Unlocking an iPhone 5 with ATT

Question

I submitted the online request to ATT to unlock 3 iPhone 5s. I received an email with the request number for each phone, however, it appeared the unlock procedures were left off the email.  I called ATT and the tech told me to connect the phone to iTunes and back up the phone. When that was done, I'm to click restore the phone and when that is finished, to restore the back up copy.  I did that, but no where did I get a notice that the phone is now unlocked? I called ATT again and this time the individual walked me through the procedure to verify that my phone was unlocked. However, the process he walked me through only lets you know if ATT has released the phone so you can fully unlock it. Its verification of the IMEI number and your request number. It just states status:  completed!  So I decided to do an online chat. Now this individual stated that the phone was released by ATT so I can unlock it. He even provided the above mentioned process. I told him I did all that and he says the phone is still locked. Do it over again!  Is anyone else having these problems with unlocking with ATT? Has anyone successfully unlocked an iPhone with ATT? I'm told when the restore function is completed, I should get a notice that the phone is now unlocked. I haven't seen one yet.  I believe there is a magic number of attempts before ATT permanently locks your phone?  Anyone has any suggestions?  Thanks

Answer 1

AT&T sends the unlock authorization to Apple. Apple then updates their database to show that the phone is unlocked. Several days can elapse from the time AT&T authorizes the unlock and Apple provisions it. You then connect the phone to iTunes, back it up, then restore iOS (NOT the backup). AFTER iOS is restored you restore the backup. You should see this in iTunes if it was successful: "Congratulations, your iPhone is unlocked."