blacksn0w iPhone Unlock Day Moved To -- Today

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

iPhone hacker extraordinaire, Geohot, blaming successful initial testing, has moved up the release for blacksn0w, his new iPhone 05.11.07 unlock tool, to... today! More specifically, noon today (Eastern time). And it looks slick:

If you are a loyal blackra1n user who kept the blackra1n.app on your iPhone, run it. You will see Icy replaced by an option "ra1n". Install this to upgrade your app. After upgrading, run blackra1n.app again. You will see "sn0w". Install this, and enjoy your unlocked iPhone.

He has notes up for new jailbreakers, pwnagetool users, and iPhone 2G owners as well (who don't need blacksn0w but rather BootNeuter, as always).

(If you're a Twitter user, show him love by helping #blacksn0w trend.) Lastly, a warning:

Also, a note. This may be the best iPhone users ever have it. Be sure, if you have a 3GS or iPod Touch 3, to use Cydia's "On File" or Firmware Umbrella in order to be able to restore to 3.1.2 in the future. And as always, the baseband cannot be downgraded, so be super careful with updates if you need the unlock.

For more, head on over to TiPb's Jailbreak and Unlock Forums, and happy sn0w day!

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

26 Comments
  • Great info... THHANKS!
  • Snow day!!!!!
  • Question for everyone.
    Does anyone know if with blackra1n & blacksn0w, will we be able to tether on 3.12?
    Please advise.
    Thanks
  • Does this mean my 3Gs will run on Tmo now?
  • Yes to mike and prada
  • took me forever to find out that all the other unlock software would not work with 5.11.07, very glad to know it'll be out today.
  • To all future question askers: Yes, Yes, and Yes. Blacksn0w does everything, and even cooks you dinner afterwards.
  • Yes Mike you can use MyWi to tether... there are other ways... But I like MyWi cause you can choose between usb, bluetooth or wifi to connect!!!!
  • quick question from a rookie... by me unlocking, does that remove everything I have on my phone already? Contacts pics apps etc?
  • Tethering answer- use pdanet. Offers USB and adhoc tethering. Simply put it works. No questions, no issues, just works.
    As far as unlocking, I Think it's similar to a jailbreak, where once you do it there are no immediate and obvious effects, although the phone is now "unlocked" or "jailbroken" whichever the case may be. It doesn't change anything already on the device, it just opens it up with new capabilities.
  • @mike/@Omar. ^^
  • I really think PDAnet is the inferior choice for tethering. MyWi works with USB without installing any software, and MyWi also works as a Wifi router without having to setup an adhoc connection on the PC. Plus it's cheaper. I've used both and PDANet can be a pain sometimes. MyWi works perfect.
    Either way, the blacksn0w unlock re-enables tethering so you don't need either of these.
    All unlocking does is edit your baseband to use the phone on non-AT&T carriers. The only difference you will see is that a T-mobile (or other) sim card will now work in your iPhone.
  • @ Jose.. thanks i meant to say Jailbreak and not unlock.. but thanks again for the reply :)
  • Thanks Saul and everyone else. Very informative.
    Can't wait for the update to come out. The Dev team seems to not be keeping up with Windows versions of their jailbreak software.
    Thanks to Geohot for remember us Windows user (which is the majority of iPhone users by the way).
  • the tethering option is not showing up in my network options and my phone is unlocked and hard rebooted =(
  • I'm not seeing tethering either, and I also have hard rebooted. Any suggestions?
  • It's saying I'm not subscribed to a cellular data network... How can I get my net back? I'm on Tmobile
  • Google tethering 3.1.2 real quick. There is another website you can go to and download a profile that enables tethering. It's not the Ben.at site.
  • I need some advice. I'm new to the iphone world. I've Blacksn0wed successfuly. However, like Tom, I'm getting a "could not activate cellular data network" message when ever I run some apps when outside of wifi range. Even when I have an "E" and full bars. I have reset network settings & cold booted several times, but still get the same results. Is there a network setting that I'm missing or unaware of?
  • I lost my wi-fi when i used Blacksnow, enybody have tips on what too do to get it working again
  • OH MAN The Dev team is awesome, GEOHOT is the man. I once said that this could never be done especially with the 5.11.07 baseband. I could never be happier to have been SO WRONG..
    GEOHOT .... DEVTEAM awesome work
  • Geohot I need help unlocking my first generation 2g 3.1.2(7D11) and Im trying to get Cydia and Icy please help
  • Does this new Blacksn0w unlock a First Generation Iphone 3.1.2? If not then what would you recommend I should use?
  • I tried Blacksn0w. it worked first time but then when I rebooted my iphone 3gs 3.1.2 it got stuck on recovery mode. I restored it from itunes and tried to unlock again but this time I am getting stuck at recovery mode.
    anyone have faced such issues.
  • I'm still confused about which iPhone to buy. I know the iPhone 3GS is the latest version, but I don't see much diffrence between the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. At least I know how to unlock the iPhone now :)
    Thanks everyone.
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