iOS 4.1 out today, iPhone hackers say

Jailbreakers beware

By Tony Smith, 8th September 2010

Hackers at the iPhone Dev Team think Apple will begin pushing out iOS 4.1 today - and warn anyone keen to jailbreak their handset to leave the update well alone.

"Don’t accept it… it’s a trap!" they say.

The reason? iOS 4.1 will update the iPhone's modem software, potentially blocking future attempts to unlock the phone.

"Please stay away from this 4.1 release until a safe jailbreak procedure is developed and released," the team advises.

At time of writing, Apple had yet to push out iOS 4.1 to UK iTunes users. But the code went Golden Master, a key stage in the software release schedule, last week. That suggests iOS 4.1's release is imminent. ®

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COMMENTS

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Highly Rated

Posted Wednesday 8th September 2010 15:12 GMT

Adam Starkey

Trap?

While, personally, I'd probably never bother to jail break an iDevice, I have no issue with the jail break community. That said, rhetoric like "Don’t accept it… it’s a trap!" makes them look like idiots. It's not a trap, it's a security fix.

The question should never be: "are Apple being mean and taking their toys away?" The question instead should be as it always is: "why was that vulnerability there is the first place."

If Apple are at fault (and they are) it's for screwing the pooch on securing the OS, not on retro-actively fixing their cock-up when a handful of users have found useful side effects of said cock-up.

Posted Thursday 9th September 2010 15:36 GMT

Anonymous Coward

I agree

And I honestly don't see why manufacturers have a problem with the Nexus One style boot-loader unlocking.

If you haven't seen it, you can "ask" the boot loader to void your warranty to allow rooting (or jailbreaking for iPhone users.) Once this is done, the phone permanently shows a unlocked padlock during the initial boot process.

Users (geeks and Joe down the street) get what they want, manufacturers don't get screwed for it, everybody's happy.

Instead we have jailbreaking and rooting processes that can damage the hardware and then be reversed and claimed on under warranty - this applies to my HTC Magic too, I can un-root the boot loader and still claim on the warranty.

Posted Thursday 9th September 2010 15:35 GMT

Anonymous Coward