If you have bought an AT&T iPhone 5 without a contract over the past few days, chances are that you want to unlock it to use it on another carrier. The traditional process involves filling out an online form on AT&T’s website, sending a fax (yes, a fax) to AT&T, waiting 5 to 7 days and restoring your phone. It turns out that it is much easier than that: just restore the phone in iTunes and it will be unlocked.

We have confirmed the process with AT&T’s technical support and successfully tried it with a T-Mobile SIM card. After restoring the device in iTunes, the user is prompted with the usual unlocking message: “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked.”

This message wasn’t enough for me though. I need more proof that I could use the iPhone on every carrier and abroad.

After receiving the notification my new iPhone was unlocked, I cut a micro-SIM card into the shape of a nano-SIM by using the AT&T SIM card that was already in the iPhone 5 as a guide. The most difficult part was to make it narrower so that you can close the tiny nano-SIM tray, though some have reported that this step may be optional.

In a couple of seconds, the iPhone was able to pick up the T-Mobile network, and calls and EDGE data connectvity worked as expected. Some reports, including on AT&T forum, confirm this.

When you buy an iPhone, the device is added to Apple’s big iPhone database thanks to the IMEI, which is used as a unique identifier. Full price and subsidized iPhone 5 models apparently don’t have the same status in the database as it is flagged as “ready to be unlocked” when purchased without a contract.

The iPhone 5 we tested was bought in an Apple retail store, but we couldn’t confirm this with another, pre-ordered iPhone 5 — even though the device was purchased at full price, it was tied to an existing AT&T account during the pre-order process. The carrier clearly states on its website that you have to be either a former customer or a customer without contract obligations to be eligible to go through the entire process, fax included. It could be problematic as well if you bought your iPhone 5 directly from AT&T.

That didn’t take long. Just a week after the debut of the iPhone 5 and its much-discussed Lightning port, accessory maker CableJive has announced a new adapter, the DockBoss+ iPhone 5 Kit, that makes it possible to connect the new phone to speaker docks made for Apple’s older 30-pin dock connector.

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we're improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook

Apple’s CEO

Apple CEO: Agreed, We Blew It With Maps

Apple (AAPL) has endured a week-plus of heavy -- and rare -- criticism for the lousiness of the Maps program on its new iPhone 5, and now CEO Tim Cook is pleading for forgiveness.

Cook said in a statement that Apple had let its customers down by putting out a subpar product. "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and are doing everything we can to make Maps better," the statement read.

Apple's iPhone 5 went on sale Sept. 21, and complaints about the shortcomings of the Maps program started early and came often. In short, phone buyers felt Apple Maps wasn't even approaching the standard set by Google Maps, much less surpassing it, prompting a frantic search for a replacement. (Fortunately for the truly desperate, Google (GOOG) Maps continues to be accessible via the Web.)

Biggest Launch Under Cook

For Cook, the apology comes only days after one of the biggest Apple product launches he's overseen since the death of company co-founder Steve Jobs last October.

"[W]e strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment," Cook said in his letter.

And for those who badly miss what they used to have, even Cook suggested heading for another option for the time being. "While we're improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their web sites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app," he wrote.