UK Unlocked iphone 4 - wont accept other carriers sims without connecting to itunes

As a quick rundown, i purchased a factory unlocked iphone 4 direct from apple.This was recently replaced under apple care and i have concerns as to if the new one is unlocked or not.

I just put a sim card from another carrier into my phone and it asked to be connected to itunes - i pressume this is to activate/download the carrier settings for that carrier?

what i need to know is if this is the normal process? i have to connect to itunes for every different carrier?

if so what happens if i travel abroad and want to use a local carrier/network? i have to connect to itunes set up as new phone and loose all my phone data? what if i dont have access to a computer with itunes, i dont want to travel with a laptop when i have internet/email access on my phone. isnt that the point in having an unlocked phone, the freedom to hot swap sim cards?

I called apple store diect and they told me this is how they work? personally i feel she just fobbed me off/didnt know but to be fair i do not know from experience if this is true or not.

hopefully i have been misinformed and they have just locked it incorrectly when they replaced the phone for me, in which case i can just get them to correct it.

It's a new phone, so you will have to activate it before you can use it. You always need to do this, regardless of whether or not the phone is unlocked or not.

My carrier (eplus) isn't even officially supported here in germany (which means I don't get an official carrier profile with settings), but I still had to activate - I just enter my settings manually afterwards.

thanks for the reply.

To make things clear it is already activated, apple did this instore and when i got home i restored from backup. My phone is just like it was before the replacement, ie my carriers sim works fine.

the problem for me is that when i put another carriers sim card in it asks to be connected to itunes.

surely this cant be right, how can i possibly do that every time i travel abroad?

an unlocked phone should take any sim card on the fly (hotswap) surely?

Hmm, I have heard that phones that are legally unlocked after purchase do need to be connected once to "confirm" the unlock.

But if you bought it from Apple already unlocked, I didn't think that was the case - my iPhone 4 bought from Apple worked right away after activation - mind you I never used an official carrier with it, so perhaps that's part of the reason…

Give it a try, see what happens when you connect it to iTunes or ask at the Apple store.

Just as an update and so everyone knows.

I placed a vodafone sim in my phone and its asked to be connected to itunes. I connected the phone to itunes and did not restore from back up or reset the phone. As soon as i connected to itunes the phone worked and accepted the sim.

I then put a t-mobile sim in and it accepted that without asking to be connected to itunes.

I popped my original orange sim back in and again it accepts it so it looks like it has "remembered the unlock".

Thanks all

vinyl conflict said:

Just as an update and so everyone knows.

I placed a vodafone sim in my phone and its asked to be connected to itunes. I connected the phone to itunes and did not restore from back up or reset the phone. As soon as i connected to itunes the phone worked and accepted the sim.

I then put a t-mobile sim in and it accepted that without asking to be connected to itunes.

I popped my original orange sim back in and again it accepts it so it looks like it has "remembered the unlock".

Thanks all

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Cool, that's good to know!