Apple said in a press release today that programs like iPhoneSIMFree used to unlock iPhones to run on carriers other than AT&T will “will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed.” and goes on to add that “he permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone’s warranty.”
I haven’t unlocked mine, as I’m fairly happy with my service on AT&T. I have installed third-party applications, however. Thankfully there is no indication that this refers to those programs, but only to the programs that modify the firmware to allow the device to operate on a different carrier’s network. I should be ok. I will say however that I’m really seriously hoping that an SDK is released to help improve the quality of third-party applications. The web applications are useless without data, and I have definitely seen a drop in stability with my device since I installed a few applications. A full restore takes me back to factory settings so I am not to concerned about it, but I’d like to see improvements.
I received an email from the Apple Developer’s Network today about some new Tech Talks regarding developments for the iPhone. It only mentioned web applications, so I’m not sure the SDK is any closer at all. It could be that Apple just wants to let someone else deal with it via crowdsourcing that they aren’t necessarily supportive of, but not overtly against either. They’ve kind of taken a “do it if you want but we make no guarantees” stance with the third-party non-unlocking applications.
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