unjailbreaking IOS jailbreak then unjailbreak to reset - full capabilities?

[jellybutt]

Dear reader,

 

TLDR: Certain third-party apps allow you to reset the phone without Apple-ID. They warn about technically jailbreak the device, likely breaking cellular services along the way. I was wondering if a successive unjailbraking might restore the device to its full capabilities, undoing the jailbreaking negative consequences.

 

I have succeeded in semi-locking myself out of an iPhone SE (2016) running IOS 12.4.1 by deleting the connected Apple ID, which was my testing account. I had to delete the Apple-ID as a last resort, due to it being accidentally region bound to the UK instead if my own country, which resulted in several unusable services and uninstallable region-locked apps. I was unable to change this region via the phone menu (settings loop of having to log in without change) or via the Apple-ID website. Little did I know that this minor problem turned into something far worse.

 

I have run out of official ways to reset the phone, I am now resorting to third-party options. To clarify:

- Settings > Phone reset is not possible; Apple ID login required (which is deleted)

- iTunes recovery reset is not possible; 'Find my phone' is on and requires Apple ID login to change (which is deleted)

- Official Apple customer service is unable to re-activate the deleted Apple-ID; no account deletion 12-digit code available / received (which you should get, but alas)

- Official Apple customer service is unable to re-activate the deleted Apple-ID; no purchase receipt, as it was second-hand for previous owner + pass-me-down to me

 

I received this phone as a hand-me-down gift for doing pandemic work at family friends. I use it for learning the IOS environment for social services (Repair café etc.) and general knowledge building for questions I receive as as the 'techie' person (I do not use IOS myself for daily use).

 

While it being partly my fault, as I was unaware / uninformed of this account-linking issue (I did not get a warned about this during the deletion process), I refuse to let this phone be an ususable brick due to the absolutely rediculous (but understandable from a property-stealing point of view) restrictions Apple has put in place, accompanied by severely understated warnings about the consequences (if not done correctly).

 

Certain third-party apps allow you to reset the phone without Apple-ID, which I think is the only option I have left.

However, they also warn you that they technically jailbreak the device, likely breaking cellular services along the way. I was wondering if a successive unjailbreaking might restore the phone to its full capabilities, or if these jailbreaking consequences are permanent.

 

Or does someone perhaps have a better solution?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Kind regards,

JB

[jellybutt]

Bump

[57chevy]

 

On 2/13/2021 at 7:19 AM, jellybutt said:

I was wondering if a successive unjailbreaking might restore the phone to its full capabilities, or if these jailbreaking consequences are permanent.

From what I remember about jailbreaking, it shouldn't break cellular services anymore.  They're pretty much fully functional depending on the jailbreak method used. I believe if you are able to reset the phone through jailbreak, if you connect it to iTunes you can then do another reset and iTunes will reset to stock and remove the jailbreak. Hopefully someone else can correct me if I'm wrong but this is the method I would choose.  Since there's pretty much nothing to lose at this point.  Good luck. 

[jellybutt]

3 minutes ago, 57chevy said:

[...]

Thank you for the reply. I have briefly researched jailbreaking methods, but most state that you must still be able to log into the Apple ID account and / or it's "Find my phone" feature to be switched off (for iTunes accessibility for reset). Hence my use of third-party pre-packaged software solutions. But if I am ill-informed about this (I am not really knowledgeable on jailbreaking), and installing a jailbreak method of some sorts does NOT require Apple ID verification etc., I am eager to be corrected and / or referred to said methods.

 

It would be great if jailbreaking does not break certain features with offered methods. I am not referring to DYI methods, but pre-packaged solutions such as Tenor 4ukey (or 4mekey, whatever they call it) that override the need for Apple ID verification for jailbreaking. These / this one states to basically jailbreak it, with the high chance that it will break the cellular services etc. I am not aware of which jailbreaking method and version they use. My precaution is simply related to me wondering if those effects (related to that software solution) would be restored after unjailbreaking it (back to stock IOS) via the iTunes recovery method.

 

In other words, should I not be worried about which version that software solution uses and trust on the idea that the mentioned services-breaking consequences will be restored to functional use after an iTunes recovery reset (unjailbreak after jailbreaking)?

[57chevy]

10 hours ago, jellybutt said:

Tenor 4ukey

I did a quick search online for anything about 4ukey.  It seems somewhat fishy to me.  Searching for reviews of it showed a couple websites with reviews saying it works.  But when reading the actual reviews, I found it hard to accept the opinion of a website that doesn't have a name of the person who wrote the review and also misspelled a lot of words in the review itself.  If you have nothing to lose, they claim there's a free limited version that could work before you have to pay for a premium version. Maybe give that a try and see if you get lucky. I saw that the software claims to be able to unlock and remove all passwords locks.  Then it restores the software to stock by automatically updated the iOS to version 14. Thus theoretically making the phone usable again. 

[jellybutt]

12 hours ago, 57chevy said:

Searching for reviews of it showed a couple websites with reviews saying it works.  But when reading the actual reviews, I found it hard to accept the opinion of a website that doesn't have a name of the person who wrote the review and also misspelled a lot of words in the review itself.  If you have nothing to lose, they claim there's a free limited version that could work before you have to pay for a premium version. Maybe give that a try and see if you get lucky.

Yeah, the Trustpilot reviews for example seem to be fake reviews (mostly 1-review accounts and similar grammar style). The ones that do seem real, are mostly 1-star.

The free version is not really free, as can be read in those 1-star reviews (basically a questionable 30-day refund policy). I am using a "paid" version (harhar). Articles and editorials, i.e. promoted articles on this topic, also reek of standard PR / marketing pre-written talking points (e.g., the wording "100% legit" or "100% safe" can be found in every independand blog-style review websites). Some acknowledge to be sponsored by it.

 

They indeed claim to be able to unlock without IDs etc., in reality the program itself gives you a warning that it basically jailbreaks and resets the device in order to skip the signing in stuff (so no 'magical' coding). I am also expecting that they deploy malware at the same time, but not sure about that.

 

I also tried other (very) similar software solutions, but those only worked till IOS 11 or something.

I guess I will give it a go, as I have nothing to lose and it is not a phone used for private stuff (basically no valuable information to phish / phone-home).

 

Thanks for the input. I will post the results.

[57chevy]

9 hours ago, jellybutt said:

Thanks for the input. I will post the results.

Best of luck.  Hope it works out. 

[Roswell]

If the phone is even relatively up to date I don't think there's anything on the market that will let you wipe the phone without the proper credentials. Whatever site you're looking at is probably a scam.

 

Call Apple, they'll sort it out for you if it really is your phone and this isn't a veiled question about wiping a stolen iPhone... which I feel like it is since the explanation you give is completely nonsensical. iPhones and Apple IDs aren't region locked. You can change your App Store region to whatever you want.

[jellybutt]

6 hours ago, Vitamanic said:

Call Apple, they'll sort it out for you if it really is your phone and this isn't a veiled question about wiping a stolen iPhone... which I feel like it is since the explanation you give is completely nonsensical. iPhones and Apple IDs aren't region locked. You can change your App Store region to whatever you want.

I never said anything about region locked, I said it accidentally was bound to the UK instead of my own country. I had set the language to English instead of my own (easier for looking up things during tutorials etc.), but forgot to change the region back to my own country.

 

Furthermore, as mentioned in the first post, I already contacted Apple (see the last two points). To clarify more on the region thing: they verified that there is a bug that does allow you to change the region, but it will not actually register the change and the change you made reverts back to the previous state. The technician was not able to explain why, as he was not a 'senior advisor' and connecting me to one to find out why would have resulted in a long waiting time (plus it would not have made any difference anymore). The real problem is, that I have never received the 12-digit code in the related email, as I should have (which was verified by the Apple advisor).

 

Also, as I mentioned, this NOT my phone. It is a hand-me-down, of which the person I got it from purchased it as second-hand from his relative. I have asked for any type of receipt or documentation of ownership, without results. Which is required for the 'last resort' type of recovery done by Apple. Furthermore, I stated that I personally deleted my OWN testing Apple ID, which you could not do if you'd have no access to either the phone login credentials (PIN, fingerprint etc.) or the login credentials to the Apple ID (as that can only be done via the website).

 

I have no value in you believing me or not, that is up to you.

 

I value your input and time. But don't twist my words and / or make statements that are factually incorrect.

[jellybutt]

Update.

 

I have tried using the 4ukey software; it is basically just a pre-packaged combination of a checkra1n tutorial requiring manual installation, followed up by an integrated Passfab iPhone Unlocker attempt. Unfortunately, it gave an error when attempting the iCloud bypass (the error title reveiling the software they use, which is Passfab). I tried Passfab separately, which coincidentally has the same UI, same sponsored articles on C-tier websites and even same "buy now" buttons. In other words, probably the same developer. This also does not work, saying that the installed Apple Driver (basically, it installs iTunes and removes it afterwards) is not working correctly and updating it failed.

 

Conclusion: don't rely on this method working. I was not really expecting it to do so given Apple's protection nowadays, but it was worth a try.

I have seen some other software options, but those require a Mac system (which I don't have and don't care for to figure out how it works in a virtual machine).

I am not going to attempt NAND or logic board replacement, the phone is not worth the monetary or time investment.

 

I will do a clean install of the PC I was using, just to be sure (company registration says its US based, but other sources state China).

I would advice people, future readers, to not attempt using the software. Or at least, don't pay for it (the scam part is the 30-day trial refund).

 

Fortunately, I can still use the device. Just not with any sort of Apple ID / server related functions. I can use checkra1n / cydia to sideload some apps.

Not a complete brick / bookstand at least, but still not ideal.

 

Thanks for the input.