iPhone Unlocking

UPDATE (2/14/2011): A jailbreak (not unlock) for Verizon iPhones running iOS 4.2.6 is now available. Click the following link to learn about how to jailbreak the Verizon iPhone.

Since Verizon's iPhone 4 launch announcement yesterday, the web has been rife with speculation on how soon we'll see the Verizon iPhone 4 jailbroken and unlocked. Will the iPhone Dev Team focus on the CDMA iPhone unlock, or just the jailbreak of iOS 4.2.5? If an unlock does become available for the Verizon iPhone, will Sprint embrace the CDMA iPhone? Some say it will happen, some say it won't. Except there's only one problem ... the CDMA / Verizon iPhone 4 isn't locked in the first place. Why? Because CDMA phones aren't locked.

iPhone Dev-Team has released new information on the free carrier unlock software package known as ultrasn0w. Now iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS devices running baseband versions 04.26.08, 05.11.07, 05.12.01, 05.13.04, and 06.15.00 are unlockable after jailbreaking. iPhone Dev-Team includes detailed ultrasn0w information in their recent Ultra-recycle blog post.

Running iOS 4.2.1 on your iPhone 3G/3GS? Updating your iPhone baseband to 06.15.00 using iPad 3.2.2 firmware actually makes the device unlockable for use on carriers other than AT&T Mobility. Dev-Team has developed a PwnageTool 4.1.3 Unlock Edition that will update the 3G/3GS baseband, and the group is working on a new version of redsn0w that will add this functionality for Windows users.

Those of you waiting for an iPhone 4 unlock solution can now jailbreak your iPhones and get to unlocking with the latest version of ultrasn0w on Cydia. Owners of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G can all set up their devices with ultrasn0w version 1.0-1 to operate on carriers other than AT&T.

Apple sells unlocked iPhones in several countries, however in the US the iPhone is locked to AT&T thanks to an exclusive contract between Apple and the carrier. AT&T charges subscribers for international roaming, with the highest price attached to data plans overseas.

Big news in the iPhone jailbreaking world this week. Now that the US government has legalized jailbreaking for smart phone users across the board, Comex has stepped in and released the latest iOS jailbreak solution online. To jailbreak any device running iOS 4 all that's needed is the device itself, no computer required.

The Dev-Team has announced two sites that will mirror the software, accessible by just visiting these links from your Mobile Safari browser on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The new release is called JailbreakMe 2.0 and can be accessed at jailbreakme.com and jailbreakme.modmyi.com.

Those looking to jailbreak and unlock the iPhone 4 won't have to wait much longer. iPhone Dev-Team member Comex has stated he's not waiting for Apple to release iOS 4.1 to launch the latest version of the Spirit jailbreak. The previous version was a one-click solution to jailbreak the iPad running iPhone OS 3.2.

The new jailbreak software will work on all devices running iOS 4, including the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Comex is working to make sure the free jailbreak utility is up to Dev-Team standards before release, and suggests that users back up their SHSH blobs before jailbreaking.