Comments on: Free your iPhone

By: Adam C.

Adam C. — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:26:31 +0000

I went to elementary school with that kid in glen rock, nj. he was taking apart ibms in first grade. lol

By: lucas

lucas — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:05:36 +0000

Not knocking the accomplishment either – just had to say, like many, was baffled by the media coverage this got.

By: Crash

Crash — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:06:51 +0000

That didn't take too long.

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9767612-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

By: TJHooker

TJHooker — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:52:19 +0000

No offense, but you've gotta be a self indulgent, materialistic, moron -to trade a car for a unlocked cellular phone/PPC.

I seen a harder BUS level hack than this on a Siemens about a year ago, and people forgot about it days later.

I'd actually bet a car that the person who traded the car as well as the auction crowd all have at least one pair of black framed non-prescription eye glasses.

On the other hand I can appreciate how George exploited society's need to be pretentiously isolated in this consumer plagued world we live in today.

I bought a knockoff :p

By: phrogg

phrogg — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:10:14 +0000

@mikey:
Three israeli fellows have come up with a less-risky version that doesn't require solder.
Apparently, the a17 tie-in is only used to unlock the phone initially, and is not needed after that:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/another-one%3F/new-hardware-iphone-unlocking-method-wont-void-your-warranty-if-you-are-careful-294054.php

By: phrogg

phrogg — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:51:52 +0000

@danielpops:
Ooh! I want a foil hat, too!!

But if they were going to release it with this hardware hack and risk people winding up with $600 paperweights, why wouldn't they have used any of the other 4 known solutions that -dont- require voiding your warranty? Granted, it would drive up demand for replacement iPhones, but how many people would actually shell out $500-600 for a phone, brick it, and then buy another one to try again?

By: andrew

andrew — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 05:49:29 +0000

yeah I noticed that too... directly driving an already-driven logic line to an opposite level can very well damage the driver (in this case, the CPU A17 driver). Generally bus drivers are pretty robust, but even so... I would have used a low value resistor and seen if I could still get the line level below V-sub-IL. :-)

Can this be prevented with a software update? Yes and no. They can relocate the table elsewhere and make it more difficult, and they could always rev the board such that all address lines are on internal board layers. That'd pretty much put a stop to this, especially if there are parts on both sides covering the vias.

Very cool hack though, my hat's off to this guy.

By: mikey

mikey — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 23:46:23 +0000

He says that he ties the A17 high. I’m wondering if he eventually releases the line, because if not, what ever part [CPU?] is driving the A17 address line (trying to toggle it, will be constantly stressed and could potentially get blown. I guess it doesn’t matter if that’s all you ever want on that line, is a logic 1. But, I’m wondering if eventually, blowing that I/O will have any adverse effects elsewhere inside the CPU (probably not).

By: Cameron

Cameron — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:37:28 +0000

Um, just about every online music provider has DRM locked music. iTunes is far from the only one.

And you say that Apple is corporate crap?
What about Microsoft?

By: beak42

beak42 — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:17:01 +0000

hey danielpops,
wikipedia says that apple gets 10% of all voice/data calls of most its partners with iPhone. I think they are in a pretty good deal already without unlocking the phone.

By: cde

cde — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:50:55 +0000

@danielpops: If you’re going the tin foil hat route, atleast do it right. Apple, as any company looking for profits, did it a hardware way as to maximize the number of fried by soldering iron dead iphones which means more iphones bought by the masses. If they were going your way, it would be software only that the one person would release every month.

By: Nubaeus

Nubaeus — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:25:16 +0000

I friggen go to school with George Hotz. I’m put to shame

By: danielpops

danielpops — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:19:22 +0000

So anybody out there agree with my conspiracy theory?

Apple, frustrated with their narrow minded exclusive contract with AT&T, either payed this kid or encouraged the kid to perform this righteous hack, to utilize the other millions of potential i-phone customers. Now they will have an immense rise in international sales and like somebody else mentioned the local cell providers as well as tmobile. Hats off Apple, well done. Theres no way they would have done it though unless they covered their asses every step of the way. you know they don't want to get caught up in a scandal like that.... but i truly think this is what happened.

By: beak42

beak42 — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:40:31 +0000

carrier choice is kinda of a major advance for all of us outside the US :)

By: rmadmin

rmadmin — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:23:37 +0000

This is one hot hack. Blood sweat and tears. love it.