iPhone firmware re-locks iPhones
When Apple fired a warning shot earlier this week, many folks in the hacker community were unsure whether the company was serious about re-locking unlocked iPhones or if it was simply bluffing in order to discourage would be hackers. Well, looks like we have our answer: version 1.1.1 makes good on Apple’s threats by re-locking iPhones running non-AT&T SIM cards and disabling many 3rd party applications. Yikes. Unlocked iPhone users are reporting various degrees of success by either swapping out the SIM card for a legit AT&T card pre-upgrade or re-activating afterward using a valid AT&T SIM. Regardless, this much is clear: if you have an iPhone that’s either unlocked or loaded with 3rd party apps, it’s not going to be the same after the update, if it even works at all.
For more on the new firmware, including a video demonstration:
– see this Gizmodo article