If you wanted to use an iPhone on your choice of mobile carrier, your only option was to get a first-gen (2G) iPhone -- which could be easily hacked to be carrier-agnostic -- or buy an iPhone 3G at full price from a carrier and pay the unlocking fee.
Now, six months after the release of the iPhone 3G, anybody game enough to jailbreak their iPhone can now also unlock it for use on any network.
Before you jump into running
Yellowsn0w on your iPhone, there are other, more legit ways to unlock your phone if you so desire. All three major Australian telcos let you unlock your iPhone but for different amounts.
Telstra, as you'd expect charges the most at $150 to unlock your iPhone. Vodafone charge $75, while those contracted with Optus can unlock for free (though Optus pre-paid customers need to pay an additional $80 for an unlock).
In most cases an official unlock takes approximately ten business days after you've submitted your IMEI number to your telco (and paid your fee, if required) and requires you to restore your iPhone via iTunes once you've been notified by your carrier that the unlock has been successful. So, if you're in a rush, forget about it.
From my discussion with staff at the Apple Genius bar the official unlock process can only be initiated via the carrier, but the actual unlock is performed by Apple. Also, if your phone ever needs to be replaced, your 'unlock' information is carried to your new iPhone (which will have a new IMEI number) so your unlock sticks. I've been through this process, and it works.
But if an official unlock sounds either too expensive, too slow or too complicated head over to the iPhone Dev Team to learn more about their unlock solution.
In a nutshell, the unappealingly named "yellowsn0w" application is a small daemon (background program) that is launched on boot. It injects its payload (the software modification that allows the phone to operate on any carrier) at boot time and also whenever there is a baseband (radio) reset. You won’t notice anything about it other than that your third-party SIM now works. It’s a small program and unobtrusive. There is no GUI, and this is by design.
You'll need to running the latest iPhone software, version 2.2 and have QuickPwned your iPhone and have access to either the Installer app or Cydia.
The Dev team also notes that 'yellowsn0w is completely removable through Cydia, the command line, and iTunes' so you're safe to give it a try before you fork out any cash to the telcos.
The good reason to use the hack, of course, is to get a better monthly plan on your iPhone. You can check out our constantly updated list of the
best Australian iPhone plans here.
Have you tried Yellowsn0w? Did it work?