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Ars Technica is carrying a story, that seems rather well-informed, which relates to Apple 'bricking' the iPhone. Their point being? That Apple could turn your iPhone into a very expensive brick via software update – if you dare screw with its internals to by-pass the Apple/AT&T locks. CEO Jobs did refer to this recently, noting that the lock-unlock problem was a cat-and-mouse game and that Apple tried to stay ahead of the hackers. Legally, people can't be stopped from unlocking their phones under the DCMA, but there's nothing to stop Apple and AT&T blocking the software changes you make to an iPhone. Ars writes: "We believe this is a significant possibility, so here's a word for those who have unlocked their iPhones: be extremely careful when the software update lands; let others be the guinea pigs before you run it. A software restore of the iPhone likely won't save you, either, as the radio baseband firmware used to identify the SIM card will still remain unlocked (as it stands now, those who have run unlocks can still do a software restore and have an unlocked iPhone). And if Apple writes its update to make changes to the radio baseband firmware based on what it was expecting, the iPhone will not react well." Analysis: We wonder. All sorts of law suits could arise because of this type of action (not to mention angry customer reaction. And even 'bricking' could lead to workarounds. Think of firmware in DVD burners which lock out region-free or write/read speed limits in firmware. Hacked firmware restores capabilities to the drives. Apple will made it difficult, sure, but we can't quite see the company turning iPhones into paperweights.
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