Now that new phones are on their way you may want to check the firmware before trying to restore to 1.02 . As the restore is the first step of most unlock procedures you may want to start with this step.
################################################## ##
#Easier way to check for 1.1.1 firmware found: just hold power and home untill #
#in restore mode if it displays this... #

Instead of the yellow triangle then it is 1.1.1
################################################## ##
good luck


For field test mode follow:

You can check what firmware is preinstalled by going to the emergency call, entering *3001#12345#* then pressing "Call". Under Versions you will find what revision firmware is on the phone out of the box.

03.12.06_G Is firmware 1.0.0
03.14.08_G Is firmware 1.0.1 and 1.02
04.01.13_G Is 1.1.1

If you are lucky and still have the old firmwares then you can start your unlock by restoring to 1.02 by holding shift (pc), option (mac), while clicking restore.

1.02 firmware image:
http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite....8_Restore.ipsw

follow this guide to unlocking it is very simple
http://hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6637

As of now a new unlock solution is avaliable. IPSF has a 1.6 version that will unlock a 1.1.1 phone or a 1.0.2 phone that has the 4.0 modem firmware from 1.1.1 . This unlock will also fix bricked phones.

The dev team will also be bringing out a new unlock soon for those waiting for a free solution.

Both unlock procedures will require you to downgrade the phone to 1.0.2 before you put the app on and run it, although this will change eventualy.

The downgrade guide is here.

First, download the iPhone1,1_1.0.2_1C28_Restore.ipsw from Apple. Then connect phone to dock, and hold down home button and power button for about 10 seconds until phone turns off. Now release the power button but continue holding the home button. After about 10 seconds the computer will detect the iphone in restore mode, and itunes should tell that the phone needs to be restored. Hold down SHIFT key (Windows) or ALT-key (Mac) when clicking the Restore button, and select the file you downloaded previously. Let the restore complete and ignore the error at the end. Now your phone should show a rectangle, but don't worry about it. Run AppTap to jailbreak your phone - it will fix it even though you get errors. When you are at the activation screen, you can start the unlock like normal.

follow this guide to unlocking it is very simple
http://hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6637

You mention that you cannot downgrade to an older firmware. Why is that so? I thought that if you fully restore the phone and reflash it, there will be no traces left of the other firmware. Isn't this so?

it won't let you flash old firmware , even manually untill someone makes a hacked bbupdate

are all the new iphone on sale now comes with the new firmware?
has anyone bought an iphone that comes with the new firmware yet?

gaz919: Wow! That's bad. It means that if Apple accidentally release an upgrade with a big bug in it, you won't be able to restore to an older firmware? Isn't that kind of risky? Most companies provide a solution where you can go back to any version just in case... this means that if something bad happens, Apple needs to be extremely quick in releasing another upgrade.

good point!

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Being able to check the firmware version out of the box is very convenient. Thanks for this. This will basically allow me to know what I have to do before I start unlocking.

BTW, I bought my iPhone about a week ago, do you guys think it'll have the 1.0.2 firmware installed?

Has anyone got the 1.1.1 firmware yet? How do you know what the firmware 1.1.1 specs should read if no one has got 1.1.1?

Let´s say someone buys an iphone today with firmware 1.01 . I´ve read that u need fw 1.02 in order for the hacks and unlock to work. If apple releases fw1.1.1 the older firmware (1.02) won´t be available anymore on itunes. How can u unlock and/or hack your iphone (fw1.01) if fw 1.02 is no longer available and you r stuck with fw 1.0.1?
I guess the only remedy for this would be changing from 1.01 to 1.02 without using iTunes. Is that possible???????

the phones can downgrade firmware as long as the modem carries the same file, for eg if you have 1.02 installed ,you can downgrade to 1.01 but not 1.00 since 1.00 has a older modem file than 1.01/1.02. i hope that clears up things.
so incase 1.1.1 has a newer modem file (it will probably) u cant downgrade ,just incase it doesnt have that, the unlock might just work even after that (but unfortunate thats not gonna happen)