iPhone 3G unhackable??

[venky83]

I just came across this article which talks about how difficult it is going to be for someone to hack iPhone 3G:

The new iPhone and the way it will be sold look set to shut down a small industry that arose to make the first version of the iconic phone available around the world.

The original iPhone, which launched in June last year, was initially available only in the US and only for use on AT&T Inc's network. In little more than a month, however, enterprising hackers found a way to "unlock" the phone to make it usable on other networks, including networks in other countries.

iPhones soon flowed out of the US, and analysts have estimated that one-third to one-half of the phones sold never made it onto AT&T's network.

Apple announced a new iPhone on Monday for use on 3G, or third-generation, data networks. It will stem the flow of unlocked phones in two ways.

First, the phone will be sold in more countries. Apple added five countries beyond the US for the first phone, but the second one will go on sale in 22 countries on July 11.

Apple has said it will add more countries at a rapid clip and reach 70 by the end of the year. That takes away one of main incentives for unlocking.

Second, Apple is abandoning the unusual arrangement under which the iPhone was being sold. Customers could buy them from a carrier or from Apple without activating them on a service plan, and that meant customers could go home and unlock the phones -- and never sign up with AT&T.

AT&T said buyers will have to activate service before leaving the store with an iPhone.

AT&T charges customers who break a two-year contract within the first month a $175 early termination fee plus the $36 activation fee. That would bring the cost of the new iPhone to $411 for an unlocker, just slightly more than the old model's $399 price.

[AlMuhairi]

Hackers will always find a way to unlock the iphone. So far, turbosims have the advantage of unlocking the iphone every step of the way. Once its launched, solutions will come out for unlocking the phone. People unlock the phones so that they can have more features and make it more usable to travel overseas.

Keep a look out for the new iphone, i think its going to be more nicer than the current generation of iphone.

[fangpyre]

The article is totally true.

There is also word that AT&T will only cancel the contract when the phone is returned.
Also, you will end up having your name on the system for many canceled contracts.
Which could potentially raise up flags on AT&T's system.
At $400 it is still a good price.
But I'm thinking the prices might go up in the UAE due to the obstacles they put.

The question is how and when it will be hacked.
The 2.0 firmware has already been activated and jailbroken.
So lets see how hard it will be to unlock them.
When it was first launched, the iPhone was hard to hack and was selling for around 4K.
So if the current hack methods succeed, the price will stay relatively low.
But if they don't and we're back to the hard methods.
The prices will go up even further.

[ultrablue662]

I have a fix... its less than ethical, but I do have one. lol.

[venky83]

Originally Posted by fangpyre

The article is totally true.

There is also word that AT&T will only cancel the contract when the phone is returned.
Also, you will end up having your name on the system for many canceled contracts.
Which could potentially raise up flags on AT&T's system.
At $400 it is still a good price.
But I'm thinking the prices might go up in the UAE due to the obstacles they put.

You can cancel the contract AFTER 30 days from the day of activation which is the date of purchase. You have to pay a Early Termination Fee which is not yet determined but is speculated to be hundreds of $. But, if you cancel before 30 days you have to return the device and take a refund.

[fangpyre]

Not that bad.
Usually it is around $200.

But that doesn't resolve the flag on the system.

[gajanan]

How about Mauritius ? Seems like the prices there for a bundle are pretty low. Or even Romania. Both have orange as the provider, and if orange is taken in prospect as a iphone provider to select countries, then these guys have a online buying system lol. Now why would i spend my green on monopolist AT&T just cause i wana have it first ? We'd rather wait for it come all over and compare. Besides, one thing is for sure, if its releasing in 22 countries APART from the ones being released first, then its safe to say in assumption that they cannot lock phones for every country release to that respective one carrier. But i may be wrong, if i am right then when it comes to Qatar i think most of us will have them here too

[ar53nal14]

Why can't we just enter the store, buy it, go home, and unlock it?!

[noixe]

becuz it will have a new version of the OS, altho the OS is not the thing tht locks it, its the baseband and the bootloader. and until and unless the baseband and bootloader is flashed(formatted) first and THEN rewrite the OS onto it, it wont work. and to flash the baseband and bootloaders, u need to hack into them. physical ways are too risky and too complicated

[ahugefrigginguy]

AT&T released their information yesterday about selling unlocked iPhones in the States.

Unlock Your Own Iphone: Don't Buy an Unlocked iPhone From AT&T, Just Cancel a New Contract

It seems it would be cheaper to sign the contract and buy out of it 30 days later than it would be to just purchase the thing outright from them.

If you don't want to click the link, the breakdown is:
8GB iPhone Canceled: $480
16GB iPhone Canceled: $580
8GB iPhone Unlocked from AT&T: $599
16GB iPhone Unlocked from AT&T: $699