iphone 4

Iphone Basic Info & Different Between Lock and Unlock Iphone

Iphone Basic Information
 

Apple has to date launched two generations of the iPhone which is the iPhone aka iPhone 2G (2007) and the iPhone 3G (2008):
iPhone generation model starts with:
MAxxx are 2G iPhones
MBxxx are 3G iPhones
MCxxx are 3GS iPhones
The iPhone 2G is no longer offered by Apple but can still be purchased in the open market. Available in:
*All 2G iPhones comes LOCKED as it was made for US only which tied to telco contract. To enable 2G iPhone usage to work with any telco, Jailbreak and Unlock is needed – We do provide jailbreak and unlocking services.
- 4GB (Silver) – no longer in production
– 8GB (Silver) – no longer in production
– 16GB (Silver) – no longer in production
The iPhone 3G is still being offered by Apple and is available in:
- 8GB (Black)
– 16GB (Black) – no longer in production
– 16GB (White) — no longer in production
The new iPhone 3GS are available in:
- 16GB (Black)
– 16GB (White)
– 32GB (Black)
– 32GB (White)
The new iPhone 4 are available in:
- 16GB (Black)
– 16GB (White)
– 32GB (Black)
– 32GB (White)


What are the differences between the 2G and the 3G asides from the price?
In a nutshell, the iPhone 3G remains largely the same phone as the iPhone 2G but has a number of new main features which are:

- Added 3G Functionality
– Added GPS Funtionality
– Improved Design Features (rounded edges, curved back surface, different back surface styling)
Initially when the iPhone 3G launched, it also had the advantage of better software but with recent developments, the newest software is also fully available for the iPhone 2G.
We have done a very in-depth review on the iPhone 3G which also compares it to its predecessor, the iPhone 2G. Keep in mind when reading this review that issues such as battery and software should not be taken into account as there have been numerous advancements in this area since the iPhone 3G was first launched which you can update yourself by doing further reading in the iMalaysian.com . Official details of the iPhone 3G are available at the Apple Website here.

What are the differences between the 3G and the 3GS?
A: The biggest difference is in the speed.
Refer to the comparison chart: http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare-iphones/
What are the differences between the 3GS and the iPhone 4?
A: The biggest difference is in everything.
Refer to the comparison chart: http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare-iphones/

Different Between Lock and Unlock Iphone

Official Lock Iphone
iPhones units from USA, UK or other countries offers iPhones which are locked to their telcos (AT&T etc) hence you will not be able to use it locally here with our simcards.
Any benefit of buying lock iPhones? There’s NO benefit of buying a lock unit iPhone as you will not be able to claim warranty locally (no international warranty) . You need to go back to the country from where you purchased the iPhone.
Don’t waste your money buying a LOCK unit. Trust us on this as we have seen many having to upgrade their firmware (without reading this thread or do a search before upgrading) and get their iPhone lock for good 3-6 months or so. That’s pretty dumb and stupid.
For firmware upgrades, you need to wait for a hardware or software solution to enable you to upgrade the latest firmware and unlock the iPhone to use with our telcos (Maxis,DIGI, Celcom).
The first thing you must know is that there are ways to unlock all the iPhones. HOWEVER, different methods of unlocking produce different results. Now take this seriously as the method of unlocking used will determine the quality of the iPhone you will purchase.

Benefit Getting Unlock Iphone

You’re able to use various GSM simcard based carriers around the world and use the phone immediately. Meaning(for those who read and still don’t understand), you can use your iPhone with any simcard around the world and is FULLY unlock.
You should now have gotten the gist that the ONLY type of iPhone that you should even consider buying is either an Officially unlocked iPhone 3GS or an officially unlocked iPhone 4. Absolutely no exceptions unless you want to freely waste your money and have a lot of headaches to boot. 

Identifying An Unlocked & Locked Unit:

1. How To Determine Which is Which?
Identifying an iPhone 2G is simple. Just spot the unique silver+black design of the back casing from the following photo:

Determining an officially unlocked iPhone 3G requires a bit more work but is no rocket science. You just have to figure out which country the iPhone is from. Refer to iPhone Part Number.
The iPhones which do not have a tick under ‘Locked to carrier’ are the ones you are looking for. You will be shown how to cross reference and verify the part numbers in Part 4 of this guide.
For your reference, the list of officially unlocked 3G iPhones are available from the following countries:

Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Macau, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Malaysia.

For your reference, the list of officially unlocked iPhone 3GS are available from the following countries:

Belgium(Mobistar), Czech Republic(O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone), Greece(Vodafone, Cosmote), Italy(TIM, Vodafone), Luxembourg (Vox, LUXGSM), Russia(Megafon, MTS, Beeline), Turkey(Turkcell), Hong Kong(3), Macau(3), Malaysia(Maxis), New Zealand(Vodafone), Singapore(SingTel), Taiwan(Chunghwa Telecom), Thailand(Truecom), Saudi Arabia(Mobily), UAE(Etisalat), South Africa(Vodacom)

Where & How To Purchase:

As mentioned earlier in Part B, officially unlocked 3G iPhones can be purchased from the following countries:

Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Macau, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Malaysia.

*Does a Singtel, NZ, Maxis, DiGi Malaysia or an official unlock 3G iPhones work with our local telco Maxis, Celcom, DiGi and UMobile? Yes, just insert your current simcard.
The list of officially unlocked iPhone 3GS are available from the following countries:

Belgium(Mobistar), Czech Republic(O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone), Greece(Vodafone, Cosmote), Italy(TIM, Vodafone), Luxembourg (Vox, LUXGSM), Russia(Megafon, MTS, Beeline), Turkey(Turkcell), Hong Kong(3), Macau(3), Malaysia(Maxis), New Zealand(Vodafone), Singapore(SingTel), Taiwan(Chunghwa Telecom), Thailand(Truecom), Saudi Arabia(Mobily), UAE(Etisalat), South Africa(Vodacom)

*Official unlock iPhone 3G/3GS/4 work with our local telco Maxis, Celcom, DiGi and UMobile? Yes, just insert your current simcard.
The easiest way to purchase an officially unlocked iPhone 3G/3GS/4 from these countries are to look for them locally. You can purchase right here in iMalaysian.com. There is of course a markup to the prices of these iPhones for the service of ease provided to you but it is no doubt the safest and quickest way to go about it.
The markup prices are in most cases quite reasonable. It might also be useful for you to know that local sellers commonly get their stock from Canada, US and Europe. All these countries are LOCK SET. PLEASE DON’T IF YOU DON’T NEED TROUBLEs.

Required Testing When Purchasing & Warranty:

If you’re going to shell out a few thousand ringgit for a phone, it is sincerely hoped that you have the sensibility to conduct a COD transaction.
The steps outlined here is to help you ensure that you are not being scammed over by your seller. You should run through the following before making payment:
1) Physically inspect the phone and its package
It doesn’t really matter whether the box your iPhone comes in is still in plastic shrink wrap or not as it is normal for the package to be opened for inspection/activation by the telco carriers when your seller collects it from them. Your package should consist of the following items:
iPhone 2G:
– iPhone
– Sync Dock
– Charger Adapter (charger design may vary from region to region)
– USB to iPhone Cable
– Earphones (with mic built in)
– Microfibre Cloth
– Documentation Pack
iPhone 3G:
- iPhone
– Charger Adapter (charger design may vary from region to region)
– USB to iPhone Cable
– Earphones (with mic built in)
– Microfibre Cloth
– Documentation Pack (with a fancy SIM eject tool attached)
iPhone 3GS:
- iPhone
– Charger Adapter (charger design may vary from region to region)
– USB to iPhone Cable
– Earphones (with mic built in and remote with volume control)
– Microfibre Cloth
– Documentation Pack (with a fancy SIM eject tool attached)
iPhone 4:
- iPhone
– Charger Adapter (charger design may vary from region to region)
– USB to iPhone Cable
– Earphones (with mic built in and remote with volume control)
– Microfibre Cloth
– Documentation Pack (with a fancy SIM eject tool attached)
Make sure you check the phone itself to see whether there are any physical deformities.
2) Cross reference the 3G iPhone part number
You need to figure out where your phone is from first from your seller. Once you identify that, take down the ‘iPhone 3G Part Numbers’. Cross reference the number you’ve taken down with the part number on the box as well as the phone itself. This step (and actually all the following steps) is not necessary for the iPhone 2G as it doesn’t really matter where your phone is from since it can be unlocked with DevTeam tools regardless.
On the box:

On the iPhone: (via Settings> General> About> Model)

3) Verify that your iPhone is genuinely unlocked
To check if your iPhone 3G, 3GS or iPhone 4 are legit and is not a fake factory unlock look up on the iPhone under (Settings). The items list you should have there is Airplane Mode, WiFi, Carrier and Fetch New Data. As for the fake unlock iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPhone 4 units, the ‘Carrier’ item is missing. If it is missing, you have been conned and if for some reason you already paid for it and there is no turning back, do not proceed to upgrade your iPhone firmware to FW4.0.1 as it will render your phone useless.
4) Make sure it is a new unit
If you are indeed paying for a new unit, you can get a rough idea whether if it really is new by looking it up on the iPhone (Settings> General> Usage). Note that the statistics shown there can be reset though.
5) Test your iPhone

Test the phone out! Give it a run through making sure the touchscreen and buttons are working, the software is in order, earphones can be used, etc. You will also want to pop in your SIM and do a test call. Take note that it may for some reason take a few minutes for the SIM to register with the network. There have been cases where it has even taken up to 10 minutes for the phone to start connecting to a network but that is quite rare.
6) Warranty

Claim warranty from the country that you bought the 3G/3GS/4 iPhone from if there’s defect or hardware related issues.
Online Service Assistance Warranty Check: https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do
If you bought your iPhone 3G from non Maxis or Digi dealers: To claim warranty you need the person who bought the iPhone which is under his name to be present. Most probably the person you bought the iPhone from purchased the iphone from a non-maxis or digi dealer.
*For those who have jailbreak your iPhone, warranty will be void. Do a Restore to the default settings before sending back for warranty.

Additional Tips To Keep In Mind:

1. Firmware Upgrades
- 2G iPhones can only upgrade it’s firmware when able to unlock and jailbreak the iPhone. (Now maximum firmware is 3.1.3)
- Officially unlock 3G, 3GS, 4 iPhones will be able to upgrade regardless of the firmware version when it’s available on the day Apple seeds the firmware.
- Lock 3GS iPhones and iPhone 4 will not be able to upgrade it’s firmware till we can unlock the iPhone. This goes for every firmware upgrades. A never ending cycle of cat and mouse game.
2. AppleCare For iPhone
There’s not AppleCare For iPhone according to Apple Malaysia. AppleCare for iPhone only applies to certain countries.

http://www.apple.com/legal/applecare/appforiphone.html
http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/service/faq/
http://www.apple.com/asia/support/products/