Was my AT&T-approved iPhone 4 unlock successful?

I called AT&T and asked them to unlock my iPhone 4 for international travel. They agreed. The support agent created a case, gave me the case identifier, and gave me an expected resolution date of April 18, 2012. Today (April 13, 2012), I received an email with a link to the unlock instructions.

The instructions I received are:

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC and verify that you have internet connectivity.
2. Connect your iPhone using the dock connector to USB cable that came with your iPhone.
3. Backup and restore your iPhone using iTunes. For information on backup and restore, please visit http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414.
4. After restoring, your iPhone will be unlocked. Additional information on unlocking can be found at http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3198.

I completed these steps, however, according to TS3198, I should've seen this message from iTunes: "Unlock Complete. Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked. To set up and sync this iPhone, click Continue." I did not get a separate dialog window (as anticipated) with this message. If the message appeared within the iTunes window, I must have missed it.

TS3198 lists these troubleshooting steps:

1. Reseat the SIM card: Remove the SIM card in your iPhone and then reinsert it.
2. Restore your iPhone. Note that the computer you are using to restore the iPhone needs to be connected to the Internet. You can verify the connection by loading the first page of the iTunes Store.
3. Contact your carrier to verify that the unlock was applied in their system.

I've already completed steps 1 and 2, but still have not seen a message from iTunes stating that the phone is unlocked. After I post this question, I will perform step 3.

I do not have an iPhone 4 sim on another network available to test with my phone, but I need to make sure that this unlocking is complete before I travel to another country.

Is there some persistent indication in the iTunes or iPhone user interface that will tell me whether or not this phone is unlocked?

Sequence of events

• April 10, 5pm: I called AT&T and requested unlocking.
• April 13, 10am: AT&T emailed me instructions for unlocking.
• April 13, 2pm: I completed the steps for unlocking but did not see any confirmation message as expected. I completed steps 1 and 2 of the TS3198 troubleshooting steps.
• April 13, 4pm: I called AT&T to request confirmation of unlocking (attempting to complete step 3 of the TS3198 troubleshooting steps). Agent stated I did not complete the necessary steps and would need an unlock code. (below, bmike indicates this advice was incorrect.)
• April 13, 6pm: AT&T emailed me instructions for unlocking, which match the instructions I received earlier in the day.

Solution 1:

No, you do not have to enter any sort of unlock code for any iPhone unlock event.

iTunes contacts the registration database when a phone is restored to determine the lock status and set the appropriate carrier settings file if needed.

So, in your case one of two things has happened.

1. The database that Apple / iTunes consult hasn't been updated for your IMEI.
2. You missed the unlock message and your phone is actually ready to be unlocked.

The unlock happens when you restore your device - either as an over the air (OTA) activation or tethered to iTunes.

The carrier should be able to query the live database to see if your IMEI is unlocked or you could try getting another cheap SIM (or borrowing a friend's SIM) and just testing the phone yourself. If you restore the phone twice after it gets unlocks, you will not see this message - but you should get it when it's first unlocked.

Solution 2:

I went through the unlock process in the same way that @bneely did. I didn't see any messages confirming the unlock either. I live in England with an American iPhone and I can confirm that AT&T did unlock my phone and I can now use any SIM I like.

First, the agent that told you that you would need an unlock code is absolutely wrong. There are no codes.

Second, if you got the email from AT&T then you are unlocked. Their system automatically sends that email when they've updated the database on their end. All you need to do at that point is connect to your computer and restore your iPhone.

Lastly, I wouldn't trust what AT&T agents do or do not report to you. If you need your phone to work abroad, test it yourself -- borrow a SIM from someone and see whether it works in your iPhone. My impression from your post is that your phone is indeed unlocked already.

(ps +1 for a detailed and clear history of what you've tried!)

Solution 3:

There is one crucial step missing, after you backup your phone you must restore it. This puts it in factory fresh condition briefly and completes the unlock.

After you do this and if AT&T approved unlocking your iPhone, then you will see the message indicating that your iPhone has been unlocked. You can then restore from your backup to bring back all the settings and data.