How to Unlock Your iPhone

Is the pay monthly contract up on your iPhone? If so, there are now a bevy of SIM-only iPhone deals from the major networks offering plenty of minutes, texts and unlimited internet at knockdown prices to lure you across…

If you are an iPhone early adopter still signed up with O2, you need to get them to unlock the handset for use with another network.

An unlock can be done for free on any pay monthly deal, but the term must still be honoured if your 18 or 24 month contract isn't up yet.

iPhone Pay and Go customers can get the handset unlocked for a one-off £15 fee, subtracted from the balance remaining on the contract. So make sure that you top it up if there isn't sufficient credit beforehand.

If the iPhone is unlocked less than 12 months after purchase, however, you lose all free Web and Wi-Fi privileges afforded by the O2 SIM.

The actual unlocking process is pretty straight forward:

1. Go to the 'Unlock My iPhone' page on the O2 website.

2. Fill in the O2 unlocking form, you'll need to input some personal data and details regarding your current mobile contract, be sure to have them to hand.

3. It will then take up to 14 days for the iPhone to be unlocked, with O2 sending a text to confirm the unlock request.

4. Once received, remove the O2 SIM and replace with a card from another network, then connect to iTunes using a USB cable. iTunes will then confirm the iPhone as unlocked.

5. That's it!

Now you are free to take advantage of the many SIM-only iPhone deals offered by the major networks.

O2 SIMplicity - Starting as low as £15 per month, O2's SIMplicity tariffs are far cheaper than standard iPhone rates, and can be snapped up without unlocking your handset.

A SIMplicity for iPhone deal with 600 minutes and unlimited texts, data and Wi-Fi will set you back £20 per month on a 30 day rolling tariff - plus the freedom and flexibility to cancel at any time - whilst a 12 month contract will net you the above for £5 less.

Check out the O2 SIM Only iPhone deals here.

Vodafone iPhone SIM-only - Similar to the impressive offering from O2 themselves, Vodafone have set up a SIM-only offering 900 minutes, 3000 texts, 1GB of internet and unlimited Wi-Fi access, for a compelling £25 per month.

Bear in mind that Vodafone's offering is only available as a 12 month deal, not necessarily something you want to be tied into if another network bags an exclusive on the next iPhone…

Check out the Vodafone iPhone SIM-only deals here.

Orange iPhone SIM-only - Whilst there isn't specifically a iPhone SIM-only tariff available, you are able to fashion one out of the deals they currently have available.

All SIM-only deals on Orange over £30 per month come with 500MB of free mobile internet, so your choice of Canary (best for texting) and Racoon (unlimited landline calls) tariff is your best bet.

Racoon 30 offers 1200 minutes and 500 texts, whilst Canary 30 is a whopping1200 minutes and unlimited texts, both great tariffs for the hardy iPhone user.

Both are available in 1 and 18 month flavours, with the latter offering 50% more minutes plus a Magic Number (free unlimited calls to that special someone).

Check out Orange iPhone SIM-only deals here.

T-Mobile iPhone SIM-only - Once again, with a bit of ingenuity you can enjoy a SIM-only deal fit for an iPhone!

All of the network's SIM-only deals, whether they be a 30 day rolling or a 12 month contract, include a free ‘booster' which can tweak the offer as you see fit.

Whether it be unlimited internet, unlimited landline calls, more minutes or more texts, the Flexible Booster adds a little more freedom and a lot more value to your average SIM-only deal.

We would suggest that you go for the unlimited internet bundle, as the iPhone is a data hungry smartphone if ever there was one.

£20 can get you 600 minutes and 500 texts on a 30 day tariff, and with unlimited internet thrown in (with a 1GB fiar use limit), it becomes a fine companion to the unlocked iPhone.

A 12-month deal bumps the minutes up to 900 for the same £20 per month price, but that level of commitment might be a little long considering the prospect of a shiny new model of the iPhone appearing around the corner…

Once again, we suggest the freedom of a 30-day contract, combined with the low pricing of a SIM-only deal to reap the greatest rewards.

Have a look at the T-Mobile SIM only deals here.

3 iPhone SIM-only - 3's best contract for the iPhone looks to be their £5 unlimited internet offer which gives all-you-can-surf data with a 1GB fair usage limit.

A great package for the light user, but the major downside is a distinct lack of free minutes and texts.

With all calls at 20p per minute and 10p texts, their charges won't break the bank but those quick messages and calls can really add up…

Check out 3's SIM only iPhone deals here.