iPhone 4S Unlock Not Yet Available But Owners Should Not Upgrade to iOS 5.0.1

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While Apple does sell unlocked iPhone 4S units to consumers that don’t want to sign up for a new carrier contract, an unofficial unlock tool for the new iPhone is not available at the time. Sure, it has been hinted that there is a way to unlock the iPhone 4S, but that hasn’t happened yet.

In order for the hackers out there to unlock the device, they will have to jailbreak it first, and an iPhone 4S jailbreak is not yet official. Recently we’ve seen solid proof that Apple’s A5-based devices that were launched last year, the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4S were jailbroken, with the untethered iOS 5.0.1 jailbreak expected to become available soon.

Hackers involved in the iPhone 4S jailbreak publicly stated that updating iOS to version 5.0.1 is safe, but MuscleNerd is now advising those iPhone 4S owners that want to unlock the device after jailbreaking it to stay on iOS 5.0 to have more chances to actually unlock it:

In fact, its recommended that those already on iOS 5.0.1 should check their build number and downgrade from build 9A406 to 9A405 while Apple is still signing both builds. Due to differences in the basebands, its more likely that an unlock will be found for the earlier build than the later.

According to iClarified, an untethered iPhone 4S jailbreak for iOS 5.0 will be launched immediately after the iOS 5.0.1 untethered jailbreak, so iPhone 4S users should not hurry to upgrade to iOS 5.0.1. Of course, new iPhone 4S buyers will not be able to downgrade their handsets from iOS 5.0.1, since that’s the default iOS version they come equipped with.

At the same time, while MuscleNerd does advise against iOS 5.0.1 upgrades, an iPhone 4S unlock is not guaranteed. In fact, Apple has managed to fight this phenomenon with its iPhone 4, a device that can be jailbroken but can’t be unlocked, except for a few early units.

Jailbreaking and unlocking are legal procedures, but we’re not advising you to perform any of them. However, since you’re entitled to do anything you please to your devices, we’re also reminding you that you’ll be the only person responsible for whatever happens with them during such procedures.