For the first time in history, Apple is now offering factory unlocked iPhones in the U.S. If you walk into your local Apple store, or browse online, you can purchase an unlocked iPhone 4 for operation on any compatible carrier. These unlocked devices start at $649.
AT&T does not currently offer unlocked iPhones in the United States. AT&T has yet to state if it will offer unlocked iPhones in its stores, or if the GSM carrier will unlock previously purchased iPhones.
Following the news that RedSn0w will jailbreak iOS 5, an unlock solution for the iPhone 4 on iOS 5 has also been uncovered. The Gevey SIM is a TurboSIM-like piggy back SIM card that will unlock iPhone 4 basebands.
On iOS 5, it appears that the Gevey SIM will still unlock the iPhone 4. Be warned: the Gevey SIM is technically illegal, so we do not recommend this method for unlocking the iPhone 4 on iOS 5.
Apple has once again updated their iOS firmware, and with it came the usual questions. Can the new firmware be jailbroken? Yes, there are multiple ways to jailbreak your iDevice as long as it is compatible with iOS 4.3.3 or 4.2.8 for Verizon models.
Can my iPhone be unlocked if I update? Sort of. This is where things tend to get tricky. Unlike jailbreaking, the ability to unlock is dependent on the model of iPhone you have as well as a few other variables. Need help determining if your iPhone is unlockable? Hit the jump for a full breakdown...
Three updates, and three jailbreaks using the same exploit; that's got to be some sort of record.
For those of you interested in preserving your baseband with this latest jailbreak, you're obviously going to want to stay away from RedSn0w.
PwnageTool is the jailbreak tool to use when you're interested in creating custom firmware, and most importantly, when you need to preserve an unlockable baseband. Even if your baseband isn't unlockable, you may want to preserve your baseband in case a future unlock is found.
The good news is, the choice is yours. Without further explaining, here is the tutorial that will show you how to jailbreak your iPhone running iOS 4.3.3 and preserve your baseband with PwnageTool...
The iPhone Dev Team has updated the UltraSn0w unlock tool with support for iOS 4.3.2. You can use PwnageTool to jailbreak your iPhone and preserve your baseband for the latest UltraSn0w unlock.
The latest release of UltraSn0w does not support new basebands, it only fixes compatibility issues with already-unlocked iPhones. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to install the latest version of UltraSn0w to unlock your iPhone running iOS 4.3.2.
The Dev Team has updated the popular jailbreak tool, PwnageTool, with an untethered jailbreak for iOS 4.3.2. PwnageTool now joins RedSn0w and Sn0wbreeze as the third tool that can jailbreak iOS 4.3.2.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to use PwnageTool to jailbreak your iPhone 4.3.2 while also preserving your baseband. PwnageTool is for Mac OS X only and is the only way to preserve your baseband to make sure you can unlock later…
Following the release of the updated PwnageTool 4.3.2 jailbreak tool, the iPhone Dev Team has also pushed out an update to the UltraSn0w unlock in Cydia.
UltraSn0w 1.2.2 has been released to support the new iOS 4.3.2 firmware, as the previous version of UltraSn0w (1.2.1) was broken in iOS 4.3.2. Please note, this will only work for the older iPhone 4 baseband 1.59.00, and iPhone 3G/3GS  basebands 4.26.08, 5.11.07, 5.12.01, 5.13.04, and 6.15.00. It can not unlock newer basebands since there is currently no unlock available.
The iPhone 5 will be a dual-baseband device that operates on both GSM and CDMA networks. According to comments made by Verizon CFO Fran Shammo in the company's last quarterly earnings call, Apple's next iPhone will be a "global device" compatible with all carriers.
Shammo was the one that leaked the information that Verizon would be getting the iPad 2, so there's reason to believe his claim is true.
With the iPhone Dev Team's inability to find a usable baseband exploit for the iPhone 4 and release a stable unlock for basebands 2.10.04, 3.10.01, and the newer 4.10.01, several alternate iPhone 4 unlock solutions have sprouted.
The first option was the Gevey SIM Interposer. Similar to a Turbo SIM, the Gevey SIM Interposer worked by adding a EEPROM chip to your SIM card. You would then call 112 from the Emergency Dialer screen. Once the call connected you would hang up then toggle Airport mode on and off. When the network connection resumed, your iPhone 4 would be unlocked.
This method would provide a "tethered" unlock, meaning that after you reboot your iPhone, you would need to repeat the unlock process. While the legality of the unlock solution was questionable at first, Dev Team member, MuscleNerd, confirmed the unlock method was illegal.
MuscleNerd has confirmed that UltraSn0w update is coming for iOS 4.3.1 in a few days. The unlock tool has had several bugs and is currently incompatible with several older basebands.
To clarify: the upcoming UltraSn0w update will not unlock any new basebands. The update is meant for current unlockers that wish to update to the latest 4.3.1 jailbreak and keep their unlock.
Now that Redsn0w 0.9.6rc9  finally provides the long awaited iOS 4.3.1 untethered jailbreak, many iPhone 4 owners with unlocked iPhones’ have been advised to hold off upgrading to 4.3.1 as you will lose the ability to unlock, since the newer firmware will update your baseband.
Furthermore, as we've mentioned earlier this morning, the new iOS 4.3.1 firmware currently is incompatible with the Dev Team's ultrasn0w unlock tool. It is recommended that you wait for the Dev Team to update this tool before upgrading and jailbreaking.
But for those anxious to update to the new iOS 4.3.1 firmware and still preserve their iPhone 4 1.59.00 baseband so they can be guaranteed an unlock when the Dev Team updates their ultrasn0w tool, follow our tutorial below.Â
Recent rumors have said that Apple won't be releasing the iPhone 5 at WWDC in June. TechCrunch reported that iOS 5's release will be pushed back to the fall, and that we won't see any hardware announcements from Apple this summer.
If this report is true, this year will look very different for Apple. The company's product cycle has always been fairly predictable, but circumstances surrounding the iPhone point to an unusual set of releases this year.
Specifically, consensus seems to be that LTE could be playing a role in Apple's decisions surrounding the next iPhone...