I just read the article by Greg Lane with instructions to unlock an Iphone and wish to see if Greg or someone could show me the direction to unlock my iPhone6 (Docomo). Let me elaborate the story:
I signed a 2 year contract with Docomo on 17th November 2015, and I bought an iPhone6 on the same day (fully paid), which I was using for one and half year without any problem.
As I got a new job in Canada, I left Japan on 1st May 2017. I was a keen customer of Docomo for 18 months. All the payments were done through automatic banking. I terminated my contract on 28. 04. 2017. My payments and penalties (approx. 10 000 JPY) have been deducted and everything is fine.
However, I want my iPhone6 that I bought from Docomo to use in Canada with a Canadian sim. I kindly request Docomo to unlock my iPhone6 and their reply was “no” and they further mentioned that if it is iPhone 6plus or later versions, they can unlock it and iphone 6 cannot be unlocked by themselves.
However, I learnt from Greg Lane’s post titled “Unlocking Your Old Carrier-Locked Japanese iPhone to Use with a Cheap SIM” that careers have to unlock the phones upon customer’s request. It really disappointing me, after making all the payments and penalties, how a career could simply say that they are NOT responsible for it and cannot unlock it. Is not it their responsibility?
Well; if iphone6 cannot be unlocked, then why did not the sales employee emphasize about it and insist me to purchase an iphone6plus?! Sadly, I did not have much time to argue with them, and left Japan and now struggling to fix this issue. I might have to throwaway my phone, if it is not unlocked.
Please advise me or share your ideas or experiences.
-Uma
Hi Uma,
Yeah, since the iPhone 6 came out in September 2014, it’s quite possible that the hardware prevents them from unlocking it. The big carriers have basically been anti-competitive and completely horrible to consumers for years, so sadly it’sno big surprise.
I have no idea if this will work as I’ve only used it on an ancient 4S, but they’re not so expensive so it’s not a huge loss if it doesn’t work.
https://www.geveystore.com/product/r-sim-11/
Greg
Thanks Greg. There are some complains on performance of the iphone with geveysims, like heating up, quick discharge etc. However, I would try this option, if I do not find any others.
Hi Greg I just read your story about unlocking the iPhone4s you have. I got the same phone same carrier and haven’t done what you did yet but will do as soon as I can. I just wanted to know if you have the same problem as I have with the WiFi dying or becoming greyed out on that particular phone… And if you had that problem of unlocking it solved that problem? What I do now is use it indoors on my WiFi network and if the WiFi is greyed out again, after some time this happens…
I found some crazy video on the net that tells you to use a hairdryer and heat up the phone and cool it down and the WiFi is miraculously no longer greyed out. Do you have or had the same problem?
Sorry, I don’t have any experience or advice on that issue. Actually, I recently replaced the 4S with a new iPhone SE. The 4S is 6 years old, so you’re lucky if it’s still working at all!
Hi Greg thank you for your reply, I tried to find the gevey unlock thingy on amazon but it’s no longer being sold… Do you still have yours? I’d gladly buy it from you.
Herald
Hi all, Same problem as umasuthan (same phone same company) but I live in Japan. My question: Bought the gevey sim but the process described in Mr Lane’s article no longer applies. There is no longer a ‘fake’ SIM included when you buy the gevey from amazon so no choice but to use an old expired SIM in its place. However, after step 1 and the carrier screen and before ‘accept’ come up another screen asking me to choose from 5 network options comes up. From there the ‘process’ goes off the rails and Mr Lane’s process does not seem to apply. I’ve tried all five network selection without success.
Is there an update to the process of using the gevey SIM in Japan Mr Lane?
PS I’ve tried the gevey website but the SIM sold as gevey in Japan is not even close to anything on their site - or if so it was so long ago the info sheet has been deleted.
Hi there,
Sorry for the slow response - I missed your reply. My phone is already unlocked, so I’ve had no reason to unlock it again. It’s possible that more recent iOS updates have rendered the technique ineffective.
By the way, just to clear up the original process, all that was required was to have the turbo SIM (I.e. the super thin printed circuit that your new MVNO SIM slips over) and any MVNO or tourist SIM. You also have to keep using the turbo SIM forever - although you can swap out the actual SIM whenever you want. Perhaps you could try downgrading to an older iOS version before doing it? Perhaps iOS 8?
At least the Gevey SIMs or whatever are dirt cheap - but Apple and the Japanese carriers never intended this to be easy!
Good luck.