The iPhone Dev Team has released AnySim, their GUI application to unlock the iPhone. This should make the free software unlock practical for a wider audience than their original command-line solution.
If you are eager to buy a new iPhone and use this unlock hack because you are a T-mobile customer in the US and still on contract, or because you are outside the US, I’d hold off for a little while. It is very likely that Apple will release an iPhone update within the next few weeks when they roll out the mobile version of the iTunes store, it may even come as soon as this Tuesday, when they are expected to announce European iPhones. That update, or any other could relock the iPhone and break existing unlock software. What’s more, there is no telling how long it will take people to create new unlocks. You may be in the position of either having an iPhone you can’t use at all, or an iPhone you can’t update with new features. I’d suggest waiting a few weeks to see what happens. Ok, you have been warned. Have fun.
Download:
PXL Package:
Mirror:
You’ll need a tool like iBrickr (for Windows) or iFuntastic (for Mac) to install the app on your iPhone.
The iPhone Dev team has posted a step by step guide on how to unlock your iPhone using their free unlock software. An easier to use GUI unlocker is on the way. There have been earlier versions kicking around, but they haven’t been carefully tested. If it were me, I’d wait for the next release.
Another set of instructions
Update: There is now a GUI application for unlocking the iPhone that simplifies things greatly.
Update: There is now a GUI application for unlocking the iPhone that simplifies things greatly.
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Congratulations to all the current and former members of the iPhone Dev team. They’ve just released a free software unlock for the iPhone that will allow it to be used on any GSM carrier without requiring hardware modification. The release comes just a little over a day after IphoneSIMFree finally released their commercial software unlock.
The commercial software looks like it may be easier to use, but I’m sure the open source iPhone hacking community will continue to polish the initial release they way they have with iPhoneInterface, Jailbreak, and installers for 3rd party apps. I’m glad they got their hack out so soon after the commercial version, because the commercial version almost certainly took advantage of their work on decrypting the restore image, gaining access to the phone, creating a toolchain for 3rd party apps, and also the hacked firmware for the cellular radio that GeoHot first released with his hardware unlock.
A tutorial on how to use the unlock software is supposed to be forthcoming. In the meantime you can find download sites after the jump:
Continue reading ‘iUnlock: Free iPhone Software Unlock Available’
I have grown increasingly skeptical about iPhone SIM Free’s claims of having a software unlock for the iPhone once they started taking pre-payments and then started pushing back the release date. However, they are promising they will start distributing the unlocks to wholesale customers tomorrow, so we’ll soon see if they are the real deal.
They are only selling the unlock through 3rd party retailers, not direct.
If you are going to be retailing selling the unlock software, or unlocked iPhones, send me an e-mail about getting a mention on this site. We get a few thousand people a day on this site, and most of them have been Googling for an iPhone unlock.
It’s been a week and a half since a group called iPhoneSimFree demonstrated a software iPhone unlock to Ryan Block of Engadget with the promise to start selling it within a week or so. Recently they sent out e-mail with a wholesale price list ($25-38/phone, depending on order size) and indicated that they were taking pre-orders. People hoped to see a release this weekend, and again this morning, but so far, still nothing.
More and more people are beginning to doubt that they have anything to offer at all, and that Ryan is either a dupe or a shill.
They seem to be playing a dangerous game here. If they have a real unlock, then it has a limited shelf life. Apple can update the firmware and break it, and the longer they wait, the more likely they are to have a competitor, which at some point will certainly include an open source solution.
On the other hand, if they don’t have a real unlock, it may be in their interest to play for time. For one thing, they can accumulate a lot of cash via preorders before skipping out on their commitments, or if the open source hack comes out, they can repackage it and claim to have fulfilled their end of the bargain. Either way, they wouldn’t be around long.
Meanwhile, tempers are flaring in various iPhone forums as the skeptics, the true believers, and the shills face off.
