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I'm in India.

I bought an iPhone 4 some time back. The vendor informed me that it is a factory unlocked version (iPhone 4 is officially not launched in India yet).

So, my questions are

  1. Is there a way to find out whether it is a genuinely factory unlocked version?
  2. If it's indeed a factory unlocked version, will I be able to update to the latest iOS version without getting it locked?
  3. Since it is either a Canada/UK version, will updating the iOS in India create any problem (auto IP detection, time zone blah blah)?

I tried installing an .ipa file directly and it didnt work. What I'm guessing through that is that my iPhone is not a jailbroken one. I read somewhere that to unlock an iPhone, one needs to jailbreak it first. That concludes, it is indeed a factory unlock version since any GSM SIM works.

Do you think my logic is correct?

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Your logic is not correct. For a while, there were people offering unlocking services for around US$170 who are believed to have bribed an employee of Apple or a mobile phone operator to unlock phones using the official channels, and those phones also didn't need to be jailbroken. There's no way I know of to distinguish one of those phones from a factory unlocked one.

Assuming it is a genuine factory unlock, there should be no problems -- I have a UK factory unlocked iPhone 4 and have upgraded the OS several times, though I've never tried to do so in another country.

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  • @ptamzz That hack (gevey) Mike mentioned should be prove there might never be some way to know for sure if an iPhone was genuinely factory unlocked.
    – cregox
    Commented May 2, 2011 at 4:22
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Is there a way to find out whether it is a genuinely factory unlocked version?

Yes. Remove the SIM. Insert a SIM from a different network. If the phone works, it is unlocked.

To be sure that it's factory unlocked, you can restore to factory settings and repeat the above test.

If it's indeed a factory unlocked version, will I be able to update to the latest iOS version without getting it locked?

Yes.

Since it is either a Canada/UK version, will updating the iOS in India create any problem (auto IP detection, time zone blah blah)?

No.

I read somewhere that to unlock an iPhone, one needs to jailbreak it first.

This is basically true. But factory unlocked phones don't need to be unlocked, so they don't need to be jailbroken.

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  • I guess you are not clear about the first part of my Question. A Factory Unlocked and an third party Unlocked iPhone are different. Both works with any SIM but Factory Unlocked ones are apple verified. I was asking if it's a Factory unlocked or just a third party unlocked one.
    – ptamzz
    Commented May 1, 2011 at 15:55
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Jailbroken iPhonea get relocked when you update the software, but factory unlocked iPhones remain unlocked if you update the software.

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You can simply use online unlock services to unlock your device. They are cheap & permanent and your warranty will still remain valid.

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