iPhone Unlocking Methods

There are three ways to unlock iPhone – Ultrasn0w, Gevey SIM, and IMEI Unlock. Lets understand in detail about what features does they provide and which one is the best for you.

Ultrasn0w (Free)

Developed by the iPhone Dev Team, Ultrasn0w is a free application that serves as a carrier unlock for jailbroken iPhones. Frequent business travelers who are hopping between countries and prefer to use a local carrier, or those who don’t want to be locked into a lengthy carrier contract can install Ultrasn0w unlock on their jailbroken iPhone.

The Ultrasn0w won’t work on Sprint and Verizon’s network since they use the CDMA-based network standard. If you are on T-Mobile’s 3G network in US, you won’t get 3G-speed since it uses different frequencies than AT&T. However, it will operate under its rusty old 2G EDGE network which is somewhat slower and have turtle-like speeds.

Supported baseband versions for 3G/3GS for this unlock tool are 4.26.08, 5.11.07, 5.12.01, 5.13.04, and 6.15.00. The only current supported baseband for iPhone 4 GSM is 1.59.00.

All the latest news and tutorial guides related to Ultrasn0w unlock can be accessed from here.

IMEI Unlock (Paid)

There are couple of factory unlock services available which offers a permanent unlock solution for your iPhone without voiding your warranty. Just supply your iPhone’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number and carrier to which your iPhone is locked to, and then wait a couple days for an e-mail confirming that the process is complete. In layman terms, they add your IMEI# to Apple’s unlocked iPhone database. It’s that simple.

These guys have actual access to the Apple database and have a solid contact within AT&T who does have access to it. In order to permanently remove carrier restrictions, they simple add your iPhone IMEI number in a white-list database of unlocked iPhones. They charge between $100 to $200 (price may vary). CutYourSIM, Negri Electronics and SuperPaddyNL are the most reliable sources. We will add more, when available.

If you don’t want to pay such exorbitant rates, you can choose cheaper alternatives: such as the Gevey SIM which unlocks your iPhone without jailbreaking and keeps your warranty intact. But Gevey hardware unlock is iOS firmware and baseband dependent. All the latest news and tutorial guides related to IMEI permanent SIM unlock can be accessed from here.

Gevey SIM (Paid)

GEVEY SIM is a piggyback hardware that let users unlock the SIM on their devices without having to jailbreak the iDevice. It is a SIM-sized piece of plastic, which users insert into their iPhone along with a SIM card to free it from carrier restriction. As compared to the iPhone Dev-Team’s ultrasn0w unlock, Gevey is hardware based paid unlocking hack.

With GEVEY SIM, there is no need to jailbreak your iPhone 4S device or change the normal SIM card. No need to cut the SIM card. Just insert the SIM card and insert the Gevey in your iPhone. It is worth noting that this piggyback doohickey doesn’t require dialing 112 either.

It unlocks ALL worldwide networks (including USA AT&T). The best part of this hardware unlock is that it doesn’t void your warranty since it doesn’t require any sort of hardware alteration or modification. Gevey SIM interposer sells between $50 and $70 only. All the latest news and tutorial guides related to Gevey SIM unlock can be accessed from here.