PineApple iPhone

ZiPhone vs iLiberty+:

“A Synopsis of Choice between ZiPhone and iLiberty+”

The never-ending battle to free your iPhone from the A-hole Alliance (Apple + AT&T) has narrowed itself to two preferred programs.

ZiPhone*

ZiPhone has become an almost household name in the iPhone community, with a constantly updated blog and an under 5 minute, one button unlock, jailbreak, activation method.

iLiberty+*

iLiberty+ is a program that boasts similar features, is recommended by many and is near impossible to find. Googling it will not reveal a home page nor a direct link for the program. You will need to search through forums for someone who has a rapidshare file with a copy of iLiberty+. (This is iLiberty+’s biggest setback.)

Many “programmers” would advise against using ZiPhone in preference of iLiberty+ stating, among their reasons, the downgraded baseband, “shotty” code and the bricking of your iPhone if anything disrupts the unlocking process.

These points are rather mute, taking into consideration that: 1) Devteam has released BootNeuter; a program that can upgrade and downgrade your baseband at will. 2) The “shotty” code has successfully unlocked thousands of iPhones. 3) As for the bricking aspect, any program that alters the original state of your iPhone, puts you at risk, this includes both ZiPhone and iLiberty+.

BootNeuter

Summary:

Until Apple decides to not bind it’s users to a company they abhor in their cash cow monopoly, these two methods are among the safest to use to unlock your iPhone.

Both programs perform similar tasks and neither can be considered safer than the other.

ZiPhone has been dubbed as a tried and true method for unlocking. It works, is easy to find and has a long shelf life even in the midst of the next generation iPhone 3G. iLiberty+ also works, but draws negative attention in respect to it’s longevity and future support.

Researching both programs will draw many positives and negatives for both sides.
All in all, you may as well just assume that your mileage may vary.