Unlockers Advised to Stay Away from iOS 4.2.1, Wait for Ultrasn0w Update

If, by some miracle, you've managed to refrain yourself from updating to the latest iOS update from Apple and you are an unlocker, the Dev Team’s advise is: “stay far away from this official firmware.” Here’s why.

Those who employ the iPhone Dev Team’s jailbreak and unlock solutions to free their iPhones from Apple’s shackles have a few warning signs to consider, one of them being the “tethered” nature of the latest redsn0w jailbreak, the other being ultrasn0w’s inability to provide an unlock for any type of handset running iOS 4.2.1 at the moment.

“With Turkey Day a few days off, today Apple publicly released FW version 4.2.1. As always, ultrasn0w unlockers please stay far far away from this official firmware (and all official firmware),” reads the Dev Team’s last blog post.

“Wait for the ability to create custom 4.2.1. IPSWs that don’t update your baseband!”, says the infamous team of hackers.

Weighing in on the forthcoming ultrasn0w unlock, the Team adds: “After redsn0w is officially released with the new Cydia and kernel patches, we’ll be able to assess the unlock situation.”

“It’s already looking very promising though, so expect the unlock for the 3G and 3GS to be coming this week,” the hackers confidently state.

“The i4 [iPhone 4] unlock is taking more effort though, and no further concrete info is available about that yet.”

A recent report by TUAW further sheds light on the matter, signaling that iOS 4.2.1 brings what is known as a “baseband signature check”, a locking mechanism which checks the baseband firmware at startup.

If it doesn't match an expected signature, the phone will not boot, the blog explains.

This article has a purely informational purpose and doesn't, in any way, suggest that you should hack your Apple device.

Using hacks may render your device unusable, or may reduce the quality of your experience employing the respective device.

If you choose to download and install jailbreak tools, you will do so at your own risk. Unlocking / jailbreaking your iPhone / iPod touch / iPad / Apple TV may violate your warranty or the EULA with Apple and / or your cellular-service provider.