Filed under: Bad Apple, Apple, iPhone
Apple: "iPhone SIM unlockers will end up with iBricks"
Here at TUAW HQ (located on this occasion very much east of the Atlantic ocean), we've been receiving a flurry of tips about a certain press release from Cupertino folks about iPhone unlocking. The short of it? Apple's telling consumers that "unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed." For consumers everywhere, that's a daunting proposition if you've bitten the bullet and chosen to run one of the numerous unlocking applications out there.The word on the street is that Apple, whilst looking for ways ensure customers did not brick their iPhones after a future software update (namely, the one including the iTunes WiFi Music Store), have simply chosen to take the somewhat easier route of stating "Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty.".
The press release also goes on to tell us that iPhone users can expect to receive the Software Upgrade this week, leaving people in the lurch until then to see whether this Doomsday-esque scenario plays out as Apple says. If you want to be on the safe side, you might try Erica's relocking procedure (still in the very early testing stages!).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
andrew said 5:53PM on 9-24-2007
good.
this is the price of innovation. if you don't like the terms, innovate on your own.
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Callum Alden said 5:55PM on 9-24-2007
Apple, that's pathetic.
I'm looking into that nokia again.
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yacoub said 6:02PM on 9-24-2007
Why do they insist on being such a bunch of c_nts? Honestly...
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rp said 6:02PM on 9-24-2007
F-U Apple. What happened to you? You've become a corporate whore! I hardly even recognize you. Man, I knew this AT&T deal would be terrible news overall. Now Apple has to take it in the ass from some other crappy corp.
You'll be hearing from me multiple times about this. Hope your feedback readers have a lot of coffee to drink because I doubt I'm the only one...
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Jman said 6:03PM on 9-24-2007
SIM unlocks only - a little clarification is probably necessary in the article.
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ishcabittle said 6:04PM on 9-24-2007
Us iPhoners will be counting on TUAW in the coming week to let us know what happens to both kinds of modded phones (Installer.app and/or AnySIM). I'm not incredibly thrilled with the whole iTunes WIFI store or nothin', but I would like the "bug fixes".
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James Donevan said 6:05PM on 9-24-2007
I guess we'll now get a chance to see just how many of those 1 million iPhones were actually bought by hackers. If there were 10% to 20% as suggested here on TUAW, then those 100,000 to 200,000 users will undoubtedly cause Apple to reconsider. On the the hand...
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PLDM said 6:12PM on 9-24-2007
What?! Why don't you try not locking your customers into second rate 3rd parties, or completely ignoring your international client base, and see if more people wouldn't have to use your hardware outside of the set Software Agreement to actually USE your hardware!!!
I'm seriously livid about this fragrant disrespect of customers inflicted upon your most loyal fanbase. Yes, by using these programs of undoubtably dubious legality the risk is always there that the wheel may turn out of our favour, but to actually go within your means to decommision YOUR OWN HARDWARE just to prove a point that said hardware is open to attacks that may ruin your hardware? Apple calling the kettle black a wee bit, no?
Arrg!
p.s. Rage has no spellcheck!
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Red said 6:12PM on 9-24-2007
I don't understand. Why would they do that?
I'm posting from little old New Zealand, in the arse end of the world, one of those countries which may never even get the iPhone released here (hell, we were even left off Steve's pretty little graphic showing all the countries with the iTMS during the iPod revamp keynote!)
I just paid an exorbitant price to buy an already-unlocked iPhone from a parallel importing store; how am I doing Apple a disservice by buying their product? How am I doing them a disservice by showing it off to my friends and thus showing off how awesome Apple is? And yet they still wanna screw me over.. I don't get it at all.
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KeynoteKen said 6:17PM on 9-24-2007
There's probably nothing in upcoming update that's worth having, anyway. Don't get excited, just don't update and you can keep your iPhone in it's unlocked state, all hacker happy and codie content! :)
Of course, I'll be updating with no fears.
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Ben said 6:18PM on 9-24-2007
I don't *know* if mine is unlocked. AnySIM failed twice. How do I check?
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Chris said 6:22PM on 9-24-2007
Though I'm not ruling out corporate whoreship, if the unlocking really does damage the firmware like Apple is claiming, I would be trying to warn my customers too. You can't necessarily assume the worst. What is bad is that these firmware updates endangering the unlocked phones are probably the ones that will lock the iPhone up like the Touch, which sucks hard.
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Reg said 6:23PM on 9-24-2007
Looks like Apple just created a 1.0.2 fork.
It will be interesting if half the iPhone community is running 1.0.2 while the other half keeps going with 1.1.1+.
Doesn't really affect Apple in the short term, as they've already made the profit from the selling iPhone, but if it creates bad blood between the users, then future enthusiasm won't be as high. That extends to the rest of the Apple platform too.
Will a pissed off Windows user, who was a potential switcher to Leopard, still want to make the leap after being given a deliberately bricked iPhone?
I guess Apple is banking on having a cool enough product that it can afford to ditch users who aren't playing by its terms.
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rdas7 said 6:25PM on 9-24-2007
rofl, everyone crying because their unofficially software modded iPhone isn't officially supported by Apple. Hack the planet!! Dude seriously, that's what it means to mod software. And ftw it's not "hacking" if you just click "start" or follow instructions on a website. Otherwise my mom is a hacker.
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John Pastor said 6:26PM on 9-24-2007
Did anyone notice that on all the screenshots of the new iPhone software, the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store is all the way on the right? What goes on the other three spaces? iChat?
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Virtuous said 6:32PM on 9-24-2007
I have a simple solution for all of the crybabies out there. Sell your iPhones and stop whinning!
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badtzmaru said 6:33PM on 9-24-2007
If you unlock the phone, how can you expect apple to keep giving you free software? The shrillness of some of these comments is incredible.
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Joe said 6:34PM on 9-24-2007
I smell PSP-like homebrew war. I'll be keeping mine on 1.0.2, it's nice and, while double tap to pause music is nice, I'd rather have the custom apps. Thanks but no thanks Apple, I realize you have a deal with AT&T, but bricking the iPhone because of the unlocks? That's just low.
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Reg said 6:34PM on 9-24-2007
Warning, or hostile action?
Personally I think this is a deliberate move and didn't need to be the case. It's disingenuous for Apple to claim that unauthorized hacks have "caused irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable."
Firmware updates, in the way Apple applies them, usually replace the whole firmware with the updated image. In the case of the baseband, which the SIM unlockers patch, they *could* have chosen to have written over a completely updated image.
Chances are they've chosen not too as a discouragement to such hacks now and in the future.
Still, I know a lot of legitimate "boring" iPhone users who always scoffed at the idea of hacking the iPhone will actually be very pleased at this move. It validates their high and mighty attitude!
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Mike said 6:46PM on 9-24-2007
Complainers need to shutup and realize that about a very small handful of people that buy iPhones unlock it. Not to mention you are doing something to the phone that isn't supported. Its ridiculous that people complain about this.
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