DailyTech - iPhone Hacked to Accept Any AT&T, Cingular SIM Card

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Gadgets iPhone Hacked to Accept Any AT&T, Cingular SIM Card
Marcus Yam (Blog) - July 19, 2007 8:42 AM

31 comment(s) - last by RMSe17.. on Jul 24 at 11:47 AM

iPhone now truly able to accept Cingular SIM

iPhone freed from contractual obligations

The iPhone is easily the most talked about piece of consumer electronics for 2007. For such a popular and mainstream product, the iPhone is surprisingly inaccessible with the requirement of a two-year activation contract with AT&T totalling more than $1,400. However, it would only be a matter of time before phone hackers would find a way around that.

The group iPhone Dev Wiki has discovered a way to partially unlock the device so that it will work with any AT&T or Cingular SIM card without the need for the exclusive new contract, details a post made on Gizmodo.

The iPhone hackers have apparently spent days disassembling firmware within the device in hopes of completely opening access. Although the iPhone may now run outside of the exclusive contract, the phone is still dependent on the AT&T network. What the hackers have accomplished is to allow the iPhone to run on any previous contract, including those on corporate accounts.

“Using iASign, you'll be able to activate existing AT&T and Cingular Sims without signing a new contract,” wrote the hackers on the Wiki page. The hackers added that they have confirmed the hack to also work with virtual operators such as 7-11 wireless.

“As a side note, we'd like to clarify that we are not even close on giving up the full unlocking, as reported on some websites. We're still up and running, but we won't comment on a possible time line. If the unlocking is possible we'll eventually find it, so stay tuned,” the Wiki page update concluded.

Detailed on HackTheiPhone.com are 18 steps in hacking the iPhone to accept other SIM cards. The process documented requires iTunes and an Intel-based Mac.

Earlier this month, the iPhone was hacked to expose full console access, allowing for file transfer. Other hacks include brute-forcing the iPhone's internal system passwords and the ability to activate parts of the iPhone without going through AT&T.