Clarity for those buying or want to buy iphone with jailbreak unlock

[rest_easy]

This information is current as of 3-1-2010, March 1, 2010

First, some misconceptions:

It's not the iboot that lets you downgrade it's the bootloader. Also that is ONLY for the most early 3g not any 3gs. I had bought the 3g when it first came out and mine didn't have the lower bootloader to give you an idea of how rare that is. So yo can forget ever downgrading a baseband because you can not.

Check your build week number by going to settings - general - about - serial# the 4th and 5th digit are your build week (ex. 0 1 = week 1, 4 7 = week 47)
Week 39 and below have untethered jailbreaks 99% of the time because they have the older iboot. The newer iboot was first seen around week 40 which means after week 40 build your chances raise exponentially that it will have the newer iboot.

Newer iboot = tethered jailbreak

tethered jailbreak = when you reboot the phone it will go into recovery, you use blackra1n (from any computer) to kick it out of that recovery and it will reboot and everything will be there as it was. You need to connect on each reboot that's why they say you are tethered as in tethered to a computer by the link cable.

pwnage tool - a program for MAC that modifies the apple firmware file and integrates the jailbreak and also stops the baseband from updating. Requires restoring using the custom firmware made rather than apple's firmware.

sn0wbreeze - same as pwnage tool but for windows.

redsn0w - jailbreaks a firmware without the need to restore.

blackra1n - jailbreaks a firmware without the need to restore. Allows you to install blacksn0w as well (only for 3.0 and 3.1 and 3.1.2)

blacksn0w - used to unlock the 5.11 baseband that comes with 3.1.2 and 3.1

ultrasn0w - used to unlock the 4.xx baseband that comes with 3.0 and 3.0.1

For 3GS
-3.1.2 and below can be jailbroken

-baseband 5.11 and below can be unlocked
5.11 comes in the 3.1.2 firmware

-3.1.3 can only be jailbroken IF you were on an earlier firmware and you use sn0wbreeze or pwnage tool AND if you do NOT have a tether jailbreak.
so, newer 3gs with new iboot can NOT be jailbroken on 3.1.3

-5.12 (comes with 3.1.3) can NOT be unlocked.

For 3G

-all firmwares can be jailbroken. (for 3.1.3 using redsn0w it'll ask you to point to the apple firmware used to restore you must point it to 3.1.2 firmware which can be downloaded from iclarified.com among other places)


-5.11 and below can be unlocked.
ONCE AGAIN 5.12 can NOT be unlocked (comes with 3.1.3 firmware)


How Do I Upgrade to 3.1.3 while keeping my unlock?

If you have a 3GS with new iboot (usually above week 39) then DON'T. It's not safe yet.

For those with 3GS and old untethered iboot I'd suggest also Not updating.

For everyone else use either pwnage tool or sn0wbreeze. This will preserve whatever baseband you currently have (settings - general - about - modem firmware) That assumes you never touched 3.1.3 then you have 5.11 or below and when you use these programs it will update the firmware without updating the baseband.

Which Unlock do I use?

First let me say that to unlock you Must be able to jailbreak. so no unlock (now or ever) comes without a jailbreak.

I don't know much about the 2g but I do know it's the easiest to unlock. Check around for guides

For baseband 5.11 - blacksn0w (yes people have reported some issues but it's all there is)

For baseband 4.xx and earlier - ultrasn0w (found on cydia)

What are my chances a new iphone will be jailbreakable and unlockable?

No one knows for sure but the answer can be summed up with this: not good.
most will have 3.1.3 and baseband 5.12 and the new iboot which all means out of luck.

How do I enable native tethering?

Yes, 3.1 disabled native tethering. BUT someone found a hack to re-enable it. I can't say the repo to add to cydia here but if you search Google for enable native tethering iphone I'm sure you'll find something. It's a simple install through cydia and blammo, native tethering. ALSO redsn0w is said to enable native tethering as well.

The official Dev-Team Blog is the BEST place to hear about new unlocks or jailbreaks. If it's not posted there or at iclarified.com then I doubt it's real. Don't believe in rumors and don't do anything until you can Confirm it is real and works.
basically...

DO NOT UPDATE YOUR IPHONE UNTIL YOU CAN CONFIRM COMPLETELY THAT A FIRMWARE IS JAILBROKEN AND IT'S BASEBAND UNLOCKABLE (or pwnage tool updated to preserve unlocked baseband)

here's a small dictionary of some terms covered here

[APHIA]

this is a beautiful write up. sticky this for all to read. same questions over and over R.I.F. reading is fundamental

[GilbertMark]

Too bad most iphone hackers don't care to read. Wouldn't matter to most if it was stickied.

They want their particular question(s) answered on an individual basis.

[rest_easy]

^True
But if it can cut down on even a small percentage of new topics being made for the same questions then it was worth the effort.

[robdam]

Great write up, thx for taking the time to post.

[rest_easy]

woohoo my first sticky!

[freshane]

congrats! Great info, thanks man.

This clarifies quite a bit. I wanted to use pwnage tools to jailbreak since it preserves the baseband, but I don't have a mac. You mentioned that snowbreeze is the same but for pc. I really haven't heard much about this program.. is there any problems using this on lets say on a 3.1.2 fw never jailbroken phone, and would it be able to create a cfw incase I need to restore back to it or downgrade in the future?? My biggest worry is getting an iphone and not being able to back up the fw on cydia like other users got to. Then having to restore my phone if something happens and then fw/baseband getting upgraded and not having a jb phone until a new hack comes out.
I would also like to unlock it but its not too important, I've been hearing some good/bad things about using blacksnow to do this. Thanks again for any additional info

[rest_easy]

congrats! Great info, thanks man.

This clarifies quite a bit. I wanted to use pwnage tools to jailbreak since it preserves the baseband, but I don't have a mac. You mentioned that snowbreeze is the same but for pc. I really haven't heard much about this program.. is there any problems using this on lets say on a 3.1.2 fw never jailbroken phone, and would it be able to create a cfw incase I need to restore back to it or downgrade in the future?? My biggest worry is getting an iphone and not being able to back up the fw on cydia like other users got to. Then having to restore my phone if something happens and then fw/baseband getting upgraded and not having a jb phone until a new hack comes out.
I would also like to unlock it but its not too important, I've been hearing some good/bad things about using blacksnow to do this. Thanks again for any additional info

thanks, if you are on 3.1.2 blackra1n is your best option and as I mentioned blacksn0w your only option to unlock.
If you mean you want to go to 3.1.2 from another firmware then I'd say skip that thought. Unless you already have an SHSH stored with cydia already you won't be able to and apple has stopped signing 3.1.2 which means the SHSH can not be created now (for anyone).

My advice would be to stay where you are and where you are can be jailbroken if you please. Until you hear of a jailbreak for 3.1.3 for any 3gs, remember that if one comes out it may specify old over new bootrom, and you see a tutorial showing how and get confirmation I would stay put.

[pryncearif]

Great sticky, i hope A LOT of people read this before attempting to jb/unlock the phones. For 2G iphones they have to use bootneuter and from what i have heard once someone has used bootneuter, it permanently unlocks the phone because apple stopped updating the baseband on it. So if you restore the phone the phone will become un jb but it should still be unlocked

[freshane]

I haven't gotten an iphone yet been looking for a low week. The earliest I have found so far is a week 37 32gb in white (which kinda sux).. but has 3.1fw and I think 5.11.07 baseband. I also seen a week 41 32gb black which I may get but that might be a tethered jb. The 32gb is $300 and the 16gb is $200, think the extra $100 for an untethered jb is worth it?? Most of the 16gb are week 50 or so. Theres probably no way I could fill up a 16gb but its more then likely the 16gb will have 3.1.2 fw but both will have the same baseband. Is it better to have a phone with a lower fw?? I read that if you use pwnage tools you can create a custom fw and retain your baseband. Does snowbreeze allow the same thing, cause if I get the one with 3.1fw I could create cfw while retaining my baseband.
Not sure if I would use blacksnow to unlock it, by the recent posts I have read it sounds very unstable. Regarding the baseband..if you restore your phone then have to install 3.1.3 it will update your baseband to 5.12 as well.. is there anything you can do to get your original baseband back?? And what would my options be for going back to a recent original fw if I had to do a restore?? Sorry for all the questions.. Thanks for all your help

[rest_easy]

I haven't gotten an iphone yet been looking for a low week. The earliest I have found so far is a week 37 32gb in white (which kinda sux).. but has 3.1fw and I think 5.11.07 baseband. I also seen a week 41 32gb black which I may get but that might be a tethered jb. The 32gb is $300 and the 16gb is $200, think the extra $100 for an untethered jb is worth it?? Most of the 16gb are week 50 or so. Theres probably no way I could fill up a 16gb but its more then likely the 16gb will have 3.1.2 fw but both will have the same baseband. Is it better to have a phone with a lower fw?? I read that if you use pwnage tools you can create a custom fw and retain your baseband. Does snowbreeze allow the same thing, cause if I get the one with 3.1fw I could create cfw while retaining my baseband.
Not sure if I would use blacksnow to unlock it, by the recent posts I have read it sounds very unstable. Regarding the baseband..if you restore your phone then have to install 3.1.3 it will update your baseband to 5.12 as well.. is there anything you can do to get your original baseband back?? And what would my options be for going back to a recent original fw if I had to do a restore?? Sorry for all the questions.. Thanks for all your help

for the last question, did you read the thread? You Can NOT downgrade a baseband if it is updated. If you installed 3.1.3 from apple's firmware it will update the baseband to 5.12 and you will be stuck with that.

are these phones used by any chance? I don't know how else you'd know the week #'s and have choice. You can ask the sellers to check.
The week 42 is the question, the week 37 should be fine. If you have access to the phone you can check by either
a) jailbreaking it and rebooting but I don't think the seller would like you experimenting
b) http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=814973

3.1 and 3.1.2 both have identical basebands 5.11
3.0 and 3.0.1 have identical basebands

No matter what with a 3gs you can't retain a jailbreak and be on 3.1.3

Also, if hte phone has never been jailbroken and doesn't have the SHSH stored on cydia then you can NOT pick a firmware to restore to it would force you to 3.1.3... i feel like this is redundant by now.

1st. ask the seller
2nd. ask if you can check the iboot using method 2 via the link
3rd. take a chance or look elsewhere

(if it's apple selling then you won't be able to check at all)

[freshane]

These phones are brand new at a place similar to bestbuy in Canada. I was able to look at the serial on the back of the box and when he powered the phone on I was able to see the fw and bb. The employee didn't mind cause he jb his phone as well and wasn't very busy. Well I'm sure I could find out if its tethered or not by doing the DFU mode then going into device manager to check which bootrom version is on it. I'm sure he could do that really easily for me.

So at this point it really doesn't matter which fw I have then?? Is there anyway by using pwnage tools or snowbreeze that I could downgrade the fw after a restore has been done on the phone? Maybe by using a custom fw?

Thanks

[rafiqjassani]

so does anyone have any idea about when the new unlock will come out? so i dont have to do tethered jailbreak/unlock.
I hate the fact that i always have to worry about my battery not dying or carrying a laptop or a usb around.
urgh!!!!

[rest_easy]

These phones are brand new at a place similar to bestbuy in Canada. I was able to look at the serial on the back of the box and when he powered the phone on I was able to see the fw and bb. The employee didn't mind cause he jb his phone as well and wasn't very busy. Well I'm sure I could find out if its tethered or not by doing the DFU mode then going into device manager to check which bootrom version is on it. I'm sure he could do that really easily for me.

So at this point it really doesn't matter which fw I have then?? Is there anyway by using pwnage tools or snowbreeze that I could downgrade the fw after a restore has been done on the phone? Maybe by using a custom fw?

Thanks

no, you won't be able to downgrade the firmware. And yes it Does matter which FW you're on. For a 3gs do NOT be on 3.1.3. That is not jailbreakable for the 3gs yet.
you want to be on 3.1.2 or below and you will NOT be able to restore back to that. If you try it'll push you to 3.1.3

a custom firmware is one that has the jailbreak integrated into it and that's what makes it custom. It doesn't have any superpowers. It won't allow you to downgrade the 3gs only having the SHSH on file with cydia can do that and a new iphone will not have that.

[rest_easy]

so does anyone have any idea about when the new unlock will come out? so i dont have to do tethered jailbreak/unlock.
I hate the fact that i always have to worry about my battery not dying or carrying a laptop or a usb around.
urgh!!!!

I am thoroughly confused. Is your info just not updated? It says you have a 3G. 3G is not tethered and never will be.

And NO no one has a schedule of release. It's best not to ask. It'll be posted when a new one does come out. All anyone can say is that they are working on it but most likely they'll wait for release until after 3.2 comes out. It would seem that 3.2 will come out with the ipad so probably with the iphone and touch as well. No reason to waste a good exploit on something as minor as 3.1.3.