What I Need to Know Before Jail Breaking.

There are a few different things you will need to know before beginning the jail breaking process. The first thing you need to know is what version iDevice you are going to jailbreak. Determining exactly what iDevice you have is important because they jail break differently. There are several different ways to determine what device you have. We'll start with iPhones. The first generation iPhone and the fourth generation iPhone are pretty distinguishable just from there external appearance. However the iPhone 3G and 3GS are nearly identical in appearance. However they are not hard to tell apart. The best way to tell them apart is to look for the compass app. If you have the compass app then you have the 3GS if you do not have the compass app then you have the iPhone 3G. 

Now on to the iPod Touches. The first generation iPod Touch is pretty easy to distinguish. It has a flat metal back and is slightly thicker than the others. The second and third generation are a little harder to tell apart. they both have the same style and the best way to tell them apart is to look on the back plate. In fine print on the black plate is the model number. If the model number begins with "A1288" it is the second generation iPod Touch. If it begins with "A1318" then it is the third generation iPod Touch. Also if you cant read the model number on the device its self if you plug it into your computer, open iTunes, click on your device in the left side panel and then go to the summary tab your model number will be displayed. The fourth generation is the easiest to spot just look for the cameras either in the front or in the back if they are there then it is the fourth generation.

If you have an iPad well currently there is only one type of iPad so you don't have to worry about identifying your device,

iPad

Once you know what device you have you need to figure out what version firmware you have. This too can be gained from the device info tab or you can go to Settings on your device then tap General  then tap About and scroll down to where it says version to the left is your firmware version.  Now comes a troubling question should I update or not? That depends. Do you want to jail break your device right this very instant or can you wait a week or two but get more features when you do. If you cant wait i suggest you first come back to this blog and check to see if there is a tutorial on how to jail break the firmware you are looking to update to for your device if not then you'll have to wait to jail break until they come out with a jailbreak for that firmware. If there is a tutorial then go ahead and update you might as well get those new features.

Now that you have your device version and your firmware version you know everything you need to know to jail break your device.