iPhone Quick Questions on Jailbreaking

slipd · Apr 16, 2014

Hi,

I want to use an iPhone 4 on T-Mobile. So if I buy a used non-jailbroken iPhone 4 from Ebay and it's locked to Verizon / Sprint, I can untethered-jailbreak and unlock it to T-Mobile for free using a good online guide like, for example, this, right?

If so, do I need to buy an iPhone locked to a GSM carrier like AT&T, or will a CDMA Verizon/Sprint-locked iPhone work as well for T-Mobile? And will the apps/software tools I use for a basic jailbreak cost any money?

darricksailo · Apr 16, 2014

slipd said:
Hi,

I want to use an iPhone 4 on T-Mobile. So if I buy a used non-jailbroken iPhone 4 from Ebay and it's locked to Verizon / Sprint, I can untethered-jailbreak and unlock it to T-Mobile for free using a good online guide like, for example, this, right?

If so, do I need to buy an iPhone locked to a GSM carrier like AT&T, or will a CDMA Verizon/Sprint-locked iPhone work as well for T-Mobile? And will the apps/software tools I use for a basic jailbreak cost any money?

You'll need to buy a GSM phone. If the iPhone 4's baseband isn't the original one, then there is no software unlock. You'll have to get an IMEI unlock for it

And also note that you'll only get edge signal on t-mobile for the iPhone 4

And the software to perform the jailbreak is free

eyoungren · Apr 16, 2014

Just to be clear…

THERE IS NO DOMESTIC UNLOCK FOR SPRINT IPHONES. EVER. PERIOD. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

Be smart, do yourself a favor and if you have to buy a CDMA phone make sure it's Verizon. Do NOT inherit someone else's unsolvable unlock problem with a Sprint iPhone.

Don't DO IT!

Applejuiced · Apr 16, 2014

slipd said:
Hi,

I want to use an iPhone 4 on T-Mobile. So if I buy a used non-jailbroken iPhone 4 from Ebay and it's locked to Verizon / Sprint, I can untethered-jailbreak and unlock it to T-Mobile for free using a good online guide like, for example, this, right?

If so, do I need to buy an iPhone locked to a GSM carrier like AT&T, or will a CDMA Verizon/Sprint-locked iPhone work as well for T-Mobile? And will the apps/software tools I use for a basic jailbreak cost any money?

Quick question.
Where do you plan on sticking your Tmobile sim card? The CDMA verizon/sprint iphone 4 have no sim card slot.
And jailbreaking does not equal unlocking. Those are 2 different things.
You need to do a lot more research cause you dont even know the basics.
To make it simple just buy a GSM unlocked iphone and it will work with any GSM sim you put in. No need for jailbreaking or unlocking.
Keep yourself from wasting your money and time.

braddick · Apr 16, 2014

Applejuiced said:
Quick question.
Where do you plan on sticking your Tmobile sim card? The CDMA verizon/sprint iphone 4 have no sim card slot.
And jailbreaking does not equal unlocking. Those are 2 different things.
You need to do a lot more research cause you dont even know the basics.
To make it simple just buy a GSM unlocked iphone and it will work with any GSM sim you put in. No need for jailbreaking or unlocking.
Keep yourself from wasting your money and time.

I suppose rolling it into a tiny little ball and jamming it in the headphone jack would be lame.

nwmtnbiker · Apr 16, 2014

braddick said:
I suppose rolling it into a tiny little ball and jamming it in the headphone jack would be lame.

Don't spread false information on the internet without doing your research first lol!!!

slipd · Apr 17, 2014

Thanks everyone.

Applejuiced said:
To make it simple just buy a GSM unlocked iphone and it will work with any GSM sim you put in. No need for jailbreaking or unlocking.

Unlocked would be ideal, but say if I buy an AT&T-locked phone, will I need to jailbreak & unlock it for T-Mobile? If so, will it be really difficult or too much hassle to unlock it using a good online guide like the one I mentioned?

darricksailo said:
And also note that you'll only get edge signal on t-mobile for the iPhone 4

Oh wow, didn't know that. I'll shell out a bit more for the 4s then. Thank you!

Applejuiced said:
And jailbreaking does not equal unlocking. Those are 2 different things.
You need to do a lot more research cause you dont even know the basics.

A few online guides gave me the impression that unlocking's really easy once you've got a jailbroken phone, so that's why I didn't worry about the unlocking part. Or is jailbreaking not necessary for unlocking a phone?

eyoungren · Apr 17, 2014

slipd said:
Or is jailbreaking not necessary for unlocking a phone?

It's completely unnecessary. There are a lot of old guides it seems that have not been updated. Software unlocks (i.e., jailbreak-unlock) have not been useable for quite some time.

All you need is the IMEI number. You send it to an unlock service, you pay, it's unlocked. Or you deal with the carrier and ask them to unlock it for you.

slipd · Apr 17, 2014

eyoungren said:
There are a lot of old guides it seems that have not been updated. Software unlocks (i.e., jailbreak-unlock) have not been useable for quite some time.

Oh really? So that's not really an option anymore? Darn.

So how much does IMEI-unlocking typically cost for a GSM-locked iPhone 4s?

eyoungren · Apr 17, 2014

slipd said:
Oh really? So that's not really an option anymore? Darn.

So how much does IMEI-unlocking typically cost for a GSM-locked iPhone 4s?

No idea, I've never done it. I'm on Sprint and have been since 1999, so I've never explored that.

Just to add a bit, it's my understanding that the iPhone 4 can be software unlocked, but you have to have a certain baseband to do it. Most iPhone 4s (plural, not S) don't have that older baseband by this point.

If I'm wrong on all of that though I'm sure to be corrected by someone who knows more soon.

braddick · Apr 17, 2014

eyoungren said:
No idea, I've never done it. I'm on Sprint and have been since 1999, so I've never explored that.

Just to add a bit, it's my understanding that the iPhone 4 can be software unlocked, but you have to have a certain baseband to do it. Most iPhone 4s (plural, not S) don't have that older baseband by this point.

If I'm wrong on all of that though I'm sure to be corrected by someone who knows more soon.

My correction:
It's, "iPhone 4's". Then you don't need to define they type of iPhone with, "plural, not S".

Other than that, I think you're right on track.

0007776 · Apr 17, 2014

slipd said:
Oh wow, didn't know that. I'll shell out a bit more for the 4s then. Thank you!

If you do that just keep in mind not to get a Verizon or Sprint phone, they do have a SIM card for roaming, but can't be unlocked for domestic use. I'd recommend buying one that is already unlocked to save yourself the hassle of trying to find an unlocking service that actually works. I don't think the price difference is that much on used phones right now.

eyoungren · Apr 17, 2014

braddick said:
My correction:
It's, "iPhone 4's". Then you don't need to define they type of iPhone with, "plural, not S".

Other than that, I think you're right on track.

Thank you!

Tigrao · Apr 17, 2014

mrkramer said:
If you do that just keep in mind not to get a Verizon or Sprint phone, they do have a SIM card for roaming, but can't be unlocked for domestic use. I'd recommend buying one that is already unlocked to save yourself the hassle of trying to find an unlocking service that actually works. I don't think the price difference is that much on used phones right now.

This is false. Sprint iPhones are definitely locked to Sprint. However, Verizon iPhones with the release of the iPhone 5 are completely unlocked for use on ANY carrier, domestic or not.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/24/3383540/verizon-says-iphone-5-will-remain-unlocked
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/09/27/the-verizon-iphone-5s-unlocked/

The thing you need to look out for, though, is LTE compatibility. I don't think that the Verizon LTE bands are compatible with other carriers. Look at the LTE bands that your desired carrier uses.

0007776 · Apr 17, 2014

Tigrao said:
This is false. Sprint iPhones are definitely locked to Sprint. However, Verizon iPhones with the release of the iPhone 5 are completely unlocked for use on ANY carrier, domestic or not.

If you looked at the post I was quoting he was talking about a 4S, the 5 and up is unlocked on Verizon, for both international and domestic use. But please go and show me a source that says Verizon is starting to unlock the 4S for domestic use.

Tigrao · Apr 17, 2014

mrkramer said:
If you looked at the post I was quoting he was talking about a 4S, the 5 and up is unlocked on Verizon, for both international and domestic use. But please go and show me a source that says Verizon is starting to unlock the 4S for domestic use.

You are right. I misunderstood you. I thought you were talking about all iPhones on Verizon being locked. Definitely the 4S is still locked to Verizon and always will be.

Applejuiced · Apr 17, 2014

slipd said:
Thanks everyone.

A few online guides gave me the impression that unlocking's really easy once you've got a jailbroken phone, so that's why I didn't worry about the unlocking part. Or is jailbreaking not necessary for unlocking a phone?

Nope, you should be worried about the unlocking part cause its not possible currently with just by jailbreaking.
You will find all types of crap online guides on the internet, doesn't mean they are for real.

darricksailo · Apr 17, 2014

slipd said:
Oh wow, didn't know that. I'll shell out a bit more for the 4s then. Thank you!

oops, my bad, i don't know what i was thinking when i typed that

you'll only get edge signal for places that don't have the refarmed 1900 MHz 3G/4G

you don't get to access the AWS band 3G/4G unless you have the iphone 5's released starting in may (i can't remember the date but i think it was sometime in april 2013 when the newer versions were released)

if you're in the urban cities, you'll most likely be able to gain access to the refarmed 4G

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