I want to buy an iphone 4, but....

[jamesbeat]

...I'm scared!

I'm currently using an iphone 3G, but I'd like to buy an iphone 4.
Trouble is, I'm relying on a carrier unlock.

I've been reading and scouring ebay all day, but I'm still confused.
I have jailbroken and unlocked many iphones in the past, but since that was well over a year ago, I'm back to square one (you know how it is )

From what I understand, I will not be unable to unlock an iphone running 5.x unless I happen to get one which is still using an older baseband.

What I don't understand is why pretty much everyone who is selling an iphone 4 on ebay has upgraded to the latest version!

The ones who were smart enough not to upgrade are charging a huge premium, more than I want to spend.

Now, I promise I'm not one of those "PLEEZ UNLOCK MY IPHONE!!! I WILL PAY YOU!!!" morons that post on the Dev-Team blog, nor am I expecting to get a firm answer on when an unlock is going to be released.

What I do what to know is whether this is being actively worked on, and if there is any compelling reason why an unlock may never be possible?

Reading the Dev Team blog hasn't inspired much confidence. I remember that it used to be a hive of activity, but not so much at the moment.

I know that the official policy has always been 'carrier unlock isn't possible yet, and may never be possible', but they've always come through in the end.
Is there any reason why this time is different?

I guess what I'm asking is, are there people working furiously in the background, or has Apple won this time?

 

[BumpyFlatline]

...I'm scared!

I'm currently using an iphone 3G, but I'd like to buy an iphone 4.
Trouble is, I'm relying on a carrier unlock.

I've been reading and scouring ebay all day, but I'm still confused.
I have jailbroken and unlocked many iphones in the past, but since that was well over a year ago, I'm back to square one (you know how it is )

From what I understand, I will not be unable to unlock an iphone running 5.x unless I happen to get one which is still using an older baseband.

What I don't understand is why pretty much everyone who is selling an iphone 4 on ebay has upgraded to the latest version!

The ones who were smart enough not to upgrade are charging a huge premium, more than I want to spend.

Now, I promise I'm not one of those "PLEEZ UNLOCK MY IPHONE!!! I WILL PAY YOU!!!" morons that post on the Dev-Team blog, nor am I expecting to get a firm answer on when an unlock is going to be released.

What I do what to know is whether this is being actively worked on, and if there is any compelling reason why an unlock may never be possible?

Reading the Dev Team blog hasn't inspired much confidence. I remember that it used to be a hive of activity, but not so much at the moment.

I know that the official policy has always been 'carrier unlock isn't possible yet, and may never be possible', but they've always come through in the end.
Is there any reason why this time is different?

I guess what I'm asking is, are there people working furiously in the background, or has Apple won this time?

Many people updated to the latest firmware and baseband because AT&T started offering official unlocks so long as the phone was not under contract. So now there are a bunch of carrier unlocked iPhone 4's that were originally locked to AT&T for sale on Craigslist and eBay. What carrier are you using now? If its a gsm carrier, I would try to purchase an unlocked AT&T iPhone 4. Good luck!

Oh and to answer your question about future unlocks, it doesn't look promising. I wouldn't hold out for that solution. Whatever basebands that are currently unlockable are your only options. But with so many carrier unlocked AT&T phones, I would go that route.

 

[jamesbeat]

There are surprisingly few of those official unlocked phones on ebay, and the ones that are unlocked are priced WAY higher.

The vast majority of the listings simply don't mention which firmware/baseband is on the phone.

I guess my only viable option then is to write out a standard email asking for the IOS version and baseband version and copy/paste it to every seller that is selling an iphone in my price range. I should find one eventually I guess.

Out of interest, what's the reason that it's so unlikely that newer basebands will be unlocked?
Did Apple do something different this time?

 

[gd6]

I personally would look for a good deal on an AT&T 4s, and just use a gevey sim to unlock it. Install Recoveryguard so it doesn't update past 5.1.1 and you should be fine. You could get a 4s unlocked by gevey cheaper than you can get a factory unlocked 4 if you look around...and they all still have warranties.

The gevey sims for 4s att are cheap and completely plug and play. just put your sim in and wait a minute and its done.

 

[jamesbeat]

Well that depends...

Have they developed a version of the Gevey that doesn't prank call the emergency services each time the phone boots?

Also, why only the 4s? Does the Gevey for the Iphone 4 not work with newer basebands on that model or something?

Sorry for the questions, I did try searching, but there's so much incorrect/outdated information out there that you could spend hours and still not have a clear answer.
For instance, I just got pretty excited about the SAM unlock until I found out that it no longer works

 

[Norinion]

Well that depends...

Have they developed a version of the Gevey that doesn't prank call the emergency services each time the phone boots?

Also, why only the 4s? Does the Gevey for the Iphone 4 not work with newer basebands on that model or something?

Sorry for the questions, I did try searching, but there's so much incorrect/outdated information out there that you could spend hours and still not have a clear answer.
For instance, I just got pretty excited about the SAM unlock until I found out that it no longer works

No, Geveys will only work for the 4S at the moment. If you can find an iPhone 4 AT&T that doesn't have the black bar between the +volume and the silent switch, most likely it is a 1st gen iPhone 4 (meaning it should be almost 2 years, finishing it's contract making it unlockable, but you gotta be an AT&T customer or have a friend do it)

 

[jamesbeat]

... And providing the original owners account with AT&T is in good standing.
I also read that sometimes they ask you for the original owner's account info etc too.
Too much of a gamble...

 

[gd6]

... And providing the original owners account with AT&T is in good standing.
I also read that sometimes they ask you for the original owner's account info etc too.
Too much of a gamble...

which is another reason just to get a 4s att and a gevey. They are 100% plug and play for ATT phones, no dialing 112 or anything, just turn it on and it will connect after a minute.

 

[jamesbeat]

Sorry to drag this up again, but I've just been reading about the Gevey, and I see ones that apparently do work for the iphone 4.

Am I missing something?
Do the ones that work for the 4 require illegal emergency call dialing, or are they just a scam or something?

 

[gd6]

Sorry to drag this up again, but I've just been reading about the Gevey, and I see ones that apparently do work for the iphone 4.

Am I missing something?
Do the ones that work for the 4 require illegal emergency call dialing, or are they just a scam or something?

Yes, if you can find an iphone 4 that has never been upgraded to IOS 5.0 or above (usually 4.xx), you can use a gevey to unlock it. You can also upgrade an iphone 4 IOS 4.xx to IOS 5.xx using a special method via redsn0w that presrves the baseband and thus the ability to unlock it using a gevey sim.

Its not easy to find an iphone 4 that is still IOS 4.3.5 or lower. You can find them on ebay but will pay more for them.

 

[MacInTO]

Sorry to drag this up again, but I've just been reading about the Gevey, and I see ones that apparently do work for the iphone 4.

Am I missing something?
Do the ones that work for the 4 require illegal emergency call dialing, or are they just a scam or something?

I tried Gevey when I had an iPhone 4 and it worked fine. A bit of a hassle when turning the phone off/on. That was the original Gevey. I think the new one is better though.

Why not just buy an unlocked phone from Apple or eBay/Craigslist? I gave up all of the jailbreak/unlock stuff and bought an unlocked iPhone 4s from Apple. I don't worry about such things anymore.

Is there a big price difference between locked and unlocked ones?

 

[jamesbeat]

Yes there is a great deal of difference, which is why that's not an option for me, those phones are out of my price range.
If you're patient and sift through the Verizon 'bad ESN' phones, you can get an undamaged AT&T iphone 4 for about $250, but the unlocked ones seem to start at around $400.