IMPORTANT question before buying my iphone..

[LisiFP]

Hello everybody! I live in Peru and over here an iphone 3Gs is almost $1000..
So my friends and I decided to ask a cousin (who is coming from the states next month) to get us three new iphones with no commitment plan (not as expensive as here) so we can unlock and use it here, I already did it with my bf's 3g.

I always do my research before buying anything so I stumbled upon the baseband issues everyone has, my question is, If my cousin buys the iphones right before coming here, do the iphones (new out of the box, from apple store or at&t store) come with the latest 3.1.3 firmware and the unlockable baseband?

if so what do you guys recommend? do we still buy them and wait till it can be unlocked or maybe buy them praying we get some old 3gs version we can use right away..

thanks a lot for the help!

 

[dhlizard]

Hello everybody! I live in Peru and over here an iphone 3Gs is almost $1000..
So my friends and I decided to ask a cousin (who is coming from the states next month) to get us three new iphones with no commitment plan (not as expensive as here) so we can unlock and use it here, I already did it with my bf's 3g.

I always do my research before buying anything so I stumbled upon the baseband issues everyone has, my question is, If my cousin buys the iphones right before coming here, do the iphones (new out of the box, from apple store or at&t store) come with the latest 3.1.3 firmware and the unlockable baseband?

if so what do you guys recommend? do we still buy them and wait till it can be unlocked or maybe buy them praying we get some old 3gs version we can use right away..

thanks a lot for the help!

Likely, the 3GS phones will come with firmware 3.1.3 and currently un-lockable 5.12.xx baseband. I'd say there is zero chance of getting phones with old firmware unless you buy them from eBay, not an Apple store.

You will not currently be able to jailbreak the phones since there is no current tool for 3GS already on 3.1.3 without SHSH blobs stored.

That said, there is a likelihood that Apple will release a new major firmware update when the new iPhones are released in May/June/July.

The feeling is that the DevTeam will have a jailbreak and unlock for the upcoming new major firmware, but exactly when, no one can be sure.

Also, remember that the newer 3GS have a tethered jailbreak and no one can know if someone can find an exploit to correct that.

It doesn't sound like there is an official iPhone carrier where you live, so you won't be able to use them unless you are able to JB/UL them. That is a big risk for $699 phone !

 

[LisiFP]

It doesn't sound like there is an official iPhone carrier where you live, so you won't be able to use them unless you are able to JB/UL them. That is a big risk for $699 phone !

we do have an official carrier selling the iphones, it's called CLARO, but well.. they come locked and as I said, the price is $1000


so buying the iphone and wait until the new firmware is jailbroken is not an option? I didn't know the 5.12 baseband couln't be jailbroken I just thought it couldn't be unlocked. I figured I could buy it noew and jailbreak it and use it like an itouch with camera until the unlock was out....

 

[Mlrollin91]

we do have an official carrier selling the iphones, it's called CLARO, but well.. they come locked and as I said, the price is $1000


so buying the iphone and wait until the new firmware is jailbroken is not an option? I didn't know the 5.12 baseband couln't be jailbroken I just thought it couldn't be unlocked. I figured I could buy it noew and jailbreak it and use it like an itouch with camera until the unlock was out....

The 3.1.3 firmware cannot be jailbroken, and the 5.12 baseband cannot be unlocked.

So with a 3.1.3 3GS your stuck locked to AT&T and to stock Apple software.

 

[dhlizard]

we do have an official carrier selling the iphones, it's called CLARO, but well.. they come locked and as I said, the price is $1000


so buying the iphone and wait until the new firmware is jailbroken is not an option? I didn't know the 5.12 baseband couln't be jailbroken I just thought it couldn't be unlocked. I figured I could buy it noew and jailbreak it and use it like an itouch with camera until the unlock was out....

it is an option if you want to use CLARO cell service. If you could borrow a CLARO sim, it should activate the phone, but of course as soon as you remove the sim, just IPT, no cell service.

It's the firmware that can't be jailbroken, and the baseband that can't be unlocked (for now).

 

[Applejuiced]

You're taking a big risk and then you might be stuck with them for many months without a JB and maybe no unlock.
Why dont you buy some factory unlocked 3GS iphones online. This way you can use any sim and wont have to worry about JB and unlock hacks.
http://www.buy.com/prod/apple-iphon...ked-gsm-cell-phone/q/loc/12435/211493259.html