Apple Warns Against iPhone Unlocking

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
From our front-page news:
When I first noticed an e-mail entitled, "Apple today released the following statement:", I was quite sure I knew what information it was going to include, and lo and behold, my predictions were correct. In what may be the smallest Apple press release we've seen, they stress that unlocking your iPhone will be a bad idea and mention that future updates will potentially render the phone useless.

An update later this week will be adding the iTunes WiFi Music Store that was first seen with the iPod touch, and once deployed, your unlocked phone may no longer be unlocked. Whether or not it would be an easy fix to "re-hack" or not, is yet to be seen. You can read the entire press release below.

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CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Apple has discovered that many of the 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. Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update, containing many new features including the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store (www.itunes.com), later this week. Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. 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.


Heh. I admit, I used an iPhone last week and was impressed by it's surfing capabilities. It was smooth and pretty easy to look at, though the overall speed seemed to be lacking. But, I'm fussy and that's to be expected from such a small device.

That said, I still have no interest in getting one, and it's for reasons such as these. I had expected to see the iPhone here in Canada months ago, but there's still not general idea of when they will be available.

I am not sure what it is, but Apple is one company that can get me excited for a product and then make me hate it the very next day just as easy.
 

madmat

Soup Nazi
The slow surfing was most likely due to the slow as mud EDGE network that you're hobbled with thanks to AT&T.
 

madstork91

The One, The Only...
The slow surfing was most likely due to the slow as mud EDGE network that you're hobbled with thanks to AT&T.

I've heard rumors that off of the at&t network it gets better.

Which begs to question, why did apple go with them?
 

GameMasterNick

Coastermaker
which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed.

I take that to mean they're working on ways to make sure that updates to the phone will fubar unlocked phones. Possibly meaning the user now has to go buy a new one (or find a savvy hacker to fix it). Why does this remind me of Windows Genuine Advantage?
 

madstork91

The One, The Only...
I take that to mean they're working on ways to make sure that updates to the phone will fubar unlocked phones. Possibly meaning the user now has to go buy a new one (or find a savvy hacker to fix it). Why does this remind me of Windows Genuine Advantage?

Hrm... because it is similar in business theory?
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
The slow surfing was most likely due to the slow as mud EDGE network that you're hobbled with thanks to AT&T.

I actually meant the speed for the text to "load". For example, when you zoom in, you can see the text but it's all pixelated. It takes a few moments for it to render itself. I am very fussy though, some people might call be too fussy.
 

MakubeX

Partition Master
Apple did the same thing to Puerto Rico. Even though it's US Territory, they didn't make it available here.

Meh, I wouldn't have bought it even if it was available here anyway. :p
 
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