone. Most of the time, unlocking refers to downloading software to override the built in commands that the manufacturer has imposed on the gadget. The additional new software will force the change. The result turns the iPhone 5s from CDMA to a GSM phone. This allows the user to insert and use a SIM card from a different carrier.
Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? But beware. It’s hardly as straightforward as it sounds. Unlocking your iPhone 5s using software unlock methods could possibly compromise your phone. Any mistake while doing the process could result to an unstable iPhone. This is why software unlocking is best left to professionals – hackers, developers and geeks.
It must also be mentioned that installing new firmware invalidates the effects of software unlocking. You then end up with a locked iPhone 5s again. If you did the software unlocking yourself, then you’d have to repeat the entire process. Waste of time, isn’t it?
It’s worse if you actually paid someone to do it for you. Because then your money basically amounted to nothing and you’re back to square one.
The Other Reason
It sucks to be paying highly inflated cell phone bills every month. But there’s another reason why iPhone users want to unlock their phones.
Apple has been known to make money out of the hundreds of thousands of apps downloadable from the app store. Any iPhone owner knows that most of these apps aren’t free (and those that are free aren’t even full versions).
Items that are freely available on the internet like games, music and videos cannot be downloaded by the iPhone. This is where android users get a leg up over their iOS counterparts.
There’s also no way to customize an unlocked iPhone 5s. Want a cooler ringtone? Well, you can’t choose anything other than what’s pre-installed. Want better wallpaper? Suck it up and use what’s already there. Or else buy the app from the app store.
This limitation has been making iPhone users crazy. The phone just refuses to be customized. So the solution? Unlock the device.
The Best Unlocking Option
The demand to unlock iPhones is at a peak. This is why many websites have sprouted seemingly out of nowhere offering unlocking tools. Some of them are free, some of them come at a small fee. We’ve already discussed software unlocking options. And hopefully, you already know how to steer clear of them.
So what really is the best way to unlock your iPhone 5s? There’s only one proven effective, safe and permanent way. That is to have the phone factory unlocked.
What does this mean? Well, Apple has a database listing all the IMEI numbers of all the iPhones ever produced. The list tells them which phones are locked and which aren’t. Your best option is to find a reputable company that offers factory unlocking, or IMEI unlocking services.
What they’ll do then is transfer your IMEI number to a whitelist that tells the system your unit is no longer tied up to any particular provider. As soon as that’s done, you can happily switch carriers as many times as you want.
IMI unlocking companies may charge a small fee for this service, so be prepared. But really, what’s a small unlock iPhone 5s fee compared to the freedom that a fully unlocked iPhone 5s will give you?