Apple breaks jailbreakers' hearts with iPhone 3GS patch
We're gonna lock you up and throw away the key
Apple has reportedly tweaked the way its iPhone is coded in an effort to freeze out users who jailbreak the company's handsets.
It's understood that when Apple ships new iPhone 3GS phones, they'll come loaded with a "bootrom" that defends against the 24kpwn exploit used by the Dev-Team and individuals to jailbreak artificial restrictions built into the popular smartphone.
Indeed, the Dev-Team warned iPhone users last week to hang fire on installing the latest iPhone OS.
More recently, the group's hacker MuscleNerd has confirmed that for the time being a normal jailbreak of the phone would be impossible, following the loss of the 24kpwn exploit.
Users jailbreak their handsets in order to install unsigned Apple Apps on their iPhone. The Cupertino-based company has watched world+dog enjoy the exploit for the best part of this year.
But the next batch of iPhone 3GS units to arrive in-store are expected to come with code that prevents the jailbreak.
All of which will probably lead to another exploit being discovered, although with each Apple patch, the jailbreaks have turned from a gush to a trickle.
As we reported on Monday, one of the world's foremost iPhone hackers has released software for jailbreaking the latest firmware released for the Apple smartphone.
Geohot's Blackra1n lets Windows-only users jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1.2 on all iPhone and iPod Touch models, regardless of their hardware generation. The tool, which in 30 seconds allows handset users to run software not authorised by Apple, doesn't work on Macs.
It's not clear if that exploit will also have been patched in the latest batch of iPhone 3GS units. But Apple seems to have won the battle, if not the war, against jailbreakers for now. ®
COMMENTS
Apple fanboys are hypocrites
I can't believe that people are actually wanting a locked device that does not allow you to do whatever you want with it. After all you paid hundreds of pounds for it. Mac OSX isn't locked and I don't see you complainig about it. You can't even change the battery for goodness sake, instead needing to travel to one of their store or send it off for a couple of days to have it replaced. Inconvenience much? Stepping into the Apple world is stepping backwards, you get locked hardware (iPhone, iPod, Macbooks), locked software (iTunes) and yet some of you willingly champion this disgusing behaviour.
Bleeding hypocrites, the lot of you.
Shoot self in foot.
When the iPhone first appeared and was locked down tight I thought that's typical Apple. You pay, but never own.
Then the jailbreaks appeared, and continued to work, so I thought maybe Apple had learnt something, and had implemented the lock to control features that keep the networks happy (like Nokia did with things like VOIP via wifi on the N95), but left the backdoor slightly ajar so they don't really alienate techie customers who can easily free things up (on Nokia you change the model code to that of a generic Nokia instead of a carrier supplied one, also useful for getting generic firmware which your network hasn't bothered to authorise/release).
Unfortunately Apple have proved they were just inept, and not actually being rather smart. All your iPhone does not belong to us. It belong to them. Just be grateful they let you use it at all.
History Repeating Itself
Apple have a history of shooting themselves in the foot.
Come up with a good product, and then alienate the users. There’s only so much loyalty available for a company which falls over itself to exclude users from the process. In the case of the iPhone, there are many shortcomings, and Apple have locked users from fixes to them.
I love my iPhone, but my next phone will be a phone which I can call my own and doesn’t bar me from adapting it to the way I prefer to do things. Whether it is an iPhone, or something based on Android is entirely up to Apple. If they want to chase away their customers, well, we’ve seen it happen before.
@WTF
"Just who the fuck do Apple think they are ?"
Why they are the new Microsoft, ofcourse?
(Reg: I think it is time for Steve Jobs halo + horns icons?)
Illegal
of course. By why the goverment is allowing Apple to illegally cripple the iPhone.
Preventing your consumers from using your product is not a very good business model.
Another reason not to buy any Apple product.
Apple illegal business practice and effort to keep his (illegal) monopoly makes Microsft look like pre-schoolers.
Apple is the whorst company on the planet. and it is time peoples start to realise that.
