AT&T's Easter Present - Free iPhone Unlocking

Great news for AT&T customers wanting to unlock their iPhones.  Starting today, the company will give you a free IMEI unlock code straight from Apple.  This will work regardless of baseband, with no Jailbreak or SIM adapter required.

But there's one big catch to qualify - you have to be a current AT&T customer with a completed contract.  For example, you originally bought an iPhone 3GS in 2009 and upgraded to the 4 or 4S on your own without renewing your contract.


The move makes business sense for AT&T.  With the 5-year deal signed with Apple expiring soon, the company is looking to differentiate itself from competitors.  Even though Verizon and Sprint carry the iPhone 4S, both still lock it to their network and charge roaming fees when travelling abroad.  Additionally, the iPhone does not support T-Mobile's 3G network, making it unlikely that unlocked customers will leave for that competitor.

Don't waste your time on IMEI unlocking services

If you've seen unlock services for baseband 4.11.08 costing $180 US, chances are they're referring to an IMEI unlock window that was recently offered.  On March 14th, the window closed, so this is no longer an option. Full details can be found in this article.

This leaves most of us stuck waiting for a software unlock for 4.11.08.  When will that happen?  Nobody really knows.  Supposedly it's "being worked on" and should be released with the next version of UltraSn0w, but there is no real timeline.

'Patch' that unlocks baseband 4.11.08 is actually a virus

I came across this YouTube video showing an iPhone running baseband 4.11.08 being "unlocked".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJaxIiYKaa8&feature=related

The author claims that by running a patch to RedSn0w, it does a special jailbreak that automatically unlocks IOS 5.0.1 devices with 4.11.08 basebands.  No mention of UltraSn0w or Gevey Sim.

If this sounds too good to be true, it is.  Here's 3 reasons why

1. RedSn0w does not unlock phones, so patching it would be useless.  RedSn0w only jailbreaks.
2. The patch file does not change the size of modification times of the RedSn0w binary.   
3. The iPhone in the video is model MD128TU.  This particular model is not Sim-locked.

Not surprisingly, 'patch.exe' is a trojan horse and running it will infect your computer.

When I see a proven unlock of an locked iPhone 4 (i.e. model MC319LL) with a 4.11.08 baseband, I'll test it personally and post it here.