The Difference Between Jailbreaking and Unlocking

By , Jul 10, 2009

There is a lot of confusion among noobies about jailbreaking and unlocking. One of our readers recently asked for a clear “non geeky” definition of both terms.

If you already know the difference between jailbreaking and unlocking, this article might not be very helpful to you but you may still be able to give us some insights or maybe add your comments and suggestions. If you don’t know what jailbreaking or unlocking means, then read on because you’re just about to get a crash course on iPhone hacking…

What is Jailbreaking?

Definition of Jailbreaking

Jailbreaking is the process by which an iPhone firmware is modified to allow unsigned code to be run to gain access to files that Apple wouldn’t normally let you access. Jailbreaking adds unofficial application installers to your iPhone such as Cydia or Icy (I personally only use Cydia), which let you download many 3rd-party applications previously unavailable through the App Store.

Is Jailbreaking Legal?

Update: Jailbreaking is now officially legal in the US

Yes and no. The legality of jailbreaking is very unclear. Most iPhone owners including myself think that since we own the iPhone, we should be able to do whatever we want with it.

Apple’s lawyers think differently as they consider jailbreaking to be a violation of copyright. I had a phone conversation with Apple’s copyright attorney about a year ago and he admitted to me that they are not capable of going after every jailbreaker out there… To these days, I don’t think anyone has had legal issues with Apple due to jailbreaking.

Why Jailbreak Your iPhone

Jailbreaking lets you install applications that are not approved by Apple. Many of these applications can be very helpful but they will unfortunately never make it to the App Store due to Apple’s restrictions. There are many reasons why you would want to jailbreak your iPhone:

  • install 3rd party applications rejected by Apple for various reasons (ie. nudity)
  • video recording (now available on the iPhone 3GS)
  • changing the look and feel by installing custom graphics and themes
  • free tethering
  • get access to cracked App Store apps for free (not endorsed by me, but still worth noting)
  • be able to unlock your iPhone

Why Not Jailbreak Your iPhone

I can only think of one reason why you wouldn’t want to jailbreak. Jailbreaking your iPhone automatically voids the warranty. This is not really a problem as you can always restore your iPhone in iTunes, putting it back to its factory settings. This will make it impossible for Apple to see you jailbroke your iPhone, thus not voiding your warranty.

In the past, some jailbreak methods were not very stable and sometimes turned your iPhone into an iBrick aka an expensive paper weight. Jailbreak methods are now very stable and I have yet to hear about someone bricking his iPhone while jailbreaking. In other words, jailbreaking is safe!

How Do I Jailbreak My iPhone?

I wrote many tutorials on how to jailbreak your iPhone, depending on what iPhone and what firmware you have. Check them out, follow the instructions, and have fun. You don’t need to have a PhD in computer science to jailbreak your iPhone. It’s very simple and straightforward. If you can download 2 files and click “next” when prompted, then you can jailbreak your iPhone.

What If Something Goes Wrong?

It’s very unlikely that something will go wrong… If you have a problem, simply plug your iPhone to your computer, launch iTunes, and click “restore”. As I mentioned above, it will restore your iPhone to factory settings.

Why Are You Still Reading This?

What? You’re still aren’t sure about this whole jailbreak thing? You’re missing out big time. An unjailbroken iPhone is a plain boring iPhone! Jailbreaking is the best thing that has happened to my iPhone and I seriously can’t live without it.

What Is Unlocking?

Definition of Unlocking

Unlocking is the removal of SIM restrictions on the modem, allowing the use of the iPhone on any carrier. There are 2 types of iPhone unlocks:

  • software unlock: the iPhone is unlocked by a software
  • hardware unlock: modification have to be made to the actual hardware to unlock the phone

Software unlocks are safer because they do not modify your device and can easily be reverted back. Soft unlocks are mostly developed for free by the Dev Team, an international group of iPhone hackers. Hardware unlocks are a little tricky and usually cost money. In clear, if you want to unlock your iPhone, you can do it for free by with a safe software unlock.

Is Unlocking Legal?

According to Wikipedia, “unlocking a phone without the permission or unlocking code from the provider is usually in breach of the agreement with the provider, though most countries do not make specific laws prohibiting the removal of SIM locks. In the United States the DMCA formerly was claimed to criminalize unlocking. However, an exemption that took effect 27 November 2006 specifically permits it.”

Why Unlock Your iPhone

The main reason to unlock your iPhone is if you want to use it with a different service provider (ie T-Mobile). An unlocked iPhone also has a better resell value.

Why Not Unlock Your iPhone

If you’re good with your phone carrier and will not use your iPhone internationally, there is absolutely no reason for you to unlock your iPhone.

How Do I Unlock My iPhone?

Before unlocking your iPhone, you will have to jailbreak it. The unlock can either be done from a computer, or directly from the iPhone. Check out my iPhone unlock tutorials for step by step instructions.

What If Something Goes Wrong?

Although unlocks can sometimes mess up your settings a little bit, they are constantly improved to fix errors and bugs. If something goes wrong, you can always restore your iPhone to factory settings.

In Short…

I case you’re still not really sure you understand the difference between jailbreaking and unlocking, let me put it in very simple words. Jailbreaking an iPhone means that 3rd party applications can be installed on it (ie. apps from other developers than Apple). Unlocking an iPhone means that any SIM card can be used on it.

If you have questions or anything you want to say, feel free to leave a comment below or start a new conversation in the forum.

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  • Rena

    Quick question:
    Is the unlock for IOS 4.1 already available?
    I have a 3g with 4.0 and want to upgrade.
    Thanks a lot!

  • Sekar

    Hi, I recently updated my iphone software to firmware 4.2.1 and baseband 03.10.01. Now my iphone is locked and I cant use it. Is there any way I can jailbrake and unlock it….?

    Thanks,
    Sekar

    • Duncan

      You need to update the baseband. You can do this by other means, but the easiest is to use redsn0w to install the iPad’s baseband. There are risks involved with this, but they are minimal. Once that’s done, it should unlock using ultrasn0w.

  • Oscar Villa

    I have a new iphone 4 on 4.2.1 with a contract, so that means my carrier is unlocked, will it be locked after doing a jailbreak?

  • NiX

    @Oscar Villa:

    No, if it’s factory unlocked (or unlocked by the carrier) it will be unlocked forever. Happy JBing!

  • Adv. vishal

    i am very thankful to all the gr8 info u have uploaded on net making lives simpler for iphone users..

  • Duncan

    Beware of restoring a Jailbroken iPhone. You cannot do a factory restore using iTunes if you have Jailbroken and unlocked on the iOS4.2.1. There is a mismatch between the baseband and you need to get a custom firmware. This is quite a large issue.

    Also, apparently most of the time, when jailbreaking an iPhone 3G, there is a battery drain and temperature problem (as well as the lack of GPS services).

    Apart from these, there are no worryable issues, particularly ones that can’t be easily fixed.

    • Stefan

      Hi, that seems critical.

      I have a 3G. So far, I could jailbreak it on 4.2.1 using redsn0w. However, I cant gain access to the SIM, and f0recast says, it’s unlockable. What could i do now?

      Return to 4.1, then jailbreak and unlock again? How? Or is it already impossible to return as of now?

  • Ali

    i want to disable my auto edge connection on 3gs with signal bar there is always showing “E” and here in my country my service provider charge for it contineously :( my phone is a jailbroke one i think as told by the person who sold it to me

    Now my second question if i use cydia and install any application like BOss prefs to disable my edge will their be any pro with it as my phone is not factory unlocked ??

    Anxiously waiting for the reply

  • uch

    Hi, i am very new to iphone. how can i fine out the version software ie firmware,baseband of my iphone (i believe the iphone is 3gs because its 32gb), i just bought it from a relative of my in germany.

    i suppose the 32gb should be the storage size, but when i open the file manager the 2 memory i saw there 1 was 21mb, the 2nd was 3.6gb. if i add the two memory it is still not up to the 32gb.

    please i need urgent answers, suggestions & information to this my question.

    one more thing pls, i know my iphone is unlock because i have used 3 sims on it… how can i find out if it have been jailbreak.

  • Iphone beginner

    I have an ipohone 4 with version 4.0. I need to find out if my phone is factory unlock or software unlock. Can someone guide me how to check this? I want to upgrade the software and for this I want to find out if my phone is factory unlock or software.

  • Waqas Rehmat

    Hey,

    You look like the perfect and up to dated guy who knows what he is talking about:)

    So, Friend Help me out with the Following problem Please:) I have an iPhone 3g 3.1.3 of baseband that I don’t remmember.

    1. My SBsettings crashed while i was changing a few settings and the phone got restarted. Now its stuck at the apple logo and keeps on rebooting again and again until I switch it off. So do i really need a restore or is there a way out?

    2. I am currently downloading the iOS-4.1 Would I be able to jail break and unlock it?

    3. I remember last time when i restored my phone, it was not accepting the sim (As it was Non AT&T). So i wasn’t able to neither jail break it nor unlock it. So I had to pay a person to unlock it. Is there a way to get the phone started without the original AT&T sim?

    4. Can if i upgraded to iOS4.1, would i be able to downgrade later to ios3.1.3? Which one you suggest? 3.1.3, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2?

    5. What is a baseband? how would that effect my upgrading and downgrading?

    Your help would be highly appreciated:):)

  • nick

    ok i have a question?
    i jailbroke my iphone and the wifi is not working, like it doesnt even search for it. its completely F’d up, now, if i turn on my cellular device would i still be charged on my phone bill?
    please help me! if you have an answer please Email me at giggity111@aol.com
    thank you

  • Mayur

    It has been written somewhere on this webpage that:

    “According to Wikipedia, “unlocking a phone without the permission or unlocking code from the provider is usually in breach of the agreement with the provider”

    I want to know if the iphone warranty continues if the phone is unlocked with the permission or unlocking code from the provider.

    • Davii

      Yes. As described, it is the jailbreaking process that voids the warranty, not the unlocking.

  • anthon

    hello..good day..my iphone3g has been upgraded to ios 4.0.1, after the upgrade my phone just crawl every time you open an applications..right now im contemplating of downgrading it to its lower ios..if i downgrade it, to its orginal setting, do i still unlock it, so i can use other sim?

  • krysta

    i brought my new iphone4 unlocked from the apple site, does that mean its jailbroken aswell? because it said that to be able to unlock an iphone it has to be jailbroken

    • BoNzY

      No, their not going to allow you to run third party app’s… jailbreak :D

    • Kane

      Yes u have to jail break it to download 2nd party applications.

    • Davii

      That’s known as a factory unlock, but actually means that Apple never locked the phone to a provider. It won’t be jailbroken!

  • never love

    Hi
    I have IPHONE4 version 4.2.1 with firmware 03.10.01
    How to unlock the phone??? kindly update….(phone is from at&t)but i want to change to other carrier like of middle east

  • Marko Fisk

    I had to jailbreak my old iPhone 3G to get it to work on my girlfriends carrier. Last night I updated the phone to 4.2.1 using iTunes. I was planning on jailbreaking and then installing ultrasn0w to change the carrier. To my surprise her phone is branded with the current carrier and works quite well. I haven’t had to do anything like usual. Any ideas why this would have happened?

  • Alvin

    I live in Korea and so I bought iphone 4 in Korea… what I’m curious about is that do all these programs in this blog work with Iphone purchased in Korea?

    • Davii

      As far as I’m aware, there is no difference with Korean iPhones. The only difference will be the UI language on the iPhone – the underlying software and hardware is all the same, and the jailbreaking and unlocking procedures are all the same.

  • caribgirl90

    i have an unlocked iphone 3gs on ios 3.1.3 and i want to upgrade to 4.0+ but itunes keeps telling me that my phone cannot be backed up. How do i go about upgrading?

  • Cliff n Bindi

    Hi,

    I have an iPhone 3G that I brought from EBay as the seller said it was unlocked, however, the iPhone is locked to AT&T in the States. I tried to get a refund through PayPal but as the seller only provided a PO Box, I couldn’t ship the phone by registered post, therefore I couldn’t return the iPhone, so PayPal closed the case and now I’m down $380. So my question is, how do I go about unlocking the iPhone as I want to use the phone in Australia with either Optus or Telstra. It is running OS 4.2 but I don’t know the bandwidth, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    Cheers

    • Davii

      Settings>General>About – The iPhone’s baseband is listed as “Modem Firmware”.

  • Ivorh

    Hiya All,
    please don’t think I’m a num-nuts cause I’m not!!
    I’ve bought an iphone from a private seller local to my home town, when i bought it he said it was “unlocked” i put my spare O2 sim in it to go on itunes. once connected to itunes was saying the sim wasn’t recognized? so i started investigating i found it has “SAM” installed. is this Jailbreak software? anyway i’ve disabled SAM and now I’m able to go on itunes… could someone please explain what SAM is and can i remove it from my phone. has SAM got anything to do with the unlocking of my iphone ….

  • Jesse

    Good article. I think there are few people that understand the difference.

  • Zapf

    Great concise article! …with some humor too…
    Thanks!!

    Zapf

  • manpreet

    Will i have to pay to my previous carrier after unlocking?

    • Davii

      Unlocking will just allow you to use a SIM card from another carrier in your iPhone: it won’t magically get you out of a contract with your existing carrier!

  • JP

    hi, i have cracked my iphone 4g with greenpoison. now i tried to restore it and it freezes and will not load any solutions? i tried doing a hard reset no results. i tried plugging it into my comp. well its frozen so it doesnt read it if any solutions please email me. martialarts_100@hotmail.com

    • Davii

      Google is your friend

  • Jayakar

    Hi, I have a 3g with 4.0 OS version. My device is too slow and worse with few applications in particular (like messages, settings tab etc..). Please advice what needs to be checked to improve the performance. Kindly drop a mail to this id “jayakar@live.com” if possible. Thanks in anticipation.

  • Dr.S.M.Nabeel

    Hi. Thank you for the clear explanation.
    I have iPhone 4 ios 4.2.1 with bb 3.10.1 . I believe my phone is factory unlocked since I bought it officially from Saudi Arabia. I am happy with the connection I am using, and I believe,(I can change carriers if I like). So my question is if I jailbreak it, will it affect my carrier too? Will my phone be locked or something?
    P.S. I just want to jail break so i can customize my phone, I am not worried about the carrier. All I need is customization capability and ability to use the phone as phone, not as a brick. LOL!
    Thanks a million.

    • Davii

      If you buy any phone from a network, it will normally come locked to that network. If your iPhone was never locked to a network, you can ignore any information about unlocking, baseband, etc.; all you have to do is jailbreak, and you will have lots more options as a result.

  • haneef

    hi,
    i bought an iphone4 from a serivce provider and it is unlocked(as in i can use other serivce provider sim as well) however i want to know if it is also jailbreak as in order to unlock u need to jailbreak first….. and if its not jail break then is it safe to jail break it ??

    • Davii

      See my reply to Dr.S.M.Nabeel above.

  • JB54

    Hi, I bought an AT&T iphone 3GS 32GB on Ebay without a sim card. Do I need to buy a sim card (AT&T) to unlock and jailbreak it. How do I find out what version OS it has? Can it be used without a carrier (AT&T) to access wifi? Is there an inexpensive way or free way to possibly use it as a phone? Please help me. Thank you.

    • Davii

      You can jailbreak and unlock without a SIM card.
      Settings>General>About will tell you your iOS version (listed as “Version”) and your baseband (listed as “Modem Firmware”)
      Yes – you can use your iPhone without a sim card, but you won’t be able to make any calls.
      I don’t know about other countries, but here in the UK you can get a pay-as-you-go (no minimum-term contract) SIM card for free, from any of the networks.

  • http://www.inmovistas.com Richard

    Great write up, very helpful, Thank you very much.
    Regards
    Richard

  • Saravanan

    I own an iphone 4 baseband 2.10.4. I need to unlock the same, i have 2 questions for you guys…..
    1. Can i downgrade the baseband to unlock the same?
    2. Wat should i do to unlock the same without downgrading?

    Eagerly waiting for an positively reply guys…..

  • http://greenpois0n ray

    i jailbroke my iphone4 4.2.1 and it worked but i cant get to the apps i downloaded on cydia but it show them download and i look and there not hidden

  • jayakar

    Hi, I have a 3g with 4.0 OS version. My device is too slow and worse with few applications in particular (like messages, settings tab etc..). Please advice what needs to be checked to improve the performance. My friends recommend to have the OS degraded so it might improve the performance. Please advice if i can go ahead with the degradation or is there an alternate way(which i would prefer) for my problem. Kindly drop a mail to this id “jayakar@live.com” if possible. Thanks in anticipation.

  • jayakar

    Hi, I have posted my problem already i.e. i have an iphone 3g with 4.0 OS version bought in US and both unlocked and jail broken. My device is too slow and worse with few applications in particular (like messages, settings tab etc..). Please advice what needs to be checked to improve the performance. My friends recommend to have the OS degraded so it might improve the performance. Please advice if i can go ahead with the degradation or is there an alternate way(which i would prefer) for my problem. Kindly drop a mail to this id “jayakar@live.com” if possible. Thanks in anticipation.

  • Crissmuss

    Hi,

    I have a brand new Iphone 4 ios 4.2.1 bb03.10.01 bought from Vodafone(and it is locked on this network).
    Can I only Jailbreak it without to unlock because I already own a simcard from Vodafone?
    If I jailbrerak my phone it will work with my curent simcard?
    Does the jaibreaking process affect my bb?
    What method is better to jailbreak iphone 4 ios 4.2.1 ?

    Thanks,

    • Davii

      Yes – you can JB without unlocking.
      Yes – it will still work after JB.
      Yes – updating and JB may upgrade your BB, but if you’re not going to unlock you don’t need to worry about what BB you have.
      Look at what is recommended. Also, amongst other things, which method you use will normally be dependant upon whether you have access to a mac.

  • Kevin

    I currently have a GoPhone (mainly because I don’t want any 2 year contract) but I was wondering if I could put my sim card in an unlocked iphone. My brother just got the iphone 4 and has no use for his iphone 3. So can I jailbreak/unlock his iphone 3 and put my GoPhone sim card in it? And if I can, will I be able to download apps and use the internet?

    • Davii

      Yes, although it may depend upon what baseband it is running. So long as you can get the baseband unlocked, you can use any SIM card.

  • Josh

    what does it mean to update iphone 4 and not upgrade the baseband? I have a jailbreak iphone 4, will i loose my jailbreak if i update to 4.3.1 without upgrading the baseband?

    • Davii

      Whenever you update through iTunes you will always loose your jailbreak. The iTunes update may also update your baseband. The new baseband may not be unlockable yet (or ever). AFAIK, the only way to update without updating the baseband is to create a custom firmware with the Pwnage Tool.

  • James bishop

    Hi guys. Never Jailbroken my iPhone 4, but I’m looking into it. I do not want to unlock because I have a legit o2 sim card on a contract. I am running 4.3.1 with my modem firmware(baseband) set at 04.10.01 does my baseband have anything to do with the jailbreak? I have tried snowbreeze but it says ultrasnow is not compatible with my baseband, and I’m thinking isn’t ultrasnow just for unlocking. Well I don’t have a clue. Could anyone please help? Thanks in advance.

    • ghiles

      ultrasn0w dosent matter if u dont need an unlock

    • Davii

      No – baseband is only relevant if you want to unlock.
      Yes – ultrasnow is for unlocking.
      Use RedSn0w.

  • kcin

    Hi. I have an iPhone 4 from AT&T bb3.10.01 but with iOS 4.2.1

    I know I can’t unlock an iPhone4 that has this bb and iOS 4.3 BUT can I unlock my iPhone4 even with this bb because I still have iOS 4.2.1? Or when it comes to unlocking, is it the bb that matters and not the iOS at all?

    If I can’t unlock it now (because of my bb), can I jailbreak it now (which would mean I need to update to iOS 4.3) and then unlock it once DevTeam produces an unlocking tool for bb3.10.01? So, basically can I jailbreak now and then unlock later?

    Thanks!

    • http://www.iphonedownloadblog.com Sebastien

      No, you can’t unlock. When it comes to unlocking, it’s not so much the firmware that matters, but it is the baseband. You unfortunately can’t downgrade a baseband, so no unlock for you until the Dev Team figures something out.

  • kcin

    thx! but can i jailbreak now and then unlock later (once dev team figures something else)?

    • http://www.iphonedownloadblog.com Sebastien

      Yes

  • ven

    hi ,i have succesfully jaibreaked iphone 3g with 4.1 ,,after this my iphone is not detecting the signal of my sim ,please help me

  • Denise knabb

    What do I need to do to my iPhone for it to work as a “wifi” for my iPad? Jailbreak or unlock?

  • Kaim

    My bro sent me a iphone 3g from london. He said that he had already jailbreak the iphone and unlocked it. Then how i install cydia the?

  • Denise knabb

    I do not pay for wifi on my iPad but I do on my iPhone 3. What do I need to do so that I can get the wifi on my iPad ? Jailbreak or unlock? denisegsmile@yahoo.com. Thanks

  • Mayil

    Hi, i bought an IPhone4 from UK and the version is 4.3.1 and firmware is 03.10.01. I had done the jailbreak, but i couldnt unlock it. Tried with many people and nobody is able to help me. Can anyone give me an idea how to unlock the Iphone4. Am from India

  • Andrea

    Hi! i have an Iphone 3G firmware is 05.13.04. Software is 4.0.3, not the latest 4.2. I would like to upgrade the phone apps and software to the 4.2 version as what I am running seems old fashioned and like I am lacking capabilities. I cannot get the name of the old owner “Chad the Big Boss” off the phone. It came to be from the United States, jailbroken.. obviously and I assume unlocked to be able to have the as I live in Mexico and Telcel our local provider has distribution issues with apple and we have no access to Iphones locally. Any suggestions as to how to upgrade the software, without jailbreaking and unlocking agian? If I do this will the capabilities of the phone be upgraded? Lastly I am a female the last name I need on my iphone is Chad the Big Boss any help would be appreciated :) Thank you?

  • http://o Malaka

    Hi I’m on 3.1.3 on old iPhone 3g. I’ve searching for tutorials and other forums just to find out which OS is better speed wise. I could’t find much info as it wa. 50/50.
    So I decided to go ahead and update to 4.2.1. Now the question I have is,

    If I do this does it require a seperate unlock ? 3.1.3 crashed twice while installing some apps all I did was a manual restore through iTunes and a rejailbreak to 3.1.3. Can I follow the same process without having to unlock ? Will i lose any additional features ?

    All I gotta do is manualy restore 4.2.1 through iTunes and use redsnow to jailbreak and update 4.2.1. And fir 3.1.3 I had to go to Cydia and add repo and installe it using wifi to get my sim to work. Do I have to perform te sane in 4.2.1 update ??????

    Pls help !!!!

  • qassop

    hi!
    i just jailbreak my iphone4 4.10.01 and it is unlocked factory. but cydia icon shows white and not working?
    can anyone tell what to do?

  • Emily

    Hi! I jailbroke my iPhone (3GS) a long time ago so its still functioning with the 4.0.1 OS.. Im traveling to europe and need to unlock my phone so I can use it with my international sim..
    so two questions:
    Is there a jailbreak update I could use to have the newest OS?
    and how can I back up my phone to my mac before I unlock it? (just incase I mess it up)
    I have both Cydia & Installous

    thanks to anyone who has these answers!

  • priyank

    hi.. i’m using i-phone 3gs…i brought it second hand so i dunno wether it is an unlocked or jailbroken phone…in the settings in my phone the modem firmware is 06.15.00 and version is 4.1(8B117) and carrier is 8.0…

    now i wanna update my version to 4.3.1 to use new apps.. kindly tell me how should i proceed..also i want to unlock it after i update my version to use different sim cards.. and i have windows in my pc…

  • kos

    hi , i have a question : can i jailbreak and unlock without simcard ? :(

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