I can't find the proper source of a jailbreak for my iphone 4S. Please help!

November 25, 2011 10:30 PM

Sorry to ask this but I can't figure out the "legit" sources of info and software to jailbreak my iphone 4s. Please help!

I'll admit it, I must be getting old. I've jailbroken my phone before, i MUST MUST MUST have the tethering option for emergencies and can't afford the extra fee ATT charges for legit tethering.

I have been continuing to use my broken 3g iphone despite having purchased the new one simply because Id rather not lose the tethering option, it often is my only access to the online world (the phone is great but mine is broken and I do need a full sized screen and keyboard for some of what I do.

I have not updated the OS so it is probably 5.0, and is a 32gig 4S.

Please point me in the direction of people who aren't trying to scam me or will be sending me oodles of malware.

Thanks!

posted by Ponderance to Technology (8 answers total)

The 4s hasn't been jailbroken yet. Or at least not to the point where a jailbreak has been made public. Sorry.

Watch the dev team blog for updates.
posted by mr_roboto at 10:35 PM on November 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

I don't think an untethered jailbreak exists yet for the iPhone 4S, but I follow @MuscleNerd on Twitter for this sort of information.
posted by The Lamplighter at 10:36 PM on November 25, 2011

AFAIK the main guy who's done all the previous jailbreaks was recruited by apple so he isn't doing so much that anymore. So, no proper jailbreak available for the 4S yet.
posted by addelburgh at 10:37 PM on November 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Can't you just swap sim cards when you want to use the free tether?
posted by The Lamplighter at 10:37 PM on November 25, 2011

Besides having had some of the top jailbreaking talent poached, apparently the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s are much harder to jailbreak from a hardware level. The golden age of jailbreaking may be over. It's already gotten to the point where they haven't unlocked any new basebands (to open your phone to other carriers) for almost a year now.
posted by skewed at 10:48 PM on November 25, 2011

Last time I checked, Virgin Mobile offered pay-as-you-go (no monthly fee) mobile broadband with a USB modem. If you just need it for emergencies, that's probably a better plan.
posted by primethyme at 12:36 AM on November 26, 2011

Best answer: Wikipedia's iOS jailbreaking article is generally reliable and up-to-date, since enthusiasts edit it when news comes out (just check the charts at the bottom). Cydia also now includes some web-accessible advice on upgrading and jailbreaking (written by me!), including links to tools and reasonable news/help sites. It won't always be 100% up to date, but it covers the major stuff, and of course we won't scam you or lead you into scams.

One thing to keep in mind is that the iPhone 4 is permanently jailbreakable (thanks to the limera1n exploit), so if you don't want to wait for an iPhone 4S jailbreak that will take unknown amounts of time to release (possibly large amounts of time, or even never), trading it in for an iPhone 4 might be a practical option.
posted by dreamyshade at 12:54 AM on November 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's no good solution yet, which is one of the reasons I bit the money bullet and went for the unlocked 4S. (I'm dealing with three SIM cards/carriers in three countries now, so I couldn't wait.)

There are plans that allow tethering, though, without jailbreaking the 4S.
posted by rokusan at 5:19 PM on November 26, 2011