You can probably distinguish between iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. But it gets more difficult to differentiate between the different generations of the device. And even within the same device it is sometimes important to know what bootrom version you have.
Visual differences
1. iPad
There is currently only one generation. They differ only by their options (with or without 3G and memory size). For jailbreaking and unlocking these options are not of importance, except that you sometimes have to select the correct firmware version. The firmware (with or without 3G) does differ.
2. iPhone
The first generation iPhone (sometimes called 2G version) can be detected by the two colors (plastic and metal) on the back side. The iPhone 4 can be clearly detected by the metal frame on the outer edges. The 3G and 3GS are pretty similar from the outside.
3. iPod touch
The first generation iPod touch has round edges, but a flat backside. Newer models (2nd, 3rd, 4th generation) have a slightly round backside (not completely flat).
Model numbers
You can see the model number in Settings, General, About, Model. The model number has a two-letter code, a number and some more letters. The last part stands for the country/region[1]. The first letter can be "F" (refurbished), "M" (normal retail), or "P" (personalized / engraved). For example MC605B is the model MC605 and B is for the region[1].
I posted the details of Model number in my previous post..
What carrier is my device locked to?
Apple sells locked devices to the carriers and the carriers decide themselves when to unlock them. Apple knows for each device if it is locked or not and to what carrier, but as this decision belongs to the carriers, Apple won't tell you.
So if you bought a locked iPhone somewhere and now need to activate it with the original SIM card or want to ask the original carrier for an official unlock, you need to know what carrier it is.
Because Apple won't tell you, the only way is to try to find out the carrier by looking at the model number. This gives you the region or country. With this information you can ask all carriers in that country if it is their iPhone.
My iPhone/iPad says "No Service" with any SIM
Probably you installed ultrasn0w on an incompatible baseband. Open Settings, click on General, then on About and scroll down to Modem Firmware to check the version. Ultrasn0w is compatible with these versions, depending on your device:
for iPhone 3G/3GS: baseband 5.13.04 or lower (or the iPad baseband 6.15.00)
for iPhone 4: baseband 1.59.00
for iPad: baseband 6.15.00
If you have any other baseband version, go to Cydia and uninstall ultrasn0w. If it still doesn't work, then you need to restore your device. Afterwards read about how you can unlock (if at all).
Another reason for this could be that your SIM is broken or has expired. Usually prepaid SIM cards expire after a few months when not in use. Test the SIM in another phone first.
A third reason could be a hardware fault. This is not covered by this site.
How do I change the IMEI of my iPhone?
This is not possible. Actually it would be possible in theory, but it doesn't help you in any way. A duplicate IMEI on the same carrier would automatically disable the phone by the carrier. It wouldn't help you to unlock it.
If you're asking this because you have stolen an iPhone, then this won't help you either, because there are other serial numbers that identify the phone and cannot get changed.
Is jailbreaking legal?
Yes, jailbreaking is legal. Well, I'm no lawyer and every country has its own laws, so don't take this as a legal advice. Maybe you are not even allowed to have any iPhone in your country.
But: For example in the United States of America, which has very strict laws in that context, like DMCA, jailbreaking and unlocking cellphones is now officially legal since a court order from 26 July 2010. Here's a link to the press release:http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/07/26
In many other countries there might have not been any official judgement yet, but the situation is similar.
Why should a manufacturer have the right to decide on what you are allowed to install on your device? Imagine you buy a new PC with Microsoft Windows on it. Then you find out that you cannot install Firefox on it, because Microsoft doesn't allow it. And you cannot even install Linux or anything else either. That's about the same. Or if you buy a house and the manufacturer still can decide what pictures you are allowed to put on your walls. It's your house, you bought it! This is about jailbreaking.
Maybe it's just because of the name or because some people use it for illegal activities. But there's no reason to be afraid of jailbreaking. Just read about it until you know what you do before you start.
What is a jailbreak?
All bought iPhones and iPod touches (and many other devices) are delivered "in a jail", meaning that you cannot install any software on them that is not approved by the manufacturer (Apple in this case). Jailbreaking means to modify your device so that it allows to run any software. This means it is then your choice of what to install. Apple makes it nearly impossible to do this by using digital certificates and crypto hardware built into the device, but some clever people found ways to get around this.
Can I jailbreak my device?
All current versions of iPhones, iPod touches and iPads can be jailbroken as of now as long as their iOS version is 5.0.1 or lower. For iOS 5.1 there is only a tethered[9] jailbreak available and only for devices that have a bootrom vulnerability (all devices except the iPhone 4S, the iPad 3 and the latest Apple TV).
What is tethered / untethered / semi-tethered?
A tethered jailbreak (or unlock) means that you have to connect your device to your computer again every time to boot it. You have to boot your device after it turned off. This can happen after the battery is completely empty of if you turn it off manually with the red slider. A tethered jailbreak is something you don't want. This is very nasty if you have to boot your device for some reason while you're on a trip. To boot your device (called tethered boot) you need a tool like redsn0w. Otherwise you just see the USB logo and you cannot use your device in any way.
Untethered is the contrary. You don't need a computer to boot your device. This is what you want.
Semi-tethered means you can still reboot your device without a computer, but the jailbreak is not active and some things won't work as expected (Safari and Cydia won't work). To get everything working again, you have to boot tethered again.
... ... ... Thank you ... ... ...
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