I keep hearing about the tethered jailbreak. But all my iphones so far are untethered jailbreak. I have checked the serial numbers of the three iphones I have right now. I thought the 4th and 5th numbers determined if the iphone will be tethered or untethered. What I have read is if the 4th and 5th numbers are over 40 then it will be tethered. The phone I have now the serial starts with 5K949. That would be 49 so it should be tethered? The other two iphones I have also are above 40. Shouldn't they also be tethered jailbreak? I need to know the answer to this because all my iphones seem to be untethered. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Lostology

I keep hearing about the tethered jailbreak. But all my iphones so far are untethered jailbreak. I have checked the serial numbers of the three iphones I have right now. I thought the 4th and 5th numbers determined if the iphone will be tethered or untethered. What I have read is if the 4th and 5th numbers are over 40 then it will be tethered. The phone I have now the serial starts with 5K949. That would be 49 so it should be tethered? The other two iphones I have also are above 40. Shouldn't they also be tethered jailbreak? I need to know the answer to this because all my iphones seem to be untethered. Thank you.

Tethered only affects the 3GS model currently.

I am not even sure you have the correct value for a serial number. Look at this guide on where to find the serial number for different iPhone models.
iPhone: Locating the serial number, IMEI, and ICCID number

I'm pretty sure I have the correct serial. I click Settings, General, About, and look under Serial Number. And all three phones are 3G S. Two 32Gb and one 16GB. I'm pretty sure they don't make 32GB 3G. So again, can someone tell me why my phones are untethered jailbreak. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Olethros

Tethered only affects the 3GS model currently.

I am not even sure you have the correct value for a serial number. Look at this guide on where to find the serial number for different iPhone models.
iPhone: Locating the serial number, IMEI, and ICCID number

Originally Posted by Lostology

I'm pretty sure I have the correct serial. I click Settings, General, About, and look under Serial Number. And all three phones are 3G S. Two 32Gb and one 16GB. I'm pretty sure they don't make 32GB 3G. So again, can someone tell me why my phones are untethered jailbreak.

Yeah I did some more digging and found that 5K was a valid factory number. I had not seen it before.

There is a possible reason based on the factory number.

5K seems to be the Chinese factory that in addition to producing new iPhones also produces refurbished iPhones.

Refurbished iPhones are a much safer bet currently if you are hunting for an untethered jailbreak. These phones can be constructed from parts of returned phones that test out okay. I would guess that in this case, the main logic board came from a pre-week 40 iPhone but was put in a new case and given a new serial number.