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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."
If a iPhone can receive an update that unbricks it, then it was never bricked in the first place.
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.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
"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.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
If you look at http://www.hackint0sh.org/ (forums for the anysim iPhone unlock method), you'll see that some iBricks don't get fixed using this trick. So while this method may work for some, it isn't the cure all for all iPhone hacking mistakes.
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.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I "unbricked" my phone back in October. The iPhone development community built a utility that rebuilt your lockstate tables way back then. Welcome to the party Apple.
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
Somehow the link to the story appears to have gotten lost.
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 $20 to get them?
I bricked about this happening to "meme" a couple years ago, then bricked the solution, so I'd like to brick some words of encouragement to anyone who feels bricked by the loss: brick your vengeance. If you can't brick "brick," then nobody can.
Heretofore, "to brick" can brick anything. You can brick a beer; you can brick a pizza. You can brick a computer; and you can brick your girlfriend. You can brick your hat, except in Soviet Russia, where hat bricks you.
Go brick something, and then brick somebody about it in the hopes that they'll brick someone else. Brick the word, so the whole world will brick that they bricked "brick." Hopefully after that, maybe they will have bricked that some words are better off left unbricked.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Seriously, nothing indicates that these users updated the firmware by any abnormal method. The phone would be bricked if there were no way to get into recovery mode or whatever lets you update the firmware.
Dude, if you were wanting a bargain product, Apple simply isn't making anything for you.
If you want a really nice product, particularly aesthetically nice, then Apple makes all kinds of shit you might like. But you have to give them MONEY for it.
That software was not advertised as included in the ipod touch. So you didn't get screwed. If you want this version of the software, pay 20$. 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 $20 is a big deal for you.
Apple is going to always do this. They've found a niche that is profitable, has decent clientele, is fun to manage. I think Apple isn't going to change. They will charge you more for everything, but make good stuff.
Any company that installs firmware on a system in an unknown state "unintentionally" are morons. They've never heard of checksums? Don't trust your expensive iphone to them for updates because they're obviously not performing due diligence. I they can't detect a hacked phone before blindly installing, they will be unable to detect other problems/conditions which would break the phone when patched. As a matter of fact, were there not also
a small number of non-hacked phones which got bricked as well?
good grief, listen to yourself!!!!
"irrevocable" is an absolute term, just like "bricked". By very definition, if something is eventually revoked, it wasn't irrevocable.
Please, go back to grade school. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.
That they disavow any damage a firmware update will do to a modified piece of hardware? If that is the case, I would submit that 99.9% of companies are in the exact same class.
If you are talking about the fact that an SDK is not out yet, wait a month til it is.
If you are just turned off by Steve Jobs, that seems like a personal issue. but so long as they keep the snotty outlook on the world at large, they're just another tech company. Apple, you need to stop acting like assholes, and stop treating your customers like every last one is a worthless idiot. What are you *so* bitter about? I really don't understand this somewhat prevalent attitude that because they aren't supporting an unsupported 3rd party modification of one of their products, they are assholes.
And BTW, as just another tech company, their market cap is ~140 billion, have had a stock price increase of 56x in the past 5 years, and have the highest grossing ($/sqft) retail outlet of any retail outlet, bar none. If that is what you consider just another tech company, I guess we have very different standards.
This seems like the exact inverse of an apple fanbois post...ranting with no basis instead of raving with no basis.
-Ted
-=-=- Quantum physics - the dreams stuff are made of.
Crap! I managed to brick my iPhone into a firewall. But I didn't think that Windows CE-ME-NT would dry so quickly all over it! Seriously, the 2000 grade formula drys in XP amount of time. Please, feel free to brick me now with your brick iPhone that I know you think are now just useless bricks now. Mwa ha ha ha ha. Score.
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
WRONG. Punishing early adopters would be if Apple started adding these apps to NEW Touches, and NOT offering an upgrade to existing Touch owners at all.
What happens when you buy a computer with Windows XP and then Vista comes out and you want the computer to have that instead? You have to pay to upgrade it, that's what. Even if its the same hardware... costing the SAME price (or less).
Yes, it'd be very cool if manufacturers just doled out free software/feature updates for everyone in perpetuity... but that's not realistic. Apple simply doesn't treat the Touch as a product that gets free feature upgrades. You can get the latest firmware, you just won't get the new APPS. Pay close attention to how this works. In about one month, or so... you'll look at 5 high-calibre apps for $20 as a nice deal. Apple DOES treat the iPhone and Apple TV as products that will receive free updates and features. WHY? Because they structured their accounting that way, and specifically because they represent two NEW fields for Apple (cellphone/video) that Apple wants to remain competitive in. Those 5 apps have NOTHING to do with being competitive in the PMP/Mp3 market. They're already KING BANANA their, and NO ONE else offers features that these 5 apps do on your mp3 player. NO ONE. --So, $20. Big whoop. Does it make iPod Touch a PDA now? Yes, basically. They've now changed the product from an PMP to a PDA... and you get to stay current by paying $20. If only all manufacturer upgrades were that easy to jump on-board with.
Yeah! How dare they release a $20 upgrade to an MP3 player that turns it into a wifi-connected PDA! What jerks those guys are! The nerve of them! To show how big of jerks they are, they even went further and added those features to the new ones, for free! Someone should do something about this!