Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III bootloader gets unlocked, renders ‘developer edition’ phone useless

Vlad Bobleanta  By on 16 Aug 12

Unlike any other Samsung Galaxy S III variation, Verizon’s model comes with a locked bootloader. That basically keeps you from doing any modding on your device. No custom ROMs, no custom kernels, the likes. Of course, when asked about this, the carrier will say that it’s for your own protection. You’ll be the judge of how accurate that description is.

To appease the angry masses, Samsung announced a special ‘developer edition‘ of Verizon’s Galaxy S III that would come with an unlocked (or unlockable) bootloader. The catch? You’ll need to pay $599 for that particular SKU. If you’re not in the mood for that, worry not.

The genius devs over at the XDA Developers forum have found a way to unlock the Galaxy S III’s bootloader, using a leaked insecure bootloader. So, basically, what this means is that you’re now able to run custom stuff on your device, provided you can follow some simple instructions. They’re all detailed in this post. The video below even walks you through the process in a step-by-step manner.

One thing of note is that after doing this you should not, for any reason, under any circumstance, accept any official updates from Verizon and Samsung. Doing that may result in a bricked phone. Then again, you unlocked the bootloader to run custom ROMs, didn’t you? So do that. You’ll be fine.

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  • Hannah Martin

    The Samsung Galaxy S III has recieved mixed reviews since its launch http://search4reviews.net/ but personally I am delighted with mine, has all I want in a new phone and more.

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