New Firmware Fixes Previously Bricked iPhones

drcagn writes "Ars Technica reports that Apple's new 1.1.3 firmware update unbricks iPhones damaged from unlocking and updating the firmware months ago. In September, users who hacked their iPhone's firmware to unlock it found their iPhone bricked when they updated to new firmware, creating a massive upset and internet furor. Although Apple claimed this was not an intended effect of the update, it held the stance that it is not their responsibility to ensure that updates work with users' warranty-voiding hacks, and many cried foul. This update, which provides new features Jobs showed off at Macworld, while not officially unbricking the iPhone, has restored iPhones from Gizmodo and a reader of the Unofficial Apple Weblog."

Comments

Confused

[Toonol]

If a iPhone can receive an update that unbricks it, then it was never bricked in the first place.

Re:Confused

[SatanicPuppy]

The phrase "brick" is so overused as to be meaningless these days. It wasn't "bricked"; the firmware update got fubared on the hacked phones the last time it was updated, rendering the device non-functional. This one overwrites whatever chunk of firmware code that was causing the issue, and poof, it fixes the problem.

Same as if you screwed up a BIOS update on your motherboard. Do it again, correctly and you'll be fine.

Re:Confused

[jameson71]

If this update could fix the iphones, putting it into recovery mode and doing a restore probably would have fixed it too. Anyone calling that bricked shouldnt be messing with their iphone in the first place.

Software can't unbrick

[corsec67]

If you can recover a device to a full operational state without opening its case or attaching a jTag cable, it wasn't bricked.

Flashed with a messed up firmware, or a bad flash, sure, but not bricked.

If you have to use a boot wait feature to load a new firmware over a network, it isn't bricked either because it was able to access a network and run a tftp server.

They are right

[geekoid]

"held the stance that it is not their responsibility to ensure that updates work with users' warranty-voiding hacks, "

They shouldn't be held liable. You buy a product and modify it the manufacture can't, and shouldn't, be held responsible for the results.

ABout brick

[geekoid]

Save yourself some frustration and realizer the term brick changed when it hit the mainstream market.
Like 'Hacker'. You can't stop it, just sigh and go on, otherwise your just screaming into the wind.

Re:Cue the bitching

[Luscious868]

No you don't the $20 is for software that will turn the iPod touch into a PDA. Including mail client etc, that should have been included from the start.

Since the iPod touch is an iPod, and not a PDA, and since those features were not there to begin with and everybody who bought one knew that if they bothered to to do any research first, isn't $20 a small price to pay to add those features if you want them? Are you forced to spend the $20? Did Apple claim those features were there to begin with and then charge people $20 to get them?

Re:Ugh.

[Moonpie Madness]

Dude, if you were wanting a bargain product, Apple simply isn't making anything for you.

If you want a really nice product, particularly aesthetically nice, then Apple makes all kinds of shit you might like. But you have to give them MONEY for it.

That software was not advertised as included in the ipod touch. So you didn't get screwed. If you want this version of the software, pay 20$. Of course, a lot of people get it through a different avenue.

If you want a cheap PDA that has a lot of this functionality, you can get one pretty cheap. If $20 is a big deal for you.

Apple is going to always do this. They've found a niche that is profitable, has decent clientele, is fun to manage. I think Apple isn't going to change. They will charge you more for everything, but make good stuff.