yialanliu Posted January 10, 2010 at 05:08 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 05:08 PM Hi guys, I just have a questions, I have an unlocked jailbroken iphone, does it work in China with a China mobile sim card (中国移动） Do I need a special plan for data as well? any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, ~yialanliu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted January 10, 2010 at 08:22 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 08:22 PM It should do. If you want 3G you'll need to go with China Unicom though. Most phone plans in China are pay as you go. Select one that includes a data limit you're happy with, add money, use it 'til it runs out, add some more, and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phyrex Posted January 10, 2010 at 09:14 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 09:14 PM Mine works, but iirc without 3G (never used it anyway, and at present i'm in Germany, so I can't check) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrix Posted January 10, 2010 at 09:20 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 09:20 PM the US has a different 3G standard than Europe. I'm pretty sure the Asian 3G standard is identical to the one in Europe (I bought a 3G phone in Asia, but not in China, so I'm not totally sure that's the case for China as well), so if your iPhone is originally an American one, then naturally 3G won't work. But that's mere speculation on my part Prost Neujahr! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phyrex Posted January 10, 2010 at 09:22 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 09:22 PM Nope, it's a German one. Dir auch ein frohes Neues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yialanliu Posted January 10, 2010 at 09:37 PM Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 09:37 PM So no 3g with Unicom(连通) but everything should be okay? And does edge work? Or should I just stick with my N97? ~yialanliu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony1343 Posted January 10, 2010 at 10:27 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 10:27 PM My American locked 3G iPhone worked with 3G in Shanghai. Of course, my company was paying quite a bit for it. So I think 3G from an American iPhone can work in China, unless this was something special about Shanghai or maybe it wasn't 3G even though the icon said so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted January 10, 2010 at 10:41 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 10:41 PM iPhones only work on WCDMA networks for 3G. For 2G they run on a GSM network. China Unicom (联通 - not 连通) is the only operator in China that runs a WCDMA network. China Mobile operates a 3G network based on the Chinese-developed TD-SCDMA standard. Both China Mobile and China Unicom run a GSM network. So, for 3G on the iPhone, you will need a China Unicom SIM. For 2G either China Mobile or China Unicom will do, however China Mobile has better coverage so if you can live without 3G, that is usually a better option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrix Posted January 10, 2010 at 10:41 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 10:41 PM if phyrex' phone was from Germany, and yours from the US, then it looks like China uses the US standard, unless each provider in China follows different standards. Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted January 10, 2010 at 11:22 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 11:22 PM unless each provider in China follows different standardsYes they do. China Mobile has a TD-SCDMA 3G network, China Unicom has a WCDMA 3G network and China Telecom has a CDMA2000 3G network.As mentioned above, 3G on the iPhone uses the WCDMA standard (doesn't matter which country you're in, you need to use a provider that runs a WCDMA network). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrix Posted January 10, 2010 at 11:24 PM Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 at 11:24 PM ah thanks for clearing that up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meng Lelan Posted February 17, 2010 at 10:52 PM Report Share Posted February 17, 2010 at 10:52 PM Am I in the right thread here? I'm in the US thinking of buying a new iPhone. With the iPhone, would it be able to send and receive Chinese text messages within and outside the US? Would the iPhone work in China where I could be touring this summer? Could I use Yahoo email on the iPhone in China? The reason I'm asking is I tend to rely heavily on text messages and emails for communication whenever I'm in China. I'm on the AT&T plan here in the US by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meng Lelan Posted February 19, 2010 at 12:43 PM Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 at 12:43 PM Nobody wants to talk about the iPhone with me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted February 19, 2010 at 01:15 PM Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 at 01:15 PM I think any problems you have with sending/receiving Chinese messages in the US will be because of the US network operators and not the iPhone. The iPhone has excellent support for Chinese out-of-the-box that you can turn on or off at will (along with any number of other languages). I also really like its handwriting recognition, and although many people don't seem to like it, I've never really had any problems with it (except it always puts 曰 above 日 in the selection box ). You should be able to access Yahoo email without any problem - either you can configure the default email app to read from your email account, or you can just log in to the web page directly through the browser (assuming you either have a WiFi network to connect to, or are using a SIM card with a data plan). Whether or not the phone will work in China depends on how tightly AT&T lock down their iphones. If worst comes to worst, it's dead-easy to jailbreak an iPhone and then you should just be able to swap out the SIM card with a local Chinese one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meng Lelan Posted February 19, 2010 at 01:21 PM Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 at 01:21 PM Thanks... by the way what does jailbreak mean? So if I had an iPhone in China, I can access Yahoo email on the iPhone, right? and the emails would be viewable in Chinese? Anyone here able to get Chinese text messages in the US on the iPhone? I'm talking about Chinese text messages coming from China. Or maybe I should call AT&T and see how tightly the iPhone is locked down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted February 19, 2010 at 02:09 PM Report Share Posted February 19, 2010 at 02:09 PM Jailbreak is the term used to mean unlocking the phone - both from the operator and from Apple so that it will work on any network and so that you can install/run whatever software you want on it without needing to go through the AppStore (although you can still do that too if you want). Assuming you are connected to a Wifi network or have a data plan on your SIM card, you shouldn't have any problem connecting to Yahoo email with the iPhone in China, and yes everything that was written in Chinese will appear in Chinese. Regarding text messages, probably the easiest thing to do would be to ask someone you know in China to send you a message - different people on different networks have different experiences, and I believe US networks are notoriously bad with respect to Chinese language text messages (though this was from a few years ago, I don't know if things have improved recently). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted February 20, 2010 at 12:38 AM Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 at 12:38 AM iPhones sold in the US are locked down to AT&T and need to be jailbroken to be used with a Chinese SIM card. Your other option is to pay the hefty roaming charges. Google "blackra1n" for how jailbreak the iPhone. It may be a little nerve-wracking for a non-techie. For example, blackra1n disables the WiFi in the jailbreaking process, and you have to go to settings to reset network settings and reboot to turn WiFi back on. There are things like that you have to learn. Once the jailbreaking is completed, you would pretty much in the same way you used it before and not worry about it. I think you may need to restore the phone to a non-jailbroken state when you get back to the US to use AT&T again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meng Lelan Posted February 20, 2010 at 02:21 AM Report Share Posted February 20, 2010 at 02:21 AM Google "blackra1n" for how jailbreak the iPhone. It Wow thanks gato. I don't know a thing about technology, let alone jailbreaking. Ok. Well I'll try the blackra1n thing when I get to China this summer, but I'm afraid the iPhone will blow up as soon as I try it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted June 28, 2010 at 07:22 AM Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 at 07:22 AM Does anyone happen to know if Japanese Iphone 4 is SIM-locked? I'm going to Tokyo tomorrow for a couple of days.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted June 28, 2010 at 08:05 AM Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 at 08:05 AM The thread below suggests that 3GS was locked to Softbank in Japan, so I would think iPhone 4 would be locked, as well. Being locked is probably not a big deal, because a jailbreak solution is likely to be available soon. The (somewhat) bigger question mark is that iPhone 4 uses a micro-SIM which is smaller than the regular SIM that's currently being used by almost all carriers, including those in China. There are people on the net giving DIY instructions on cutting a regular SIM into a micro-SIM, but it sounds risky. Don't know how big of a deal this is. It's possible that China Mobile and Unicom will both start issuing micro-SIM soon to satisfy the demand from the gray-market iPhone 4 users. Will have to see. But right now http://forum.tipb.com/iphone-jailbreak-unlock/187089-unlock-softbank-japan-iphone-3gs.html Unlock softbank (Japan) iPhone 3GS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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