Un-jailbreaking an iPhone 4?

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yann

135 posts

Master Geek

#91235 9-Oct-2011 04:04

I was just wondering whether it was feasible to un-jailbreak an iPhone 4? My parents purchased one a wee while back from a nz parallel importer. When I last looked it did have Cydia on it so I understood it had been jailbroken.

I was wondering whether it would be possible or not to un-jailbreak it. From what I gather it would be a case of restoring it in itunes however I'm not too sure whether that would render it useless in nz, or create some other problems. I thought that restoring it may give the phone identity issues with regards to country and region.

Just thought it would be better to have a vanilla phone as they would not use cydia at all and they reported that using the app store is problematic at times.

Any thoughts on whether it its feasible, and/or advisable would be helpful as I'm not too clear on it all.

Cheers :)

clicknz

467 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#531090 9-Oct-2011 08:07

Hi - it sounds like the phone needs the Jailbreak to connect to NZ networks - it was probably originally from USA and locked to a USA carrier. If it was restored via iTunes it would probably not be able to be used in NZ - this is generally why they are cheaper than NZ new iPhones.
There are other reasons to Jailbreak an iPhone, but if this phone was like this from day one then you're probably stuck with it like that. There are ways to upgrade the firmware on it, but only via a known Jailbreak/unlock method... which need to be followed carefully (eg. when iOS 5 is released).

Cheers,
Mike

Photographer/Videographer clickmedia.nz

BerG

61 posts

Master Geek

#531094 9-Oct-2011 08:22

He should be able to unlock with a Gevey Sim?

Seems strange that they report problems with app store? I have been jailbreaking since 2008 and never had any issues- only the enhancement that jailbreaking brings.

Keep it jailbroken :D

BerG

61 posts

Master Geek

#531096 9-Oct-2011 08:23

And very dodgy that stores are selling iPhones that need to be jailbroken to work. What happens after a firmware upgrade? Sometimes it takes months for a jailbreak to be released.

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#531126 9-Oct-2011 10:25

Before doing anything, download tiny umbrella and save your SHSH blobs on cydia. This will ensure you are able to downgrade the firmware and jailbreak again if you need it for unlocking (if you restore it to stock I mean)

Chances are if it is jailbroken it will probably already have saved SHSH blobs, but it's always a good idea to check just in case. Keep in mind you can only do this while apple is still signing that particular firmware build so it's better to do it sooner than later.

yann

135 posts

Master Geek

#531209 9-Oct-2011 17:32

Thanks for the replies :)

Yea, I think my Dad purchased it thinking it would be exactly the same as the Apple Store. I think it is probably an AT&T unit that requires the jailbreak to work here. I thought it would be easier if the phone was not jailbroken, as they could then update firmware and so forth without having to worry about it not working etc.

They're not needing the jailbreak in the sense that they don't need to run various apps that require it to be jailbroken. I'll probably have a look at it next time to see what firmware it is running etc. It would be nice if it was possible to remove the jailbreak and run it normally, but I suspect it would revert to the AT&T lock status if it was restored. Bit frustrating as it would be nice to make things easier for my parents without the hassle of worrying about stuffing up the phone when it is connected to itunes etc.

I'd prefer not to have to use something like a Gevey Sim - less things to do for them and more vanilla and stock a system would be better.

Thanks for the help - I think I'll look into it more once I have a look at the phone.

Thanks all :)

BerG

61 posts

Master Geek

#531223 9-Oct-2011 18:41

Maybe just sell on Trademe and buy an unlocked one. Should work out the same price.