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View Full Version : What's making the 3G so much harder to unlock?



lavrishevo
Sep 24, 2008, 05:11 PM
I wonder what Apple did to make the iPhone 3G so much harder for the DEV team to come up with a software unlock. I do know the firmware has been updated constantly but they have not broken the code for any of the firmwares. What's making the 3G so much more difficult?


TEG
Sep 24, 2008, 05:13 PM
The hardware is different and may have a different way to flash the comm chip that controls the lock.

TEG
The General
Sep 24, 2008, 05:13 PM
It's probably a totally different baseband. Remember how long it took for the EDGE iPhone unlocks to come from the dev team? I wouldn't expect these to come any faster. We have no experience unlocking 3G iPhones. Just like we had no experience unlocking EDGE iPhones when they first came out.

They are different phones.
PlaceofDis
Sep 24, 2008, 05:20 PM
not only that... an unlocked 3G iPhone in the US doesn't serve much purpose since no other carrier uses that band so i can't see much point to it honestly.
The General
Sep 24, 2008, 05:24 PM
not only that... an unlocked 3G iPhone in the US doesn't serve much purpose since no other carrier uses that band so i can't see much point to it honestly.

Assuming they do unlock it, we could run them on T-Mobile and just forget about 3G ... but would the A-GPS work?
Ntombi
Sep 24, 2008, 05:27 PM
How long did it take for the original to be unlocked?
TEG
Sep 24, 2008, 05:30 PM
How long did it take for the original to be unlocked?

I recall about 6 weeks, but I could be wrong, but I do remember it being before 1.1.1.

TEG
PlaceofDis
Sep 24, 2008, 05:41 PM
Assuming they do unlock it, we could run them on T-Mobile and just forget about 3G ... but would the A-GPS work?

i think the GPS would work, but i'm not 100% sure on that one. but yeah you would lost the 3G speed for sure, making the most compelling feature of the new phone obsolete. i think thats why there is no rush really.
The General
Sep 24, 2008, 05:52 PM
I recall about 6 weeks, but I could be wrong, but I do remember it being before 1.1.1.

TEG

Well, the Dev Team released their unlock on Sep. 11, 2007.

I would call that the official "EDGE iPhone Unlock day" ... iPhone SIM Free? Lame. Hardware hacks? Lame. You can see the whole timeline here:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/battle-continues/the-complete-iphone-unlock-star-wars-timeline-304310.php

This is all BEFORE 1.0.2.