Confused about unlocks...please help

My apologies if this has been already discussed. I searched through a few threads but they did not clarify things for me. My ipod has recently broken and my phone is on the way out and since my dads friend is a T-Mobile dealer we support him and his business. So I was thinking of getting an iphone, but my parents dont want us on two plans, which is understandable. So Ive been reading all this information on the unlocks, but it confuses me a bit. I also turned 21 today, so I figured I might treat myself! So here are my questions.

1) This may be dumb, Ive never used AT&T do they use sim cards? So would my T-Mobile sim card fit in the iphone? I believe it would, but I could have misread something.

2) When I order the phone, do I have to get a data plan on T-Mobile, or is the regular plan good to go?

3) How exactly do you unlock the phone? Ive seen different things, people say its easy. I understand you buy the phone, purchase an unlock and then send the company your imei number or whatever it is. Then they send you the program through the wifi and you let it install. There are steps before this though? How do I get around itunes too set up my iphone?

4) People say as long as you dont update your itunes you are fine, some say even if they update, all you need to do is reflash. Is this the case or in the near future? I dont really care about updating my itunes, I never really notice any difference for the most part.

Help would really be appreciate. Ive only had 3 cell phones in the last nine years, some of my friends get one every year, so I figured I have earned this, but I wanna make sure Im not gonna get shafted in the end. I also figure, my ipod broke so getting a phone and ipod would be killing two birds with one stone!;D

Another question, can I just walk into the AT&T store and buy one or do I have to get a plan if I get it right from there.

motoo344 said:

1) This may be dumb, Ive never used AT&T do they use sim cards? So would my T-Mobile sim card fit in the iphone? I believe it would, but I could have misread something.

Click to expand...

Yes.

motoo344 said:

2) When I order the phone, do I have to get a data plan on T-Mobile, or is the regular plan good to go?

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You don't have to get a T-mobile data plan, but you wouldn't be able to use edge, just wi-fi.

motoo344 said:

3) How exactly do you unlock the phone? Ive seen different things, people say its easy. I understand you buy the phone, purchase an unlock and then send the company your imei number or whatever it is. Then they send you the program through the wifi and you let it install. There are steps before this though? How do I get around itunes too set up my iphone?

Click to expand...

There are free methods to unlock the iPhones, and several ways to do it. You may want to do a google search to look at your options.

motoo344 said:

4) People say as long as you dont update your itunes you are fine, some say even if they update, all you need to do is reflash. Is this the case or in the near future? I dont really care about updating my itunes, I never really notice any difference for the most part.

Click to expand...

More importantly, don't update your iPhone software if it's been unlocked, at least until there's been confirmation from the hacking community that you can get around it. This may mean not being able to sync with iTunes in the meantime.

motoo344 said:

Another question, can I just walk into the AT&T store and buy one or do I have to get a plan if I get it right from there.

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You shouldn't have to activate right from the AT&T store, if you tell them it's a gift for example.

So back to the itunes thing, say I get the phone, plug it in do I have to like have a plan to get my music off of it or will it just sync up? Then after the intial setup, I can unlock it?

motoo344 said:

So back to the itunes thing, say I get the phone, plug it in do I have to like have a plan to get my music off of it or will it just sync up? Then after the intial setup, I can unlock it?

Click to expand...

It won't sync until it's activated. There is a program called iNdependence that can be used to activate the phone (outside of iTunes/AT&T) so that the phone can be used to sync or use wifi. Then you can work towards unlocking it if you want to put it on a different carrier.

Ah, so thats what the indepence program does.