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My friend has an iPhone 4s, it was bought from in the USA from Virgin Mobile. I want to do a factory unlock (unlock the SIM). I already know how to jailbreak, would jailbreaking work? Any help would be appreciated.

I read this answer, but was told the following:

Virgin Mobile USA iPhones are CDMA. If you need a refresher - CDMA means the phone is locked to the network forever.

You will never be able to unlock your iPhone from Virgin Mobile USA. They do not use sim cards - so there is no way to unlock it.

Is that correct? My question is, is it possible to unlock CDMA iPhone 4S from Virgin Mobile?

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  • Which country are you using the phone in? Australia doesn't even have CDMA networks anymore... In fact most non-American countries don't have CDMA. See this article
    – daviewales
    May 22, 2013 at 22:48
  • Also, if you want to unlock it, you have to ask Virgin very nicely. I don't think it's possible to unlock it any other way.
    – daviewales
    May 22, 2013 at 22:52
  • @daviewales I live in lebanon, I'll never be able to unlock it
    – Lynob
    May 23, 2013 at 7:30
  • Apparently the other posters think differently. Check to see if there are any CDMA providers in lebanon.
    – daviewales
    May 23, 2013 at 9:36
  • @daviewales CDMA isn't supported in Lebanon, I checked, I'll try the method that Pacoh Lohlo described, it's worth to try, since buying a Gevey is cheap.
    – Lynob
    May 23, 2013 at 12:34

4 Answers 4

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There is another question and answer thread that explains the issue in more detail, but for all intents and purposes if you purchased a CDMA iPhone from a carrier then you will be 100% out of luck; you simply cannot use another provider’s SIM card.

The only way you could ever expect to use a CDMA iPhone with another GSM network is to get a factory unlocked phone directly from Apple. But if you get any CDMA phone from a provider like Verizon, Sprint or Virgin Mobile you are basically locked into their CDMA network. No chance to just pop another carrier’s SIM card in there to get GSM service from someone else.

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Of course, it's possible!

Simply buy a Gevey Turbo SIM ultra S CDMA. Note: type "geve" into google and watch it autofill with "gevey sim". Good news- You're in luck because the price is not bad for the CDMA Gevey SIM turbo at this time.

sometimes, they're close to $100. only $35 right now.

also, i've included some other links to help explain

http://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/Gevey_SIM (Personally been using iphonewiki for iOS firmware for years, totally legit. NOTE: the reference to musclenerd possibly the most knowledgable mofo on baseband, unlock, JB etc.)

http://www.applenberry.com/unlock-cdma-iphone-4s/

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    Here's what you want gevey.com/gevey-ultra-s-for-cdma-iphone-4s and follow the instructions by applenberry in the above link.
    – Pacoh Lohlo
    May 23, 2013 at 9:26
  • I'll give it a try, if it works, I'll come back here and i'll mark your answer as accepted sir.
    – Lynob
    May 23, 2013 at 12:32
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Unlocking a CDMA phone is a touchy thing. CDMA means no SIM card, so you are mainly stuck with another CDMA carrier, and most of the time, they won't be using the correct bands for you phone.

In short: not worth it, you won't be able to change to another carrier with it

If you are certain that your future carrier runs CDMA networks and uses bands that your particular phone support, then go for it.

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Here you go:

https://community.virginmobile.com.au/t5/Phones-Forum/Unlocking-Iphone-4/td-p/8564

Worked with my 4S as well.

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  • Welcome to Ask Different! While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.
    – grg ♦
    Dec 5, 2013 at 20:21
  • Those instructions are for Virgin Mobile in Australia, the phone was purchased from Virgin Mobile in the US.
    – Mick T
    Feb 26, 2016 at 17:10

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