Apple warned on Monday that iPhone owners who have used unauthorized programs to unlock the cellular service feature of their handsets may end up with a phone that does not work after the company's next software update.
Since the iPhone made its debut in June, hackers have posted a number of methods online to make it possible to use iPhones on cellular networks other than that of AT&T, the exclusive official carrier.
Apple executives say they have discovered that many of those unauthorized unlocking programs damage iPhone software. A software update that Apple plans to issue later this week that will add features such as accessibility to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store may end up making the cellphone completely inoperable if it has been altered.
"This has nothing to do with proactively disabling a phone that is unlocked or hacked," Philip W. Schiller, Apple's senior vice president for worldwide product marketing, said in an interview. "It's unfortunate that some of these programs have caused damage to the iPhone software, but Apple cannot be responsible" for those consequences.
View: NY Times
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