Getting your iPhone officially unlocked is probably the best thing you can do for yourself and your iPhone. You no longer need to worry about upcoming software updates, hacking or jailbreaking it, you can save on roaming by switching carriers and even increase its resale value. In order for that to happen, read my tips below that will make your iPhone unlocking process successful.

1. Check and confirm which network your iPhone is locked to

It’s extremely important for you to know about your iPhone’s original carrier. This is fairly easy if you’re the original owner of the phone. If you bought the iPhone from someone, be sure to ask the seller which network is the iPhone locked to. A locked iPhone can only be activated with a SIM card of the original carrier. However, once unlocked, you can activate it with any SIM card. Use our network finder if you need to find out your iPhone’s original carrier.

2. Is your iPhone blacklisted by the original carrier?

There can be many reasons why your iPhone can be blacklisted by your carrier such as reported missing, stolen, unpaid bills etc. If you plan to purchase a used iPhone, I would suggest that you read my earlier article on ‘5 Tips on Buying Used iPhone Online on eBay or Craigslist to Avoid Scam‘. Two extremely important reasons why you need to know this in advance:

• So that you can use your iPhone without any problem as blacklisted iPhone can’t be used on any network
• Normally, blacklisted iPhones would cost more to be unlocked (premium service)

It is highly recommended that you do a blacklist check first before purchasing a used iPhone (we do provide this service here).

3. Check whether the unlocking service has special requirements

Before making your purchase, reading the terms and conditions of the service is vital. Most vendors will refund if they cannot unlock your iPhone. Some vendors will not refund if you submit the wrong IMEI or carrier. iPhone locked to certain network such as Switzerland Swisscom can be unlocked only if it’s already out of contract (we can do both). iPhone 3GS with baseband 6.15.00 must be downgraded to 5.13.04 otherwise you won’t be able to activate it.

4. Submit your order with the correct information

You must submit your iPhone’s IMEI correctly otherwise your order will be delayed or interrupted. This will slow down the whole unlocking process because the vendor will have to contact you and ask for the correct information. Double check your iPhone’s IMEI and submit without entering any space. Avoid using the IMEI from the box or SIM tray because they get switched. There are several ways to get your iPhone’s IMEI correctly:

• Go to Settings, General, About on your iPhone
• Launch Keypad (Phone app) and press *#06#
• If your iPhone is stuck on the activation screen, you can get the IMEI by using redsn0w’s identify feature.

5. Follow the unlocking instructions carefully

As soon as you’ve received notification from your vendor that your iPhone is ready for unlocking, they would usually include a set of instructions or steps as shown on our website on how to perform the unlock. The unlocking steps are standard and easy for all iPhones. In our case, if you order an official AT&T iPhone unlock, you won’t need to wait any confirmation from us. As soon as your order hits the time limit, simply proceed with the unlocking steps as shown here. Currently we provide 4 different types of unlocking speed for official AT&T iPhone unlock:

• 5-60 minutes (but usually done in less than 15 minutes)
• 1-10 hours
• 24 hours
• 48 hours

Hopefully these 5 tips will make your iPhone unlocking process as seamless as possible. As an iPhone unlocking service provider we’ll be very happy if you can use the tips above but in any case if you need any help at all, our support team will be more than glad to assist you.

Not too long ago, using SIM interposer such as Gevey SIM was the only way to unlock iPhone 4. However, ever since officially iPhone unlock such as this one for AT&T became available to the masses, using Gevey SIM is no longer popular and officially obsolete. Consider yourself lucky if you were able to officially unlock your iPhone 4 as there are still many people stuck with if their iPhone 4 are on baseband 04.12.05, 04.12.02 or 04.12.01.

If you’re one of those folks who have been Googling for a solution to this problem, you’ve probably seen some websites appearing that they can now unlock iPhone 4 on baseband 4.12.05 and below using something called ‘Superior SIM’. Despite their claims, I can conclude that it’s fake after I did my own basic investigation. Mind you this isn’t the first time someone claimed that they can unlock baseband 4.12.05. DowngradeiPhone has scammed far too many people with their ‘baseband downgrader’ program and Rebel SIM once tricked people into buying their SIM interposer.

1. Fake Address

I won’t share their web address here to protect our followers and fellow readers. Just Google for the product name and it should appear on top of the list. So I went to their website and clicked on ‘Contact Us’. So, their office address is in London, UK. OK, great. Let’s Google for the address, shall we?

After checking Google maps for the same address, it is actually a dental clinic occupying the same address as shown above. Don’t tell me these dental practitioners are also selling iPhone unlocks!

2. Dodgy Facebook Page, Website and YouTube Videos

Unless if you’ve only been on the internet yesterday, I’m sure you can tell that their website looks a little bit too dodgy. The Facebook page is not really a ‘page’ but a ‘person’s profile’ who’s trying to be friends with everyone. Some of the YouTube videos trying to prove how it works are simply too unconvincing. I guess you’ll be able to judge that for yourself.

3. Our Reliable Supplier Said It’s Fake

I contacted our supplier for R-SIM 7+ for iPhone 4S/5 again today using WeChat just to be 100%. They said it’s confirmed to be fake because if it’s already available, they will be among the first to know.

Having said that, it’s up to you to decide whether it’s fake or not. If you managed to get yourself one of these and you can confirm that it’s working, please let us know. Who knows, I may be wrong.

Meanwhile, do check our online Store for possible official unlocking options for your iPhone 4 as there are many supported network right now, especially our AT&T iPhone unlock.

If you’re a seasoned iPhone jailbreaker and love Cydia tweaks, at one point in time you may have installed something from Cydia and messed up your iPhone. Usually you are left with no choice but to do a full restore using iTunes. That’s a pain because if you have an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5, there’s no way you can install the same iOS version that has an untethered jailbreak. This is due to Apple’s restrictions and you can only install or restore to the latest iOS.

Let me give you an example. Assume that you currently have an iPhone 5 running iOS 6.1.2 which is jailbroken with evasi0n. You were just trying a couple of jailbreak tweaks on Cydia but suddenly your iPhone 5 keeps on crashing. That’s going to be a pain because the only way to make your device into a usable state again is to do a full iTunes restore. You can only install iOS 6.1.4 (currently the latest version) because Apple is no longer signing iOS 6.1.2. That means you will lose your jailbreak and you will have to wait until the next untethered jailbreak becomes available. It can be a long and painful wait.

SemiRestore, developed by @coolstarorg, is a wonderful and a new addition to jailbreaking tools will allow you to refresh your iOS without having to do a full restore. You won’t need to lose your untethered jailbreak ever! It takes out SHSH and APTickets out of the iOS restore equations that enables you to restore your iOS quickly and painlessly. It’s fully compatible with all jailbroken iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and iPad mini models running iOS 5.0 through 6.1.2.

There are already some basic information on his website including requirements:

• 5-10 minutes of your time!
• A computer running Windows or Mac OS X
• OpenSSH and APT 0.7 Strict (NOT THE LIB) installed on your device
• An SSH client on your computer (USB version coming soon)

… and some FAQs:

Can I use this to go from firmware x to firmware y?

No, this only allows you to go to a fresh version of your current firmware.

Do I need SHSH blobs or APTickets for this semi-restore?

No, since this is not a full restore and is at the userland level, this doesn’t require blobs.

I have a question regarding the jailbreak process or jailbreaking in general.

Please go to the Jailbreak QA dedicated website or try /r/jailbreak on Reddit.

SemiRestore is currently in Beta stage but the developer may allow you to test it. Check out his Twitter here and send make a request by sending him a tweet if you’re interested to be part of the Beta testers. Some people who helped testing it already gave him rave reviews of this excellent tool.

Currently there’s no ETA of the release date but the website shows a progress bar to show the current status of the development. When I last checked it was already 60% done and at round 2 of Beta testing.

It has been a while since we last saw a tool like this that can benefit so many people in the jailbreaking community. One thing for sure that iDevice jailbreaking is not dead and will continue to reign for many years to come.

You’re probably trying to restore your iPhone 5 using iTunes but kept getting this error. If you’re new to using iPhone, one of the most important things you need to know is you can never downgrade your iOS. This is by designed, and of course, how Apple wants it to be. The main reason is that Apple doesn’t want you to jailbreak your iPhone. For example, iOS 6.1.2 has exploits that can untether jailbreak the iPhone 5. Since Apple can no longer patch or fix previous releases of iOS, they can only do it on the next update e.g. in iOS 6.1.4.

Now let’s go back to your iTunes restore error 3194. This is a very common error if you’re trying to restore your iPhone. Error 3194 is a response from Apple’s verification server (or by Saurik’s server) telling you that your iPhone is not eligible to be restored to a particular iOS version. Apple will only allow you install the latest iOS, but why are you still getting this error if the iOS version you’re trying to restore to is already the latest? Well, the problem lies with your computer’s hosts file.

iTunes uses your computer’s hosts file to “communicate” with Apple’s iOS restore verification server. It exists in both Mac and PC. If your hosts file is modified, you will definitely get this error message when updating to iOS 6.1.4 using iTunes.

So, how did your hosts file got modified in the first place? Jailbreaking software such as TinyUmbrella and redsn0w are the culprits. If you’ve used one of these programs before, they will modify your hosts file to trick iTunes to NOT connect to Apple’s iOS restore verification server. Why you may ask? On older devices, it IS possible to restore to an older iOS for as long as you have the SHSH saved. This is a separate topic but is related so let’s discuss about this another day while we work on fixing this issue.

How to Fix iTunes Error 3194 When Updating iPhone 5 to iOS 6.1.4

Scenario 1: if you need to restore to a firmware version that is currently being signed by Apple (latest iOS):

Apple OS X Snow Leopard & Leopard

1. Open Terminal (Click Spotlight, or press Command+Space. Now type terminal.)
2. Copy and paste the following code into Terminal
   sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts
3. Press Enter.
4. Remove any line that says 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com or similar.
   
5. Save by pressing Command+S, click Save.

Apple OSX 10.4.X Tiger

1. Open Terminal (Click Spotlight, or press Command+Space. Now type terminal.)
2. In Terminal type, ‘sudo pico /etc/hosts‘, press Enter.
3. Remove any line that says 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com or similar.
4. Press Ctrl+X, then Y to save.
5. Type ’sudo niload -v -m hosts . < /etc/hosts’, press Enter
6. Type ‘lookupd -flushcache’, press Enter.

Microsoft Windows 7 / Vista

1. Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories.
2. Right click “Notepad” and select “Run as administrator”
3. Click Yes on the UAC prompt.
4. Click File -> Open.
5. Change the file filter drop down box from “Text Documents (*.txt)” to “All Files (*.*)”.
6. Browse to “C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc”.
7. Select “hosts” and click “Open”.
8. Remove any line that says 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com or similar.
9. Close Notepad. Click Save when prompted.

Microsoft XP/2003/2000

1. Browse to Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad.
2. Click File > Open.
3. Browse to “C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc”.
4. Select “All Files (*.*)” from the Files of Type drop-down menu.
5. Select “hosts” and click “Open”.
6. Remove any line that says 74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com or similar.
7. Close Notepad.  Save when prompted.

Scenario 2: if you need to restore to an earlier firmware version and if your SHSH blobs is saved in Cydia (Saurik) server:

You will need to add the following line to your hosts file using the same steps above.

74.208.151.171 gs.apple.com

Well, remember to close iTunes or reboot your computer after modifying your hosts file. If you managed to fix this problem, please share, tweet or like below.

The Librarian of Congress determined in October last year that unlocking mobile phones were illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Any iPhone or smartphone that’s purchased or made after January 26th of 2013 cannot be legally unlocked unless permitted by carriers.

However, this act is deemed to be very vague and falls in a huge gray area. No one really understands what it means, at least for the general public.

Now, a bill called the “The Unlocking Technology Act” has been introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and co-sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) – that would completely fix Section 1201 of the DMCA, making unlocking and jailbreaking cell phones, tablets, and game consoles completely legal.

In order for to this happen, if you’re based in the US, you must sign this petition and show your support so that the bill can be passed.

This is important for anyone living in the US because unlocking your mobile phone, jailbreaking your iPad, or modding a game console can land you in court because of the DMCA’s poorly-written “anti-circumvention provision.”

The proposed bill would permanently legalize all such modifications, as long as the purpose of the modifications isn’t piracy or copyright infringement. The bill mentioned on fixthedmca.org has three main parts:

• It amends Section 1201 to make it clear that it is completely legal to “circumvent” if there is no copyright infringement.
• It legalizes tools and services that enable circumvention as long as they are intended for non-infringing uses.
• It changes Copyright Law to specify that unlocking cell phones is not copyright infringement.

“Lock-out codes” are increasingly being implemented by vehicle manufacturers. These codes are used to prevent maintenance by independent repair shops. Again, no copyright infringement is involved in repairing a broken car, truck, or other device, but the DMCA’s vague language can make it a crime,” stated on their website.

You have the rights to do anything with your property so don’t let the DMCA take control of your life!

Since our business is located outside of USA, we are not bound by the law above and can legally unlock any AT&T iPhone or any US mobile phones. Beware of unlocking your iPhone with US-based vendors such as this one as there is a risk that you may be prosecuted!

Apple iPhone 3GS was first released in June 2009, which was about 4 years ago. It is powered by an internal 3.7 V 1219 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery and is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles.

The photo above shows one of customers iPhone 3GS with a battery that expanded 1.5 times its original size. This is a serious problem because it physically applied forced in all directions, causing the logic board to be pushed up. This caused the logic board to bend and disconnects the delicate circuitry on the logic board. The touch screen also gets pushed up and may break the LCD screen.

If your iPhone 3GS is still operating normally but with decreased battery performance, you should consider replacing the battery sooner rather than later especially if it’s from the first production batch. It is easy to check this simply by looking at the serial number.

On your iPhone 3GS, go to Settings > General > About and look for the serial number. Take note of the third, fourth and fifth numbers of the serial number:

XX109XXXX

• 1 is the year of manufacture which is 2011
  
• 09 is week 9 of year 2011

This gives you a good estimation of how old your iPhone 3GS is. Do be aware that if your iPhone 3GS’ battery was never replaced before and your iPhone 3GS came from the first production batches, there’s a chance that this may happen.

While it’s extremely rare, battery problem such as this is usually caused by manufacturing defects. However, I believe Apple and its suppliers are doing all they can to produce high quality products, but the chemicals inside a battery can go unstable and will cause chemical imbalance. Other factors such as a bad battery charger or irregular voltage can also damage the battery.

Seriously, I’m not pulling your legs as there’s already an ongoing discussion about this on Apple’s support forum (photo above was from a user on the Forum). You should schedule an appointment at your nearest Apple store to ask for a battery replacement. If that’s not an option for you, most local repair shops can do the replacement. If you prefer to do it yourself, our eBook on iPhone repair or other online resources can guide you through the process.

Just to give you some ideas, here’s a brief summary of replacing iPhone 3GS battery:

1. Prepare a backup phone in case something goes wrong.
2. Backup your iPhone data.
3. Take apart your iPhone 3GS:

• Remove 2 screws at the bottom
• Use a suction cup to gently lift the display (don’t lift it up all the way yet!)
• Disconnect the cables on the top right of the logic board (extremely delicate!)
• Detach the screen assembly
• Remove all screws holding the logic board
• Detach dock connector and WiFi cable
• Lift the logic board and gently remove the battery (it sticks real hard due to glue, you may want to heat up the back casing with hair dryer for 15-20 seconds to melt the glue)
• Get a replacement battery that matches the model number printed on the battery
• Once you get your battery reassemble everything by reversing the steps above
• Boot up your iPhone

If you run a repair shop it’s best to check your order records and contact your customers who have an iPhone 3GS. I’m sure they will appreciate for letting them know about this potential disaster.

The first thing you found out when you got your iPhone is that it’s not getting any signal from your carrier, or that probably happened a few days after your purchase. You’re pretty sure that there’s no hardware issue but after spending hours online looking for a solution or explanation, you finally found out that it’s been blacklisted by your network provider.

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about ‘What Ever Happens to IMEI Blacklisted iPhones or Other Popular Smartphones?‘ This will help you understand more on why your iPhone got blacklisted in the first place.

It may feel that it’s the end of the world. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Someone out there had gone through what you’re feeling right now. Let’s get things straight and check out these helpful tips.

1. Ask for a refund from your seller

This may be a long shot, but if you bought it used on eBay, you can ask for a refund from the seller by following the refund procedures set by eBay. You will have to arrange to have it shipped back to the seller, once he or she confirms that the iPhone is in order, eBay will release the funds back to your account.

The case may be different if you got your blacklisted iPhone over on Craigslist or on the street. It may be difficult to get your money back because these types of sellers probably won’t entertain your calls at all. They may use a temporary email address and will no longer respond to your email.

2. Use it as a glorified iPod or games console

Since you can’t make calls with your iPhone, just use it as an iPod or install as many games as you can to keep you entertained for hours. You can also download movies and TV series on it which you can watch while on the subway or hanging out in the park. Aside from that, there’s really nothing much you can do with the iPhone, really.

3. Get the ESN or IMEI Cleaned

There’s a bit of a good news if you have a blacklisted iPhone that’s locked to Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile (UK), Orange (UK) and EE (UK). It’s possible to remove them from blacklist. Unfortunately, many other network are still not supported. The services we provided are highly reliable and have helped many people to use their iPhone again. You might also want to know that these services are not limited for iPhone only, any device such as iPad or Android smartphone can only also be removed from network blacklist. Click on the link below to learn more:

• Clean/clear bad ESN/MEID for Verizon USA
• Clean/clear bad ESN/MEID for Sprint USA
• Network fixing or unbarring for UK T-Mobile, Orange or EE
• Network unbarring for Brazilian TIM, Claro, Oi and Vivo

4. Swap the Logic Board

Since IMEI blacklist is usually localized to a country’s particular service provider, that means your iPhone’s IMEI is not blacklisted in other countries. For instance, if you have a factory unlocked AT&T iPhone that’s blacklisted in the USA, if you travel to Australia it will work perfectly on any network there.

There isn’t a way to change the IMEI of an iPhone except by physically replacing the baseband and CPU chips; and this is only possible on iPhone 4 and earlier models. Attempting to change the chips on iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 will only cause damage to your iPhone. This is the reason why swapping the logic board is quite a practical solution. We do provide this a service or if you can find someone who’s willing to swap with you, we can help facilitate this process. Click one of the links below to learn more:

• iPhone 5 logic board swap program
• iPhone 4S logic board swap program
• iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 logic board swap program

5. Get it officially unlocked and sell it

There’s still a market for your blacklisted iPhone. If you live in the USA, you know that there are millions of foreigners coming to your country especially students. When they finish their studies, mostly would return to their home countries. This is where your iPhone becomes valuable.

If you have an AT&T iPhone that’s already officially unlocked but blacklisted, you can sell it off to them. They always want to find good deals while they’re there and even though it’s blacklisted in the USA, it can still be used in other countries.

Please be sure to tell them the whole truth about the history of the phone to avoid any complication later. Remember that honesty is the best policy. So do explain to your potential buyer that the iPhone is blacklisted in your current location but will work fine in his or her country. Don’t forget to checkout other network that we can officially unlock.

6. Sell it as spare parts

If all fails, your last resort would be taking it apart and cannibalize it for parts. The screen, logic board, back casing, dock connector can all be sold separately. It may help someone with a broken iPhone and one of the parts may help revive his or her iPhone again. It’s not the most ideal but you might doing other people a big favor while getting back some of your hard earned cash.

Consider yourself lucky if you bumped into this post while trying to find a used iPhone. The blog post I wrote about 5 Tips on Buying Used iPhone Online on eBay or Craigslist to Avoid Scam will help you prevent all these from happening.

Any other tips to add?

In many occasions, you have to do a full iTunes restore on your iPhone to fix software related issues or if you need to sell it off. I don’t always like to do a full restore on iPhones because sometimes the process and result can be unpredictable and they are a challenge to fix. There are various error messages you can see on iTunes so for an average user, you will need a lot of time to figure out a fix if you encounter one or some of the errors.

“This iPhone could not be restored due to an unknown error (-1)” is probably one of the toughest one to fix because usually it is caused by hardware issues with your iPhone. The solutions below are possible fixes you can do at home without disassembling or taking apart your iPhone. As this issue is probably related to baseband chip corruption, the fixes below may not resolve it but it’s worth trying them yourself before attempting to send your iPhone to a repair center near you. This error occurs towards the end of the restore process which is also the same time when iTunes writes or updates your iPhone’s baseband.

Before you begin, there’s a quick way to identify if the problem is caused by hardware. On older iPhones such as iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, you can restore it using custom firmware built using sn0wbreeze or redsn0w. The restore will usually go through without any problem. Once you can get to the Home screen, go to Settings, General, About and look for the IMEI. On an iPhone 4S or 5, there’s no method to restore it using custom firmware. However, in case you managed to restore it, on the Activation screen, tap on the (i) or information and it will show your the IMEI number.

If the IMEI is present that means there’s no baseband or hardware issue with your iPhone. If it’s showing blank that means it’s certainly a hardware issue so the solutions below will definitely not work.

Solution 1: Make sure that your iTunes is up-to-date

In order to check if you have the latest version of iTunes, launch iTunes and check for updates.

Windows: Choose Help > Check for Updates
Mac: Choose iTunes > Check for Updates

Simply donwload and install any available iTunes updates. Just be sure that you have an active internet connection.

Solution 2: Check that your computer’s operating system is fully patched and up-to-date

On a Mac, click Software Update from the Apple menu and install all available updates. On a Windows PC, go to the Microsoft Windows Update page.

Solution 3: Disconnect other USB devices that are currently connected on your computer

USB devices can sometimes mess up data communication between iTunes and your iPhone. Do the following:

• Disconnect any devices connected to your computer such as printers, scanners, dangling cords, card readers, cameras, and so on.

• Connect only your keyboard and mouse. Connect your iPhone directly with its cable.

• Restart your computer.

• Launch iTunes again and try to do a full restore.

Please pay attention if you have a virtualization software or operating system installed, as it may create a virtualized USB port which may also cause issue.

Solution 4: Temporarily deactivate or uninstall antivirus software or firewall on your computer

Third party security software such as antivirus or firewall is designed to block certain data that may harm your computer. To prevent this from happening they must be kept up to date and properly configured to effectively protect your computer while still allowing an update or restore to proceed. If your computer uses a router on your local network, additional security policy applied on the router which may block some data that’s required to restore your iPhone.

Solution 5: Restart your computer

Sometimes a lot of issues can be fixed simply by doing a computer restart. If you have tried the above make sure you try this as well.

Solution 6: Possible hardware fixes (not for novice)

The solutions below are not meant for novice so proceed only at your own risks!

• Replace the dock connector
• Heat up the baseband CPU chip

I hope that one of the suggested solutions above may help bring life back to your iPhone again. Otherwise, your only choice is to get it fixed or replacement from Apple if it’s still under warranty.

The latest iOS update which is meant for iPhone 5 only is designed to fix and update the audio profile for speakerphone. If you’re not a frequent user of your iPhone’s speakerphone, the update may not be entirely useful for you.

A user who updated her iPhone 5 to iOS 6.1.4 said:

It makes the speaker sound much more clearer then before tried a call and used the speaker and i find it made a big improvement fro before! much clearer sound!

However, many people may not notice the difference. Probably it’s just purely psychological.

There was no change in the modem firmware (baseband) version 3.04.25, which means it’s still exploitable to be unlocked using R-SIM or any other similar SIM interposer. However, if you have already jailbroken your iPhone 5 using evasi0n you should avoid updating it because you will lose your jailbreak.

Since there’s no bootrom level exploit publicly available yet, you can’t downgrade your iPhone 5 to previous iOS version once you’re on iOS 6.1.4. Unfortunately you’ll have to wait until the next jailbreak is released. If you’re new to using iPhone, this will become a painful lesson especially if you rely a lot on your jailbreak apps.

High battery drain which is a widely reported issue among iPhone users is probably not yet resolved in iOS 6.1.4. A user on Apple support forum reported that the problem got worse after updating his iOS. It’s difficult to pinpoint whether this an just an isolated incident or will it affect all iPhone 5′s. Apple is currently doing a total overhaul of the iOS so maybe the battery issue will be resolved in iOS 7.

The size of the patch is approximately 12MB which should take you a few minutes to download and apply the update.

Have you installed iOS 6.1.4 yet?

… And oh, the image you see at the top is a logic board of factory unlocked AT&T iPhone 5, in the process of being tested for our logic board swap program.

If you found this blog by accident it’s very likely that you’ve been trying to find a solution on how to downgrade your iPhone 4′s modem firmware which has been updated to 4.12.05. Your ultimate aim is, of course, to unlock your iPhone 4 which is already on version 4.12.05. It’s a frustrating experience because you tried various online tutorials and read contradicting reports or blogs on how to downgrade your iPhone 4 baseband but none of them had helped you address this problem.

As I’ve mentioned earlier in this article, downgrading iPhone 4 baseband 4.12.05 to a lower version is not possible, and probably will never be. Apple, Inc., well known for their “superb ecosystem” of devices, patched the exploits since the iPhone 4 was first introduced. The main purpose of this is for “security”, but I believe it’s more for supporting their partner carriers so that people who are on one carrier can’t easily switch carriers. Each time there’s a software update, Apple will do anything they can do patch any potential exploit that will allow unlocking or downgrading of iPhone’s baseband.

The first unlock available for iPhone 4 was a few months after it was first released in June 2010. I still remember back then when iOS 4 was launched together with this product, hackers were busy trying to find exploits for jailbreaking the iOS 4. The first modem firmware that comes with iOS 4 was baseband 1.59.00. When the untethered jailbreak was made available, hackers were able to hack that baseband and it was unlocked with ultrasn0w. Sadly, that was the only baseband that was exploitable and can be unlocked. Hackers have been putting high hopes to iPhone 4 users saying that the newer baseband can be unlocked or downgraded. That didn’t happen.

Three years later, iPhones baseband still can’t be unlocked using software method. Now, notice that I mentioned software method here. This is because it was still possible to unlock the iPhone 4 using a small third party device called Gevey SIM. If you bought a used iPhone from someone else, you may notice in the SIM tray that there’s a SIM card like device with a small microchip on it. This was an interesting piece of device that was able to unlock baseband 2.10.04, 3.10.01 and 4.10.01.

However, there was one tiny exception. Early least year a glitch with Apple’s activation servers around the world allowed any iPhone to be unlocked using a jailbreak app called SAM Preferences. This exploit was found by a young Chinese hacker here in Beijing. Apple was quick to address this issue by patching all their activation servers around the world.

Today, there’s still no method available to downgrade your iPhone 4 baseband 4.12.05 to a lower version. You can save your time from searching more on Google because you can’t find a solution or worst, you might be scammed by this company who claims that they can downgrade your baseband. Maybe you should consider getting your iPhone officially unlocked instead, which is by far the most superior (and only) solution available to unlock iPhone 4 baseband 4.12.05.