How to jailbreak iPhone 3GS running iOS 6.0.1 Tethered on Mac OS X

What does the new iOS iOS 6.0.1 firmware bring to the equation, you might ask yourself, and the answer is very simple. If you choose to update to it, the you will experience all the changes it has been through, being now equipped with a multitude of bug fixes that help you have a better experience with your device. Who doesn’t want this? So if you weren’t really happy with the keyboard issues of a graphical nature before, or if you wanted an improvement in the Exchange meetings area of the firmware, then your prayers have been answered with this update. Ok, now that we have cleared this up and no more confusion revolves around the bug fixes, you are surely already thinking about the other issues. Will you be restricted in the using of the device or is jailbreaking an option?

Although developers have not exactly stated this out loud, well, we can confirm you can have it done. As with any other tethered jailbreak, things don’t happen just like that and you will need to perform a few actions to get there, but the process is not that complicated at all if you have a little bit of patience. So if you have an A4 iOS device and if you already decided to update to the iOS 6.0.1 firmware, you might want to read this article from head to toe and start implementing our steps. But as mentioned before, not all devices match for this so let’s see which one in particular can suffer the change. We are talking about the iPhone 4 CDMA, iPhone 4 GSM, iPhone 3GS (quick note: if old-bootrom, untethered Jailbreak) and also iPod Touch 4G. We will now guide you through this update thoroughly and all we ask for in return is your patience and diligence. Seems like a pretty good deal, doesn’t it?

How to Jailbreak iOS 6.0.1 With RedSn0w 0.9.15b3

Step 1

We will take it nice and easy. Let’s start with the mandatory step to take in order to make this happen, and that is to Download the RedSn0w 0.9.15b3 for the Mac OS X operating system. You can not do anything else if you don’t have this downloaded and this is the starting point of the entire operation we are teaching you how to perform today. The next second mandatory step is yet another download, but this time you need to download the iOS 6 firmware for the device you are Jailbreaking, and in our case 3GS (but same process matches all others). So to revise: you need to perform two separate downloads: RedSn0w 0.9.15b3 for the Windows operating system and also the iOS 6 firmware for the device you are Jailbreaking.

Step 2

Now we are pretty much in the game so let’s start our journey in trying to jailbreak the  iOS 6.0.1 with RedSnow 0.9.15b3 for the Mac OS X system. We have removed the first barrier and now that we have both downloads ready and just waiting to be actioned, we will proceed with the second important step in this direction, and this is the actual launching of the iOS 6 firmware. Don’t think we are now talking about a cosmic launch, because that is not just a double click away like this is. So you need to simply double click on the RedSnow app and you will get there easily. Same actions apply to the Windows system as well, but when it comes to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, the things are not exactly the same (although still similar). In order to make sure you succeed in launching RedSn0w for this one use the control button, meaning that you have to hold it down, and only then click on the Redsnow app. So if you registered these 2 steps, you will be then able to open it by just clicking the Open option. Nice and easy again.

Step 3

The RedSnow app should now be able to run and you will see a welcome message displayed, so you can not miss this. Two options will be now displayed on the screen, and out of the 2 the first is Jailbreaking and the second one is Extras. Don’t get tempted to press on Jailbreaking because you would be wrong. You need to click on the second option, Extras, and you will then be able to proceed to the next step. Nice and easy.

Step 4

This step is marked by another choice you need to take, and this here is to touch the Select IPSW button. But this isn’t enough if you do not correctly select the firmware your device runs on. So once you have successfully managed to do so, then RedSnow will take it upon itself to recognize your device and you will afterwards have to choose the go Back button, followed by clicking on the Jailbreak button too afterwards. Clean and easy.

Step 5

We have now managed to have proceeded with more than half of our entire journey, so you are almost ready to go, but let’s complete the action. Don’t be taken aback when for this step, once that the Back button and Jailbreak button have been clicked on (see Step 4), you will be given a few preparatory instructions to go through for entering DFU mode. We highly recommend you read through these instructions diligently and as soon as you make sure that everything is clear for you and you don’t need any extra clarification, you have to turn your device off.  Once your phone powered off, simply click on the Next button to finalize our process (there are still a few steps to take nevertheless).

Step 6

Now your iOS 6′s processing has really begun and RedSnow is the one performing it. Congratulations for having come so far. Be patient for the processing to end successfully and do not interrupt it. The purpose of this processing is to detect the firmware and then, once it’s done, to display the next options you need to click on for continuing to jailbreak your device. You can state you are close to the end if you click on Install Cydia, and this is a mandatory option (actually, so are the rest we have presented so far too). Once Install Cydia has been selected, you also need to select the Next button, and we are almost at the end of our exciting journey. Just 2 more steps to go.

Step 7

You now have to really refrain yourself from bringing any interruption once RedSnow has started the jailbreaking process on your device. You are  not allowed to use your computer while this happens, or interrupt the process at all, otherwise it will fail to succeed. You need to go make yourself a coffee and check the weather. Once the process ends, then your iOS device will automatically have to reboot into a non-jailbroken state. And this is when the tethered jailbreak state kicks in. If you want to boot your device, you need to make sure you make use of RedSnow in doing so. As you can see, this is a basic process and you shouldn’t encounter any issues in performing it whatsoever. We guarantee.

Step 8

Did you exit RedSnow? Then for step 8 just launch it again and then we can talk more. Ok. Now a few more boxes to be ticked and we are almost done. First of all, you will see the Extras option and you need to select it. The second box to tick is that of the Select IPSW. You now have to once more select the firmware your device is running on and click the Just Boot program. Nice and easy, right? DFU mode need to be turned on now and this will help your device to boot into a jailbroken state, exactly what we wanted. Step 8 will have to be repeated every time your device loses power, but it’s not that hard at all as you can see.

Conclusion

Thanks for sticking with us up to the very end. It has been a pleasure shedding light on the jailbreaking process of your device running iOS 6.0.1 tethered. You can now start making the best of it and get all the cool tweaks that Cydia has in store for you. I am very keen on hearing which those are and please also share your feedback on this with us.