Should I unlock my iPhone?

There are benefits in store for those who unlock their iPhones, but there are also some potential problems. Are the benefits worth the risks? Read on to help make up your mind.

First, what is an unlocked iPhone? So far, the iPhone has been sold only on the AT&T network. The phone is sold with a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) lock in place. Theoretically, this means that the iPhone can only be used on the AT&T cellular network. Hackers, however, have found ways around this restriction and users are now able to “unlock” their phones, or to remove the SIM lock.

Unlocking iPhones in the United States is usually done because would-be users dislike switching carriers, or simply dislike AT&T. Other iPhones are unlocked because users consider AT&T’s monthly fees to be too expensive. It should be noted that over a quarter of the original iPhones sold in the U.S. were never registered with AT&T, and that the speculation is that these phones were unlocked and sold in the profitable foreign smartphone marketplace.