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Comment by johngalt | Hacker News Reader

Won't work. Different network and different hardware.

The 4S has CDMA and GSM radios built in. You could just unlock it and move it over if you can find the right CSR to add your IMEI to Verizon.

You can't "just" unlock it. Unlocking is risky: it voids your warranty, makes the process of updating your OS difficult or impossible, and has a very real chance of bricking your phone.

Unlocking does not void your warrantee. I've had many unlocked iPhones replaced under warrantee. That said, if you brick it while unlocking (and the 4S tools are very new), you won't be covered.

(For what it's worth, while software unlocking is usually not a huge or dangerous affair, there is not currently a software unlock for any iPhone beyond the iPhone 3G.)

Perhaps your local Apple Store doesn't check for unlocks before warranty replacement, but unauthorized unlocking absolutely voids your warranty in principle and Apple would be well within their rights to refuse service. If you don't believe me here's the relevant section of the warranty (written by Apple in bold):

"This warranty does not apply: [...] to an Apple Product that has been modified to alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple".

The CDMA radio is disabled on iPhones originally sold to GSM providers. Apple's just as complicit in the lockin as everyone else.

Unless you have a 4S.

Even though the 4S is supposedly a GSM/CDMA combined phone, its still locked to individual carriers, unless you happened to buy the unlocked version at nearly $800 USD.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcwebertobias/2011/12/22/how-u...

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