As promised the iPhone Dev team has delivered the 2.2 firmware jailbreak in the form of the Pwnage tool and Quickpwn for both Mac and Windows machines. This update seems to be the real deal breaker in regards to future unlocks.

Upgrading using iTunes can forever eliminate your chances of ever unlocking you iPhone 3G. The baseband has apparently been changed now so that it will be near impossible to unlock in the future. For those who still don’t quite understand the meaning of the baseband:

Baseband 101

The ‘baseband’ is the generic name given to the internal components of the iPhone that handle the phone calls and Internet access. This ‘baseband’ is a tiny and unique independent computer system that runs inside your iPhone, it is separate to the main system that handles the applications (such as email and google maps) and it talks to the main part of the phone over an internal communications network. Think of it like a cable modem or other peripheral that is attached to your home PC that needs occasional updates. When a software update is released and presented to you within iTunes the baseband is sometimes updated (to fix bugs or add new features). The 2.2 update for the iPhone 3G contains such an update, so running the vanilla updater straight away with iTunes will reprogram and update the baseband. This could be bad for certain people, depending on your ultimate aim.

The iPhone Dev Team have included a few rules when upgrading to the iPhone firmware 2.2:

• GOLDEN RULE: If you have a 3G iPhone and want potential soft unlock in the near future do NOT use QuickPwn, and do not use the official ipsw or the iTunes update process without using PwnageTool.

• Read item 1 again and again.

• Please read all parts of this post before downloading and using these tools.

• The ‘late 2008’ MacBook/air/pro line of computers have an issue with DFU mode. While it’s possible to go from Pwned 2.1 -> Pwned 2.2 (using PwnageTool), you can’t yet go from stock to pwned. If in any doubt use a different machine.

• Choosing the correct tool is crucial. Be warned!

[Via iPhoneDevTeam]