December 4, 2024
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Posted January 30, 2009 at 12:35pm by iClarified
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****THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN UPDATED FOR THE NEW ULTRASN0W UNLOCK THAT WORKS ON THE 3.0 FIRMWARE. IF YOU ARE ON THE 2.2 FIRMWARE THIS TUTORIAL WILL STILL WORK; HOWEVER WE RECOMMEND YOU UPDATE TO 3.0 AND FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS****

These are instructions on how to software unlock the iPhone 3G for use with any GSM cellphone carrier.

Before you can follow these instructions you must have a jailbroken iPhone and you must be on the 02.28.00 baseband(modem firmware). This means that you must be running the 2.2 firmware or have used PwnageTool(NOT QUICKPWN) to install 2.2.1 without upgrading the baseband.


To find your firmware and modem firmware(baseband) versions you can follow this tutorial. If you are not on baseband version 02.28.00 then you need to follow one of these tutorials before unlocking: Mac, Windows


For your convenience this tutorial is available in video format also.

Step One
Press to launch Cydia Installer from your SpringBoard.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Two
Press to select the Manage tab at the bottom of the screen.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Three
Press to select the large Sources button
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Four
Press the Edit button at the top right of the screen.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Five
Press the Add button at the top left of the screen.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Six
Enter http://apt9.yellowsn0w.com/ as the source url and press the Add Source button.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Seven
Once the source has been added press the large Return to Cydia button.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Eight
Press the Done button at the top right of the screen.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Nine
Press to select apt9.yellowsn0w.com from the list of user entered sources.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Ten
Press to select yellowsn0w from the list of packages
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Eleven
Press the Install button at the top right of the screen.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Twelve
Press the Confirm button at the top right of the screen.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Thirteen
After installation completes successfully press the large Return to Cydia button.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Fourteen
Now press the Home button then power off and power on the iPhone. You do this by holding down the power button for 3 seconds then moving the power slider that appears to the right. Press the power button again to turn on the phone.
How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Step Fifteen
You should now be able to insert the SIM of your choice!

***HINTS: It seems that getting your iPhone to pick up your new carrier can be helped by turning off 3G and perhaps toggling the Airplane Mode switch on and off. If you are still having problems try removing and reinserting the SIM or booting with the new SIM already inside. Finally, you can also try to Reset Network Settings from the Settings:General:Reset Menu.

***IMPORTANT: For those having trouble. The yellowsn0w application can simply be uninstalled. If you have tried all the hints and suggestions and still have problems just use Cydia to remove the package and then reboot. You will then have service with your locked carrier as always.

***THANKS: A big thank you to all the members of the iPhone Dev-Team for all their hard work! It is much appreciated by all.

***UPDATES: The Dev-Team has made yellowsn0w 0.97 available. This version supports the 2.2.1 firmware using the 02.28 baseband.
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Comments (744)
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Roby
Roby - January 8, 2012 at 5:08pm
We need a lot more isngihts like this!
Xavi
Xavi - August 5, 2010 at 3:52am
very helpful;)
Nick Slaven
Nick Slaven - July 16, 2010 at 12:34pm
I jailbroke and unlocked my 3G to use on the T-Mobile network and it is working fine. The only thing is that prior to jailbreaking and unlocking it, you were able to send pictures in text messages. Once I unlocked it however, the icon button to "add a picture" into the message no longer appears. Anyone have any ideas? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks is advance!
name
name - November 6, 2010 at 1:15pm
OK GUYS THE WAIT IS OVER ITUNES HAS 4.2 FOR THE PUBLIC NOW OPEN ITUNES TO UPDATE AND THE UNLOCK WILL BE HERE AT 4PM TODAY
Janeece
Janeece - January 11, 2012 at 5:53am
Yup, that'll do it. You have my apprceiation.
And1
And1 - January 23, 2010 at 8:17am
I just keep on getting erroe messages when I enter apt9.yellowsn0w.com in cydia. Is the server down? What is wrong?
mano
mano - October 6, 2010 at 6:09pm
did you resolve this error. I'm also getting this error.
semso
semso - October 17, 2009 at 12:36pm
kako da otkljucam iphon 3g 16gb
Dax
Dax - September 22, 2009 at 10:24pm
But, you have to pay USSS$29.99....this site is FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
joao
joao - July 20, 2009 at 6:41pm
I have major problem. I forgot my passcode and I cannot unlock my iPhone or jailbrake it using iTunes. Can anyone help me with this.
adam
adam - July 14, 2009 at 1:03am
Ive gotten as far as updating the sources. It says downloading packages at the bottom of the screen, the blue bar is completely filled but it froze right then and there... any ideas here?
Gwenn
Gwenn - June 21, 2009 at 4:47am
Hi guys, Downgraded baseband, jailbroken, unlocked Everything worked great!!!! It tool me quite a lot of reboot and airplane mode to get it to recognize the new sim but now it works like a charm Thank you guys
margarita
margarita - June 4, 2009 at 9:54pm
after everything, my iphone still is not picking up the new sim... it is att but pay as you go...
harshil
harshil - June 4, 2009 at 8:26pm
I bought iphone from at&t network,2.1 firmware…unlocked with turbosim in india…now I did jailbroking using quickpwn(windows user) firmware 2.2 basenand 2.30..now when I inserted my Indian sim card(airtel without 3g service)..it did not work….please help..my iphone is just PAPER WEIGHT now
Zlatan Kocovski
Zlatan Kocovski - May 23, 2009 at 5:39pm
Yo !!! You people rule!! I'm from Macedonia and i have an iPhone 3G, i used it with turbosim card but it was B A D!! so i said let me try this... and it really works!! thakns u saved me 30 euros !!
Ted
Ted - May 12, 2009 at 3:32pm
Thanks for the tutorial, worked like a charm i can finally get rid of my annoying turbosim!
Justin
Justin - May 10, 2009 at 4:05pm
For me changing providers was easy. In Canada there are two providers that have the iPhone Fido and Rogers. I had a Fido iPhone. When I switched my provider to Rogers my iPhone would not work with my new sim card. So I put the Rogers sim in my iPhone and went to the Apple store. I told them that that battery in my phone wasn't working right. They just replaced the whole phone and because they thought it was a Rogers phone because of the sim card I now have a working Rogers iPhone. No unlock required.
Tom
Tom - May 2, 2009 at 2:50am
Hey Folks, I have an Iphone 3g version 2.2.1 firmware 2.30.03 and a bootversion 5.08 I succesfully jailbreaked and succesfully downgraded the baseband to 2.28.00 Then I installed yellowsn0w to unlock and... it's still locked... have tried it 3 times from beginning to end now, not knowing what I did wrong... anyway my main issue is that my original T-Mobile sim card doesn't work anymore neither! so it's nothing more than a IPod Touch right now... please help!
jazz
jazz - May 2, 2009 at 4:30am
If your not bothered about unlock can't you restore from backup
irvk
irvk - April 29, 2009 at 8:02am
I'm new to this. I have both mac & windows vista &iphone 3g. What is the status to jailbreak & unlock with the latest firmware? I'm confused on this & don't want to try anything in case I wreck up my phone. Is a card such as rebel sim better for me? Help!
BS GIll
BS GIll - April 29, 2009 at 5:10am
while checking boot loader connection error is coming how to solve it
advance
advance - April 28, 2009 at 7:13pm
any news on boot version 5.09?
jack
jack - April 23, 2009 at 2:27pm
Can anyone help me to change my baseband from 02.30 to 02.28?
jazz
jazz - April 23, 2009 at 2:32pm
Follow baseband downgrade tutorial if your on the right bootlloader it can b done go to tutorials on this website
jazz
jazz - April 23, 2009 at 2:35pm
Still trying then ;Q)
jack
jack - April 23, 2009 at 2:58pm
How do i know what bootloader im on? Yeah im still trying but feels like im making progress!!!! hehehehe
jazz
jazz - April 23, 2009 at 4:26pm
Just check tutorial go iPhone/most recent top two howtos are wot u need.you can find them from the left handside of iclarified website
Jazz
Jazz - April 23, 2009 at 1:25pm
I have a 2g iphone that was on 2.2.1 and I lowered it to 2.2. It has been jailbroken with quickpwn, and I also put the yellowsn0w app on with Cydia. After cydia installs it, I don't see any new icons. I've tried toggle airplane mode, reboot, etc. After switching to a TMOBILE SIM, THE PHONE BRICKS ITSELF AGAIN WANTING TO CONNECT TO ITUNES. Works fine with ATT sim card, has not detected any other simcard. Help!
jazz
jazz - April 23, 2009 at 1:33pm
As far as I can remember you don't need yellowsn0w with 2g I think you are following 3g guide.Do the jailbreak again but remember to tick activate box.You don't need to restore in iTunes b4 you redo the jailbreak make sure u use the 2g guide
Jazz
Jazz - April 23, 2009 at 1:42pm
I did but Boo Neuter didn't run, any ideas as to why or how to force it?
JAZZ
JAZZ - April 23, 2009 at 1:47pm
I was able to get Boot to load this time around. However when the iphone comes back on I still get the same message of "Different SIM detected, please connect to itunes"
jazz
jazz - April 23, 2009 at 1:55pm
Are you doing the jailbreak with that sim card installed I think you should do. Try it anyway and remember to tick activate then if that fails start again from the beginning of the how to.
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