3GS O2 To Orange - Possible?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 356Speedster

Hi all.. first post, so pls go easy on me!

I'm in the UK and have a 3GS, which luckily I picked up on O2 Pay as You Go with 3.0.1 FW (Modem 04.26.08). It's unlocked & jailbroken and I use it with my Orange sim card. I have ignored the nags to upgrade to 3.1.2, knowing that should I do so, I'll lose my Orange-ability!

However, now that Orange UK is a legit carrier with the iPhone, what I'm wondering is whether I can actually upgrade, activate (re-activate?) & run the phone on Orange without the need to hack it.

Really what I'm saying is, are there different firmwares out there per carrier, or is it one FW fits all? If I allow iTunes to update the phone to 3.1.2 with my Orange sim (now a valid carrier in the UK), will the phone continue to work as a std (unjailbroken) phone, or will it somehow "remember" it's O2 origins and lock out? As the phone is now running, can it be re-activated on a legit carrier? Or can I do a full erase / reset on it and then activate it on Orange?

I'm loathed to try it without knowing how it'll react & how the FW and activation processes work across carriers, but am concerned that 3.0.1 is an old('ish) FW now and at some point Apple may kick it out.

Can anyone advise on whether a 3GS can be moved across legit carriers

It is possible to go to 3.1.2 and retain your current baseband 04.26.08 by using pwnagetool custom ipsw.
Apple has already disallowed the ability to restore any OS prior to 3.1.2 to a 3GS unless you have previously selected the "make my life easier" in Cydia and Cydia now displays the firmware versions it has preserved the ability for your specific 3GS to restore to.
Right now the iPhone can only be activated using an o2 sim.

Yes a 3GS can be unlocked officially so it can be used with all carriers.
This needs to be authorised by the original carrier the phone was locked to. In this case it is O2. They authorise an unlock and it is Apple who fulfils this unlock via iTunes. This removes the need to jailbreak and apply a software unlock.

You need to contact O2 about the unlocking, as far as I understand, they offer the unlock free as long as you remain committed to the original plan the iPhone was purchased under. As you were on pay as you go, this should not be a problem to request an unlock from O2. I encourage you to investigate the official unlock, it makes life a lot easier when you want to use different carriers.

If you do explore the official unlock option, you realistically need to restore it to remove the hacktivation so the iPhone can be activated legitimately via iTunes.