What is so special about Apple’s products? The world is taken by storm and users rush to buy the gadgets whether it is iPhone, iPod Touch or hot iPad. The users have not even settled down after buying iPad. It has not been explored to its full capacity as more elegant iPad Apps are merging. But Apple is ready to announce its next big thing, iPhone 4, next generation of sizzling iPhone. Besides Apple wasn’t able to control the ongoing leaks of iPhone 4 and its parts, the freaks are eagerly waiting for Steve Job’s key note at WWDC 2010 on June 7 which will officially reveal iPhone 4, its specification, and release date.
Since the release of very first iPhone, its exclusive availability with some carriers in most regions has been a hot topic of debate. Especially many iPhone’s users in United States are annoyed where it is offered on AT&T’s contract only. They demand freedom of carrier’s choice if someone is unsatisfied with AT&T’s service and want to switch iPhone’s carrier. Apple has refused to grant this freedom to date but such control has pushed Hackers community to manipulate iPhone firmware so that it can be unlocked. This unlocking allows iPhone owners to operate the device on any carrier.
Unlocking iPhone techniques actually alter iPhone’s baseband by exploiting vulnerability. This vulnerability is usually patched whenever Apple releases a firmware by also upgrading the baseband. Current iPhone unlocks requires you to jailbreak iPhone before applying unlock. This means that the respective firmware should be already jailbroken before baseband is unlocked. Now, jailbreaking is also dependant on hardware which we can call bootrom and it runs iBoot.
We can deduce that iPhone unlock is indirectly dependent on the hardware and firmware changes as jailbreak is dependent. Does this mean that if new bootrom/iBoot is not exploited, iPhone 4 will not be unlocked? That’s not true because there is another type of jailbreak called “userland jailbreak” which by passes bootrom/iboot. Recently, it has been employed in spirit jailbreak which can jailbreak 3.1.3 firmware and iPad 3.2.
To unlock iPhone 4, the firmware it is running should be jailbroken and it is going to be shipped with iPhone 4.0 firmware which has been already jailbroken on iPhone 3G/3GS. After the iPhone 4.0 jailbreak, the question arises whether 4.0 firmware baseband [05.13.04] has some exploit. It looks like that after exploit for unlock iPhone 3.1.3 [05.12.01], iPhone Dev team will also be able to manage unlock iPhone 4 on 4.0 firmware with ultrasn0w.
We should also expect some sizzling tool to unlock iPhone 4 from Geo Hot which may be named as “limesn0w” and will be packaged with limera1n. He is quite though but he has some cool things planned for future release.
In short, unlock iPhone 4 will be likely available after a very short time of iPhone 4 release . The tools to unlock iPhone 4 will be upgraded as Apple upgrades its firmware with a new baseband. This will remove the AT&T’s compulsion on iPhone 4 users and unlocked iPhone 4 could be used with other carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile. We will post guides to unlock iPhone 4 on available firmware as soon as unlocking tools are released.
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Update 1: Kaatje has managed to jailbreak 4.0 on iPhone 3GS which doesnot upgrade baseband and thus unlock iPhone 4.0 is not needed. It may be released by iPhone Dev Team as Pwnage Tool 4.0 but nothing can be assured until Pwnage Tool 4.0 download is available
Update 2: limera1n jailbreak may be the next tool by GeoHot. It is expected that it will be jailbreak 4.0 for iPhone and iPad 3.2 but nothing can be ensured till limera1n download is available or any official information is released.
Update 3: Step by step instructions to jailbreak 4.0 with redsn0w 0.9.5.
Update 4: There are some big developments regarding iPhone 4 unlock.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
So here I am now wanting to get the new iPhone 4G, with an AT&T contract, but I have to ask myself, if the iPhone can’t be unlocked, how for the life of me can I expect to use it while traveling abroad?
Unfortunitely my Blackberry Storm was stolen from my backpack while traveling (my fault for not being more careful), but anyway, it was unlocked and I was able to use/buy prepaid sim card within the country I was visiting, no matter what country I visited.
So if the iPhone is that protected, why should I bother to get/but one. To use roaming is price prohibited. I therefore may reconsider another B/B or I experiment and get an android phone, like the HTC EVO 4G, unlocked.
Manny
But isn’t the iPhone 4 running on microSIM? Tmobile and Verizon don’t support microsim yet, I think. Without this would you still be able to jailbreak the iphone 4 and use it on another network?
Here is the solution to make other carrier’s sim fit in iPhone 4
http://www.cutmysim.com/
thanks for sharing this, but my question is similar that isn’t the iPhone 4 running on microSIM? Tmobile and Verizon don’t support microsim yet, I think. Without this would you still be able to jailbreak the iphone 4 and use it on another network?