Brent Kearney

Here I hope to help alleviate the confusion that some iPhone 3GS owners have about jailbreaking and unlocking their phones. This article pertains to the iPhone 3GS only. The iPhone 3GS is the one that came out in the summer of 2009. These instructions do not pertain to other models of iPhones. For other models, I recommend the tutorials at iClarified.

This whole process is thanks to the efforts of the group of hackers who call themselves the iPhone Dev Team. These guys volunteer hundreds of hours of their time so that iPhone owners around the world can make full use of their phones. They are the Mother Theresas of iPhones. They are awesome.

What does “Jailbreaking” do?

Jailbreaking allows you to install software on your iPhone that was not approved by Apple and is thus not available in the App Store.

It also allows for a vast range of customizations to your iPhone, allowing you to make full use of your device. Jailbreaking is a prerequisite to “unlock” your iPhone.

What is “Unlocking”?

Unlocking refers to removing the restriction on your iPhone that limits it to a particular cellular service provider (a.k.a. “carrier”). For example, if you buy an iPhone from AT&T, you won’t be able to subsequently switch to a different (GSM) service provider, unless your iPhone is unlocked.

Being able to switch carriers is very useful if you travel, because you can then buy a pay-as-you-go or prepaid SIM card at your new destination, and put it into your iPhone for local service, at local rates. This is usually far cheaper than incurring roaming charges from your provider at home.

Do NOT upgrade to iPhone OS 3.1, Yet

You can find out what version of iPhone OS you have by going to Settings -> General -> Version on your iPhone. If you buy a new iPhone today, it probably came with version 3.0 or 3.0.1. Leave it that way. Do not click the “Download and Update” button that iTunes prompts you for the first time that you plug the phone into your computer.

To unlock your iPhone 3GS, you need iPhone OS version 3.0 or 3.0.1; you must never have installed version 3.1 from Apple. If you have, at any time, updated to version 3.1 via an official release from Apple, then you cannot jailbreak or unlock your phone until some indefinite time in the future.

If you installed the official iPhone OS version 3.1, you will have to wait for someone to discover a new software bug that will allow for jailbreaking and unlocking. One may never be discovered. One might be discovered tomorrow. Nobody knows.

Step One: iPhone 3GS Jailbreak

Assuming that you have an iPhone 3GS with OS version 3.0 or 3.0.1:

1. Download the iPhone 3.0 firmware from Apple. You’ll find links to all firmwares here.
2. Download redsn0w from the DevTeam. Download links are near the bottom of the article.
3. Open redsn0w, click the Browse button, locate the iPhone2,1_3.0_7A341_Restore.ipsw file, and click the Open button.
4. Click the Next button in redsn0w. It will prepare the jailbreak, then ask if you’d like Cydia and/or Icy installed. Select at least Cydia, and click Next.
5. Follow the onscreen instructions (turn off your phone, etc). It will say “Done!” before the process is actually finished. Watch your phone, and do not disconnect it from your computer.

Your phone is now jailbroken, but still not unlocked. If you had OS version 3.0.1, you will still have version 3.0.1, only now it also has the Cydia App installed.

Step Two: Unlock Your iPhone 3GS

1. Now that you’ve jailbroken your iPhone, you should see that the Cydia App has been added to your screen. Start it. The first time you start Cydia, it will do some “rearranging”, and restart the springboard, causing your iPhone’s screen to lock.
2. Unlock your screen, and start Cydia. At this point, it is a good idea to update any packages that need updating (it should tell you if there are available updates). After updating, Cydia will quit again.
3. Start Cydia again, and click the Search icon in the bottom-right corner. Search for “ultrasn”. The 3rd match should be “ultrasn0w”. Select it, and click Install. It will present a Reboot button after installing. Click the Reboot button.

Your iPhone should now be unlocked, and you can use it with any SIM card. Happy traveling! :)

New! Upgrade to iPhone OS 3.1

As of October 2nd, 2009, the DevTeam gave us the gift of PwnageTool 3.1.3, which allows you to create a hacked 3.1 firmware for jailbroken iPhones. Note that if you already have 3.1 installed, and it isn’t jailbroken, this is not for you. Re-read the “Do NOT upgrade to iPhone OS 3.1, Yet” section, above.

If you have already jailbroken your iPhone, the new PwnageTool allows you to upgrade to 3.1 safely, maintaining your jailbreak and carrier unlock.

iClarified has posted a tutorial on how to do this here.

Newer! iPhone OS 3.1.2

On October 8th, Apple released version 3.1.2 of iPhone OS. The DevTeam says:

If you care about your jailbreak and unlock, don’t update your device – 3G and 3G(S) owners should pay particular attention to this warning.

* PwnageTool and redsn0w are not yet compatible with 3.1.2
* There is no estimated release time for compatible tools (please don’t bug us about this).

Newest! iPhone OS 3.1 is cracked!

October 13th, 2009, the DevTeam has released PwnageTool version 3.1.4. The new version allows for unlocking version 3.1, making much of what I said in this article obsolete.

It also allows for updating to version 3.1.2 on your already jailbroken iPhone. Get it and read all of the details here.

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