iPhone 3G software unlock to be released shortly

The iPhone unlockers appear to have won another round, promising a simple iPhone 3G unlock in weeks.

(Credit: CNET)

The iPhone Dev Team is promising a software unlock for the iPhone 3G by the end of 2008.

Back in October the iPhone Dev Team signaled they were getting close to their goal, and Tuesday they announced that a software download would be available on New Year's Eve. The iPhone 3G has presented problems for those looking for a simple way to use their phone on the mobile network of their choice after Apple fixed a loophole that left the original iPhone wide open to unlockers.

There are ways to manipulate the SIM card that comes with the iPhone 3G to use it on the network of your choice, but that's not something the average person should try at home. If you want to unlock your iPhone, you'll need to have jailbroken it first, and you'll have to have heeded the iPhone Dev Team's advice to avoid the iPhone 2.2 software update without applying a special patch first.

That's because Apple might be fighting back against the unlockers using the other platform it controls: the Mac. Several reports indicate that Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.6 update prevents popular jailbreaking tools like PwnageTool and QuickPwn from recognizing iPhones connected to Macs running the latest software.

The iPhone Dev Team thinks it's just a bug, but Ars Technica seems to think Apple knew exactly what it was doing. Unlocking and jailbreaking have lost a bit of their luster with the release of the iPhone around the world and the huge response to the App Store, but there will always be some group of users who doesn't want Apple or their local carrier to dictate how they use their phones.

[umbrae]

This is why you should never go with proprietary hardware.

[Seaspray0]

which is why everyone is building their own cars these days, right? Not! Everything is proprietary. What ticks me off is when the company restricts said hardware to only use their services... you can only change the oil with our oil, you can only put in our gas, the tires can only be inflated with our airpumps... that's just wrong. The auto industry tried to do that for all vehicle maintenance/repair and was shot down by the government as unfair practices. Sooner or later, apple will find itself in this delima with the government... 1. DRM on music from itunes only works on ipods, 2. apps for iphone can only be obtained from itunes (which takes a 30% cut, btw).

These are practices the government should be looking into. If it was microsoft, they'd be all over them. Why is apple being conveniently ignored?

[Mr. Dee]

Apple wants me to spend US $909 on their phone in Jamaica W.I. They must be out of their mind. Steve, tell CLARO to drop the price! Now!

[wigmo]

Last time I was in Jamaica a cheeseburger at McDonalds cost $45. $909 for a phone sounds like a good deal!

[pu2006]

Correct me if I'm wrong. But for U.S. users, isn't this kind of a non-event? Is there any other nationwide GSM provider that offers 3G in the bands that the iPhone 3G supports? As I recall, the T-Mobile 3G in the U.S. runs in a band that is incompatible with most "worldwide" handsets that are not specifically produced for use on their network in the U.S. But good for those of you with competing providers abroad. I wish we all had choices.

[texaslabrat]

yeah, it's basically a non-event except for those U.S. users who might want to travel internationally with their iphone and use local SIMs. Or those U.S. users who might want to get an iphone without being locked into an automatic data plan from AT&T and instead use the cheaper data plan they were using with their "old" 3g phones. Lots of reasons...none particularly earth-shattering for the average person but just having the choice is a Good Thing (tm)

[cnet.aaron]

If only we had the ability to use it the way satellite internet uses the old land line. In that setup, requests are sent through the land line, and then down traffic comes through the satellite.

If we could do the same thing with EDGE and 3G it would be awesome, but according to the dev team a few months ago, such a setup is not possible (can't toggle between the cell connections).

[baisa]

omg I would love to see some numbers on the relevance of this article -- what... maybe .0001% of purchasers engage in this kind of cat-and-mouse unlocking/jailbreaking/etc.? With all the agreements you have to sign, deposits, etc., who apart from a Platonic Ideal of a Platonic Ideal of a Geek would do such a thing???

[darkpoet25]

You would be suprised how 'jailbroken' and unlocked iPhone's you see on eBay going for hundred's of dollars.