“How do I unlock my new iPhone?” Has got to be one of the most common questions we get here at Gadget Helpline. Your network will do it for you at a price, which is usually around £20, or you could get it done through a website or third party mobile shop.
One important reason to jailbreak your iPhone 4 or 4S is to be able to install Cydia on iPhone. Cydia, as you may probably know, is very much like the official Appstore where users can download and install apps for free. A lot of the apps from Cydia are not available from the Appstore.
- You can unlock any iPhone that is running iOS 7 and can be jailbroken with evasi0n7; All basebands are compatible. SAM activation tickers must be saved for this guide to work. Only the SIM that was used to save activation tickets originally can be used. Things you Will Need to Start: The SIM card with when activation tickets were saved.
- SAM is a jailbreak app for Cydia that allows you to unlock your iPhone so that you can activate and use a non-stock SIM card that is not supported by your existing carrier. SAM (Subscriber Artificial Module) can be easily installed and applied to any jailbroken iPhone that has Cydia installed.
There are also ways of unlocking an iPhone yourself, for free. However, as you may expect, these aren’t always the most legitimate of methods. We’ve recently come across a rather easy way of unlocking an iPhone 4 or 4S if you’ve got your phone jailbroken already.
The process of jailbreaking your iPhone allows you to install software that Apple wouldn’t allow, and if for any reason your phone has to go back to Apple and still has jailbroken software on it, your warranty will be invalid. That said, if you can restore your phone first, the jailbreak will be gone.
So, to perform this unlock you’ll need a jailbroken iPhone 4S, 4 or 3GS. We’d strongly recommend being on iOS 5 as this version has a complete (untethered) jailbreak, whereas those using iOS 5.1 can only use a tethered jailbreak. This means that if your phone completely runs out of battery or reboots at any point, you’ll need to connect it to your PC via USB and re-jailbreak it each time, so you’ll lose your unlock temporarily.
IMPORTANT: Before starting this process, and before you think about jailbreaking your iPhone if you haven’t already, know that Gadget Helpline accepts no responsibility for any harm that may come to your phone as a result of either jailbreaking or installing this package. That said, we’ve been running a jailbroken iPhone for years with no problems – as have thousands of others – and the unlock package has been fully tested and works very well.
Before starting with Step 1, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your PC or Mac. To check for updates click Help at the top of the screen in iTunes followed by Check for Updates.
Step 1
Jailbreaking your phone will add a little brown icon called ‘Cydia’. This is a jailbroken app store. You’ll need to open this app and tap ‘Manage’ at the bottom followed by ‘Sources’ and then ‘Edit’ in the top right corner. Tap ‘Add’ and then type ‘repo.bingner.com’ and tap ‘Add Source’.
Step 2
Tap Search in the bottom right corner and search for ‘SAM’. You should find at the top of the list a package called ‘SAM’ with the description ‘Subscriber Artificial Module…’ Select SAM then tap ‘Install’ followed by ‘Confirm’ in the top right corner. You’ll see a black screen with a bunch of white text scrolling down for about 30 seconds. Once you see ‘Restart Springboard’ simply tap it and wait for your phone to reboot itself.
Step 3
Open Settings on your phone and scroll down to SAM. Tap Utilities followed by De-Activate iPhone, and tap OK on the prompt to continue. Tap SAM in the top left to go back.
Step 4
Tap Method and then select By Country and Carrier. Tap SAM in the top left to go back, now tap Carrier and select your network.
Step 5
Tap SAM in the top left to go back. Tap More Information and now tap and hold your finger on the long number next to IMSI. Tap Select All followed by Copy.
Step 6
Cyber twin patch editor software. Tap Spoof Real SIM to SAM. You’ll get a notification box saying ‘Spoofed…’, simply tap OK to continue.
Step 7
Tap SAM in the top left to go back. Tap Method and change it to Manual.
Step 8
Plug your phone into your PC using the USB cable provided and open up iTunes. After a short while iTunes should recognise your phone and re-activate it using the new network that you’ve just selected in SAM.
Step 9
Once this process is done you can disconnect your iPhone and close down iTunes.
Step 10
Open Settings on your phone and scroll down to SAM. Tap the On switch next to Enabled to change to Disabled.
Step 11
Connect your iPhone to your PC once more and open iTunes. You’ll be told that iTunes cannot activate the iPhone. Close iTunes down and then re-open it without disconnecting your iPhone.
Step 12
Now iTunes will recognise the phone and re-activate it, and you’re done! Your phone will now work using any SIM on the network you’ve selected. If you want to use another network you can repeat this process, selecting a different network of course in Step 4.
Your phone will remain unlocked and will work fine even when rebooted (unless you’re using a tethered jailbreak of course). However, if you choose to update your iPhone you will lose the unlock as this process will remove the jailbreak altogether. The choice is yours, stay unlocked or stay up to date!
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Tags:4, 4S, Apple, Cydia, GSM, guide, How to Unlock, iPhone, jailbreak, network, SAMPrefs, SIM Free, Unlock
Unlocking iPhone means you can use your iPhone with a different carrier. In the US, UK or Australia, unlocking is sometimes referred to as contract-free or SIM-Free phone. The easiest way to unlock an iPhone is to go through your carrier. Once your carrier unlocked your iPhone, you can back up and restore your iPhone to unlock it immediately. Often, you can only request an unlock from your carrier when your are not tied up to any contract. In other words, you have to meet the requirements to unlock your iPhone. This usually doesn’t happen to people who have just bought an iPhone through a carrier network with monthly installment or people who don’t pay the full price for their iPhone. There are, however, a few third party methods to unlock an iPhone.
Software to Unlock iPhone
In the market today, there are 6 free software to unlock an iPhone and they are:
- Ultrasnow Unlock from Cydia
- Gevey Sim Unlock – Work for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
- iPhone Unlock using SAM Ticket
- The iPhone IMEI number – Work for all iPhone models include the latest iPhone 6.
- R Sim Interposer – A good option for iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C.
The best way to unlock an iPhone is with Ultrasnow Unlock software from Cydia. Unfortunately, Ultrasnow (Ultrasn0w) works only on iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. It doesn’t work on the latest iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C. At most times, websites that offer you a service to unlock your iPhone are usually scam.
How to Unlock iPhone with Ultrasnow from Cydia
Ultrasnow is a freeware. The main feature is not just to unlock iPhone but also to make an iOS 5 and iOS 6 device run better. Follow the guide below and you can unlock iPhone using Ultrasnow.
Step 1: As Ultrasnow works only on jailbreak device, it is a must to jailbreak your iPhone and then download Cydia on it. You can use the best jailbreak tools in the market such as Redsnow, Absinthe, PwnageTool, Greenpois0n or Snowbreeze. See also: how to download Cydia on iPhone 4.
Step 2: Put in your new sim card to your iPhone and launch Cydia.
Step 3: Go to Manage -> Sources -> Edit -> Add. Read How to add a Cydia repo for detail guide with images.
Step 4: Add Ultrasnow repo (http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com or http://www.repo.ultrasn0w.com) to Enter Cydia/APT URL text box and tap on Add. It reads as Ultrasn0w and not Ultrasnow. Make sure you type it correctly.
Step 5: Go to Ultrasn0w repo and you should be able to see Ultrasn0w 1.2.8. Tap on the Install button to install it right away. Your iPhone will be unlocked within a few seconds depending on your connectivity.
Bingo! That’s how to unlock iPhone using Ultrasnow and Cydia. If you have upgraded your iPhone 4 to iOS 6, you will need to use Ultrasnow Fixer to unlock it. Ultrasn0w Fixer can be downloaded from iParelhos repo for free. The latest version is Ultrasn0w Fixer 6.1.
Iphone 4 Sim Unlock Cydia Jailbreak
Have you unlocked your iPhone successfully with the guide above? We would love to hear it! Alternatively, you can check out what are the good Cydia sources for iPhone 4.
Iphone 4 Sim Card