You will see websites promising a permanent "IMEI clean" for $10–$30.

Before attempting any bypass, you must understand what you are working with.

On newer iPhones, the iCloud lock is tied to the hardware serial number and is verified by Apple's servers during the activation handshake. On the iPhone 4s, the activation record is stored locally in the filesystem (/usr/standalone/firmware/).

This means that if you can modify the filesystem, you can delete the files that tell the device it is locked.

For those who want to truly wipe the device but keep the bypass, you need to delete the setup app entirely.

Concept: You boot a custom ramdisk (a virtual hard drive in memory) that allows you to access the iPhone’s root file system.

Steps (Simplified):

Result: When the phone reboots, iOS tries to load the Setup (activation) app, finds it missing, and skips directly to the home screen. This is the most permanent software bypass available for the 4s. It survives reboots, but you can never reset the phone via Settings > Reset, or you will erase the bypass and be locked again.

Those DNS addresses are maintained by volunteers. They go offline often. Search Reddit’s r/setupapp or r/checkra1n for “live iCloud bypass DNS 2025.”