09-28-2007, 09:58 AM | #1 |
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Apple software update kills "hacked" iPhones
The BBC are reporting that a new software update from Apple leaves "hacked" iPhones permanently inoperable.
The story reports that: On Monday Apple issued a statement in which it said many of the unauthorised iPhone unlocking programs caused "irreparable damage" to the device's software. The company said this would "likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed". That warning has now proved correct as many owners are reporting their phones no longer work following installation of the update. |
09-28-2007, 10:03 AM | #2 | |
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09-28-2007, 10:11 AM | #3 |
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I believe, though, that it's not only "unlocked" phones which are stopping working, but also those "locked" ones on which additional "unapproved" software has been installed.
I can see major lawsuits in the near future as a result of this... |
09-28-2007, 10:28 AM | #4 |
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09-28-2007, 10:44 AM | #5 |
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It's not a good idea to rely on MSM for technical information. They got the details wrong this time.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/iphon...deo-304497.php The phones aren't completely dead. It appears that they have reverted to a fresh out of the box pre-activation state. |
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09-28-2007, 11:04 AM | #6 | |
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Bottom Line: It was hacked successfully once, it's only a matter of hours before it's hacked again and Apple becomes $ony pursuing PSP homebrew users. Problem is, they can never plug the holes. |
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09-28-2007, 11:16 AM | #7 |
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My understanding is that when the iphones are purchased, customers have to sign a contract agreeing not to do this kind of stuff. If that's correct, they'll get no sympathy from me. You can hate rules and restrictions or even the companies that rely on them all you like. But if you're going to do business with them, you should be prepared to abide by those rules or else suffer the consequences with a little dignity (i.e., don't go whining about it).
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09-28-2007, 11:41 AM | #8 | |
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But it is true that there are clauses buried in the warranty that specifically excludes from the warranty coverage any damage if you install unapproved third party apps. Refusing to cover unauthorized apps is understandable; releasing an upgrade that freezes all Iphones with those apps is something else. They have set themselves up for a class action lawsuit. They will likely lose the suit because I bet they bricked the Iphones deliberately. But nevermind the lawsuit. What they have done is a PR fiasco, and it will soon grow to be a major PR clusterf***. I give it two weeks before Apple caves, apologizes, and releases a new update that won't brick your Iphone. |
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09-28-2007, 12:07 PM | #9 | |
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09-28-2007, 12:22 PM | #10 |
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Hi,
Not to be mean here but good for Apple in asserting some control over their product. People buy Apple, not me, for the control they exert over their products and now want to complain when it adversely affects them. This is no different than me hacking the rom on my Axim and bricking it and wanting Dell to replace it because I did something I should not have done. No sympathy here from me, you play fast and loose, you accept the outcome. Everyone had fair warning of this possibility and knows Apple's fanatical control of their toys they produce. Don't like it, do not buy from them. I like this and maybe it will give users pause next time they hack their phone that they may brick it. These users got caught and now want to whine about it, they need not bother me. I mean, who said to hack the phone and then to install an update they knew would brick the phone? Good learning experience for all of us. Now I am off to install the latest cooked rom for my axim from XDA Developers. Just kidding on the last, already did it knowing and accepting the possibilty of making it a brick. And only blaming myself for it, should it occur. David Last edited by Harpgliss; 09-28-2007 at 12:27 PM. |
09-28-2007, 12:24 PM | #11 | |
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09-28-2007, 12:29 PM | #12 | |
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Apple is at fault because they wrote the software. The software harmed Apple's customers. Why they wrote it is irrelevant.
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Furthermore, the contract that Apple had with ATT is irrelevant to the people who bought an Iphone from an Apple store. Apple has no legal right to tell me I cannot run other software on my Iphone. They can refuse to support it, certainly. They have no obligation to test the upgrade to make sure that it doesn't break the third party software. Okay, fine. But I think they deliberately made the upgrade restore only the unlocked Iphone to factory settings. |
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09-28-2007, 12:38 PM | #13 |
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This reminds me of the "silver bullet" that cable companies put out some years ago to kill off "unauthorized" decoder boxes. Basically, they were trying to prevent folks from getting decoder boxes from anywhere but the cable company. I don't recall what came of it directly, but I do notice that 3rd party decoder boxes are no longer considered taboo.
I see what you're saying Harpgliss, but I also think that this is a bit different from what you're viewing it as. You mention bricking an Axim and trying to get Dell to replace it. Trouble is, there's not really another product that's analogous to this. If I buy a Nokia phone from Cingular, they lock it. I can go to any of scores of web services and get it unlocked. I'm still bound by my contract, unless I payed full price and declined to sign a contract. Neither Nokia, nor Cingular is harmed in any way by my unlocking my phone so that I can use it on another service if I should choose to do so at some point. What's happening with these iPhones is that folks are buying them at full price, no subsidy. Evidently, in a lot of cases, they're not signing any sort of contract to use any particular service. They're unlocking those phones and using them with the service of their choice (something which has been established practice for other phones for some time). If Apple releases an update that, as an accidental side effect, bricks them, that's one thing, if they set out as a specific goal to do so, that's another. I tend to agree that they would likely lose a law suit (and almost certainly face one) under that circumstance. Exercising control over the use of Hardware is not something that most folks are prepared to accept. Exercising it over software is a somewhat different matter, though I can see Microsoft getting sued out of existence if they were to deliberately send out something that permanently locked up the OS if someone hooked up, say, a printer of a particular brand or something to it. Declining to support something isn't the same as messing with the function of something that was already working. |
09-28-2007, 12:50 PM | #14 | |
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09-28-2007, 12:50 PM | #15 |
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Hi,
Analogies aside, and maybe mine were bad, but people who installed software that was not designed to run on the Iphone accept that bad things could happen to it from either bad software or an update from Apple. I understand Sony is this way with the PSP updates for their firmware also. I just feel if you did the unlock thing when it was not supported from Apple, you took a chance it would break the phone. I would be upset also but at me and not Apple. David |
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