iPhone 2.1 jailbroken with end run around iTunes 8 defenses

[AppleInsider]

The well-known iPhone Dev Team has already managed to jailbreak the 2.1 firmware for iPhones and iPod touch, all the while without requiring tricks to circumvent new anti-hacking provisions in iTunes 8.

New versions of PwnageTool and its accompanying QuickPwn app have arrived just days after the launch of Apple's 2.1 upgrade.

The combination will allow unsigned third-party code to run on iPhone and iPhone 3G as well as the first-generation iPod touch; the second-generation iPod touch isn't yet known to work, in part because none of the Dev Team has an example to verify the status of the jailbreak.

The solution comes in spite of new, significant measures reportedly discovered in iTunes 8 to thwart more direct attempts at loading modified firmware on to untouched devices. Just before the new jailbreak, the Dev Team said it had discovered apparent security measures in Apple's software that pops up an error as long as the rogue firmware is loaded into iTunes, refusing to sync with iPhones or iPods if the device is still running official code.

Members of the modding group initially thought they might need to patch iTunes 8 to allow the altered firmware and had even developed an early version of the patch before it became clear that one wasn't necessary.

While no one has yet claimed to successfully unlock an iPhone 3G purely through software, the current hack suggests Apple has yet to find a definitive trick to winning the "cat and mouse" game between itself and those groups bent on loosening the phone's limitations, many of which now have a long-established history of overturning any new controls Apple might put in place.

"We’re waiting to see what Apple tries next," the iPhone Dev Team says. "But we think they might want to rethink their priorities. *They probably won’t though."

[success]

Apple doesn't care.

Better that someone uses an Apple product through 'other means' than use a bona fide Windows product.

Lesser of two weevils

[pmoeser]

I know it does keep apple on their toes and gets their developers to think more about improving their products, but I don't see the point of jailbreaking a phone beyond that.

[Mark Fearing]

I agree. Seems like a waste of time to jailbreak the thing. I'd put this down as hobby stuff more than anything meaningful or important to the Mac user community. It's like hacks for the PS2 or something.

[rpurrept]

I'd be curious to know how many man hours the iTunes team put into developing the jailbreak blocks that are built into 2.1 only to have them cracked in a little over 24 hours.

[DWS-2]

I love these guys. My main goal is the unlock, because then I can use the first gen phone on tmobile in the U.S.

[nagromme]

It's like hacking decktop Mac OS itself: It's not for me, but if it lets someone do some particular thing they want to do, or they simply enjoy it in a hobby sense, then I can understand that. I say, go for it!

And Apple seems most concerned about plugging security holes. They haven't helped Jailbreakers, but they haven't totally blocked them either. To the extent that jailbreaking can be done without actually exploting security holes, I expect it will continue!

Now, if something breaks, don't get mad at Apple, just wait (hope) for patches from the 3rd parties. The iPhone OS platform is young and changing/improving fast. We all benefit from Apple having the freedom to make those changes. But unofficial apps and hacks won't get any help from Apple in being compatible with those changes. So I prefer to stick with official methods--less trouble/steps/questions, and the official OS + App Store software has proven amazingly powerful for my needs.

I do think Apple has made some truly bad calls in rejecting certain apps (Podcaster, Pull my Finger). They review thousands, and I do hope they mature the process and reverse some of those calls. In the meantime, jailbreaking is a way to run rejected apps, which gives certain hard-working devs a an option to sell their work to some small number of people. Better than nothing.

[Somynona]

Actually there's a very good very to jailbreak and I'm getting closer and closer to trying it myself. And that's the problem of apple the nanny corporation and it's oppressive and childish actions with regard to rejecting certain apps from the appstore

[Rasti-]

Originally Posted by pmoeser

I know it does keep apple on their toes and gets their developers to think more about improving their products, but I don't see the point of jailbreaking a phone beyond that.

Actually, jailbreaking give us the software that Apple forbid on the official AppStore. Especially mod your phone or even more important support for languages not officially supported by the phone. (like right-to-left hebrew or arabic)...

[bryonbrock]

All the files you need can be quickly downloaded from here:

QuickPwn 1.1 & PwnageTool 2.1

[Mark Fearing]

Originally Posted by nagromme

It's like hacking decktop Mac OS itself: It's not for me, but if it lets someone do some particular thing they want to do, or they simply enjoy it in a hobby sense, then I can understand that. I say, go for it!

And Apple seems most concerned about plugging security holes. They haven't helped Jailbreakers, but they haven't totally blocked them either. To the extent that jailbreaking can be done without actually exploting security holes, I expect it will continue!

Now, if something breaks, don't get mad at Apple, just wait (hope) for patches from the 3rd parties. The iPhone OS platform is young and changing/improving fast. We all benefit from Apple having the freedom to make those changes. But unofficial apps and hacks won't get any help from Apple in being compatible with those changes. So I prefer to stick with official methods--less trouble/steps/questions, and the official OS + App Store software has proven amazingly powerful for my needs.

I do think Apple has made some truly bad calls in rejecting certain apps (Podcaster, Pull my Finger). They review thousands, and I do hope they mature the process and reverse some of those calls. In the meantime, jailbreaking is a way to run rejected apps, which gives certain hard-working devs a an option to sell their work to some small number of people. Better than nothing.

Indeed, security is a big, big, big issue. People keep as much, if not more valuable info on a phone when they travel and do business, that security alone is enough to warrant cautious behavior. Not only the info on your phone, but the access to the network as well.

So far as I'm concerned I haven't seen a single app i would want or need from the jailbreak community. That's not to say someone else hasn't found a use for them. But I imagine it is a growingly insignificant number of people. That's why it's hobby stuff. Say the iPhone users are 25 million in number, it is a very small number of those who are doing this or care about it. Again, it's like phone phreaking' or whatever in the 1970's. Some people (Woz!) really got into it. But for the rest of us it didn't offer enough upside to get too involved in it.

[Enigmafan420]

Originally Posted by Mark Fearing

Indeed, security is a big, big, big issue. People keep as much, if not more valuable info on a phone when they travel and do business, that security alone is enough to warrant cautious behavior. Not only the info on your phone, but the access to the network as well.

So far as I'm concerned I haven't seen a single app i would want or need from the jailbreak community. That's not to say someone else hasn't found a use for them. But I imagine it is a growingly insignificant number of people. That's why it's hobby stuff. Say the iPhone users are 25 million in number, it is a very small number of those who are doing this or care about it. Again, it's like phone phreaking' or whatever in the 1970's. Some people (Woz!) really got into it. But for the rest of us it didn't offer enough upside to get too involved in it.

A very cool video camera, with sound, for the iphone-works GREAT and is FREE!

[aplnub]

Jail Breaking a phone was not even an option on the table for me until 30 minutes ago when I found out that updating my 2G iPhone that was replaced by a 3G model was bricked until I activated it. I am going to jail break it just so I can still use it as an iPod. WTF was Apple thinking on this?

I swapped SIM cards per Apple Support and it didn't work. Nice move on Apple's part. If this jail break thing works, they are getting a $donation$ from me.

[MacTel]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

"We’re waiting to see what Apple tries next," the iPhone Dev Team says. "But we think they might want to rethink their priorities. *They probably won’t though."

That's the whole point - this isn't a high priority for Apple. I'd bet some Apple intern has been assigned the task of thwarting the jail-breakers. Otherwise they'd have a better hardware lock solution.

[aplnub]

Originally Posted by MacTel

That's the whole point - this isn't a high priority for Apple. I'd bet some Apple intern has been assigned the task of thwarting the jail-breakers. Otherwise they'd have a better hardware lock solution.

Yeah... just like they have thrown an intern at HackInTosh's too for a hardware lock solution...

It is a big deal for Apple. Not in the US, but outside the US. Granted, it is becoming less of an issue but it is a big one none-the-less at this time.

[YTV]

I just hope someone in the jailbreak community hacks the bluetooth module in the new ipod touch's fast, so that i can get rid on my iphone.

[aplnub]

[QUOTE=MacOldTimer;1308168]

Originally Posted by aplnub

Jail Breaking a phone was not even an option on the table for me until 30 minutes ago when I found out that updating my 2G iPhone that was replaced by a 3G model was bricked until I activated it. I am going to jail break it just so I can still use it as an iPod. WTF was Apple thinking on this?



I have updated both my 2G and 3G iPhone with no problem at all. Both synched with iTunes and restored my apps and music.

Could you be running on Vista? If so, Apple has released an update for Windows users.
I thought it was only for instability with the OS but maybe a place to start looking if you are a Windows OS user.

The upgrade has given me better reception, stronger signal and everything else advertised with the exception of significantly better battery life.

My battery is still drained by the end of the day but the phone appears to be as stable as 1.1.4 (at least for me).

Hope it helps.

Are both your phones, phones? My 2G iPhone is not an active "Phone". I deactivated it the day I got my 3G.

I just jail broke my 2G iPhone (iTouch now) and it is working great. I wish I would have changed my startup icons to show my defiance to Apple on this one. Freekn' senseless!

PS I run Leopard.

[zunx]

Apple, ¡grow up and let the iPhone and iPod touch be free! Market share should be the number 1 priority. Do not make the same mistake as with the Mac 25 years ago.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by zunx

Market share should be the number 1 priority.

You'll have to explain to me why marketshare is more important than profit.

[irnchriz]

I used the pwnage tool to jailbreak my first generation iPhone so that I could give it to my son to use. I, like many others that used the jailbreak found that the pwnage tool left the iPhone in a piss poor state, slow and even more buggy than an untouched iPhone.

The pwnage tool did serve a purpose, it let me unlock the handset and it remained unlocked after upgrading to 2.0.1, then 2.0.2 and finally 2.1.

After restoring the proper firmware the iPhone performed much better (2.0 at the time) with less crashes and much more responsive.

The pwnage tool is fine for a way to unlock non 3G iPhones but you wouldn't want to leave it on there.

[ichickon]

get rid of that awful, dated g5 looking mesh dock!!! and change some of those stupid icons!!!

I had to go 2 days with the default "look" of the iphone with the update to 2.1, and it was painful... seriously, add the ability to get rid of the text under the icons, choice of docks, user wallpaper as background, and ability to change icons... that would take away the need to jailbreak for a lot of folks...

speaking of icons... avatron's air sharing icon takes the cake for the WORST iphone icon... EVER...

and one more thing... shed the shackles to at&lame... let there be choice!!!

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by ichickon

get rid of that awful, dated g5 looking mesh dock!!! and change some of those stupid icons!!!

I had to go 2 days with the default "look" of the iphone with the update to 2.1, and it was painful... seriously, add the ability to get rid of the text under the icons, choice of docks, user wallpaper as background, and ability to change icons... that would take away the need to jailbreak for a lot of folks...

speaking of icons... avatron's air sharing icon takes the cake for the WORST iphone icon... EVER...

and one more thing... shed the shackles to at&lame... let there be choice!!!

I like the dock look, but I agree that Apple should offer customization options. I would agree that BossPref and WinterBaord are probably the most common reason why people jailbreak their iPhones. Even offering these as App Store download would be great. There are lots of slick designs, but the most creative I've seen is the vending machine.

I see no point in unshackling from AT&T just to get a huge lawsuit from them for doing so and still only be able to use 3G on their network and only their network.

[mdriftmeyer]

on how arrogant and ego chest pounding they become in thinking they are outsmarting the company that produces the operating system.

They want you to break it. They fix it without locking it down and you break it again. Apple knows the areas in which they could lock it down and shut you out yet you think you're smarter then them.

I'm glad they keep your egos satisified and you continue to buy the products. It's great free-press and much more.

[ichickon]

Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer

on how arrogant and ego chest pounding they become in thinking they are outsmarting the company that produces the operating system.

They want you to break it. They fix it without locking it down and you break it again. Apple knows the areas in which they could lock it down and shut you out yet you think you're smarter then them.

I'm glad they keep your egos satisified and you continue to buy the products. It's great free-press and much more.

it's the "hacker way"... bring on the challenge!!! and the job offers...

[ktappe]

Originally Posted by MacOldTimer

I was a little sad when I read that Steve Wozniak Jail Broke is 3G iPhone. It really lowered my level of respect I had for him.

If someone else exercising freedom and/or curiosity lowers your level of respect for them, that says more about you than it does about them. As long as they're not hurting you, try letting others do their own thing without being all judgmental.

[Slewis]

Null.

[jameskatt2]

Hackers on the iPhone are very useful to Apple.

Whenever they hack the iPhone, they show Apple what security holes exist on the iPhone.

Then Apple patches those holes.

The Hacker community complains then creates another hack.

But Apple will repeatedly close those security holes - breaking the hack.

It is a useful tit-for-tat.

For Apple, it is an opportunity to improve security on the iPhone.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by aplnub

Jail Breaking a phone was not even an option on the table for me until 30 minutes ago when I found out that updating my 2G iPhone that was replaced by a 3G model was bricked until I activated it. I am going to jail break it just so I can still use it as an iPod. WTF was Apple thinking on this?

I swapped SIM cards per Apple Support and it didn't work. Nice move on Apple's part. If this jail break thing works, they are getting a $donation$ from me.

I thought Apple's official position on this was that you COULD use your old phone as an iPod.

If so, this must be a bug.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solipsism

You'll have to explain to me why marketshare is more important than profit.

Marketshare helps to determine how many quality developers there are. Apple's sales show that the iPhone can get a good slice of marketshare. The phone market is broken up amongst different phone models, different OS's, and even major different versions of the same OS for different levels of phone.

If Apple could manage to get a 15% marketshare in smartphones, that would be one of the largest percentages out there, once you count Symbian as the several different OS's that it almost is. Developers converge on a large marketshare. This is what hapened with Windows vs the Mac over the years.

Right now, the iPhone is the "BIG THING", but if Apple can't get a decent percentage of the market, it will cease to be.

This all ties into profits. A popular device can command more money for the manufacturer, thus greater margins. As the market grows in size, sales should increase at least at the same rate, hopefully at a greater rate.

Look to how the Mac is now doing vs PC's. We are getting more developers back all the time, as marketshare has increased several times over the past few years.

If the Mac kept its 2.8% marketshare in the US, and it's just barely over 1.5% worldwide, Apple would be selling quite a few less units than it's selling now, with less developers and less reason for people to buy new ones.

Less sales, less profits, less R&D, less company stability.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solipsism

I like the dock look, but I agree that Apple should offer customization options. I would agree that BossPref and WinterBaord are probably the most common reason why people jailbreak their iPhones. Even offering these as App Store download would be great. There are lots of slick designs, but the most creative I've seen is the vending machine.

I see no point in unshackling from AT&T just to get a huge lawsuit from them for doing so and still only be able to use 3G on their network and only their network.

While some of those are cute, the others are a mess, and hard to read.

Anyway, I can't really understand why someone would want to jailbreak a phone because of icons. That really seems to be a childish thing to do. Really, who cares? I used to put that kind of junk on my Mac years ago, when doing it first became possible, but quickly dropped it. None of those desktops has any long term readability.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by melgross

Marketshare helps to determine how many quality developers there are. Apple's sales show that the iPhone can get a good slice of marketshare. The phone market is broken up amongst different phone models, different OS's, and even major different versions of the same OS for different levels of phone.

If Apple could manage to get a 15% marketshare in smartphones, that would be one of the largest percentages out there, once you count Symbian as the several different OS's that it almost is. Developers converge on a large marketshare. This is what hapened with Windows vs the Mac over the years.

Right now, the iPhone is the "BIG THING", but if Apple can't get a decent percentage of the market, it will cease to be.

This all ties into profits. A popular device can command more money for the manufacturer, thus greater margins. As the market grows in size, sales should increase at least at the same rate, hopefully at a greater rate.

Look to how the Mac is now doing vs PC's. We are getting more developers back all the time, as marketshare has increased several times over the past few years.

If the Mac kept its 2.8% marketshare in the US, and it's just barely over 1.5% worldwide, Apple would be selling quite a few less units than it's selling now, with less developers and less reason for people to buy new ones.

Less sales, less profits, less R&D, less company stability.

I don't agree that marketshare is "priority number 1" as the OP stated. Marketshare is great to have, but not at the cost of profits or weakening a brand or product in the long run. Apple was able to survive and then later thrive with its low marketshare because it maintained high profits and low margins, so even in time of drought it could still maintain itself. For comparison, Dell has excellent marketshare in the US, but they have done it by choosing high volume with low profits. I don't see how anyone thinks this is a better choice for Apple.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by melgross

While some of those are cute, the others are a mess, and hard to read.

Anyway, I can't really understand why someone would want to jailbreak a phone because of icons. That really seems to be a childish thing to do. Really, who cares? I used to put that kind of junk on my Mac years ago, when doing it first became possible, but quickly dropped it. None of those desktops has any long term readability.

I usually stick with the basic setup because it's the most usable, but there does seem to be a lot of people who want to experiment with options or want something that is their own. I haven't heard about it since the first iPhone came out, but it seems to be popular with teenagers. But would changing your icons and theme be as cool if it was a default option and not a jailbroken one?

[YTV]

[QUOTE=MacOldTimer;1308178]

Originally Posted by aplnub

If it gets to the point that Apple doesn't satisfy my needs and there is a better alternative I'll consider switching Vendors.

Edit.
I was a little sad when I read that Steve Wozniak Jail Broke is 3G iPhone. It really lowered my level of respect I had for him.

LOL, WTF? That's the dumbest shit I ever heard.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solipsism

I don't agree that marketshare is "priority number 1" as the OP stated. Marketshare is great to have, but not at the cost of profits or weakening a brand or product in the long run. Apple was able to survive and then later thrive with its low marketshare because it maintained high profits and low margins, so even in time of drought it could still maintain itself. For comparison, Dell has excellent marketshare in the US, but they have done it by choosing high volume with low profits. I don't see how anyone thinks this is a better choice for Apple.

Not #1. Unless you can do that without damaging your margins. Apple has allowed lower margins this quarter by lowering the price of the iTouch by so much. They had to do that to keep sales up. Sometimes, you have no choice.

But despite the fact that a few people here don't agree, marketshare is very important in an industry where your company, and its sales, depends on other companies to interface with you on hardware and software.

People love the car analogy, using BMW and other car companies as examples.

But that doesn't work, because it's easy to design a car to use the gas that's already on sale, use the same roads, the same air for the tires, etc.

Apple depends on the good will of software and hardware companies. Without them, the Mac is a bust.

If the market for computers is 10 million a year, and a company has 2 million of that, while the other has 8 million, they will get by, because four times the sales still leaves an additional 20% of the market to develop and sell to. That could still be very profitable.

But if that company's sales rise to 3 million in a market of 100 million, they now have only a 3% marketshare, and very few companies will see a profit in developing and selling to them. There are exceptions, of course. In certain areas that company may still have a big percentage of users, and so, there, they will see plenty of software and hardware. Others areas will dry up, making it more difficult to sell product there.

They also become less competitive because they may not get the pricing for materials, manufacturing and such, that bigger makers get, putting them at a disadvantage pricewise.

It isn't just the numbers of units sold. Marketshare plays a very big part in the world of computers. Many OS's died out, because there was little software available for them.

Look to Amiga, Atari, BE, etc.

The same thing holds true for the phone.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solipsism

I usually stick with the basic setup because it's the most usable, but there does seem to be a lot of people who want to experiment with options or want something that is their own. I haven't heard about it since the first iPhone came out, but it seems to be popular with teenagers. But would changing your icons and theme be as cool if it was a default option and not a jailbroken one?

Just wonderful.

[user23]

[QUOTE=YTV;1308241]

Originally Posted by MacOldTimer

LOL, WTF? That's the dumbest shit I ever heard.

yes, quite unlike your comment, right?

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by melgross

Not #1. Unless you can do that without damaging your margins. Apple has allowed lower margins this quarter by lowering the price of the iTouch by so much. They had to do that to keep sales up. Sometimes, you have no choice...

I agree with everything you've said, but the OP said priority number 1, which is why I asked posted my initial question.

We talk about the iPhone in terms of the OS or the product as a whole, but we don't usually look at the fact that both generations of the iPhone and iPod Touch run the same OS on the same main hardware. Symbian runs on many more units, but it also runs on many more models that offer completely different HW setups. I would think this would be an important factor for developers. I would think this would be an important factor for developers to consider knowing that they can build one app that works on every single mobile OS X device. That seems to be a powerful motivator. Could that be a reason why Apple choose to under-clock the processor so much, instead of just using a cheaper CPU that more closely matched the current speed?

PS: Apple does make quite a few of the popular apps for the Mac. I wonder if they'll continue do so as they increase in popularity knowing it will pull in more developers. iLife development has slowed, but there was the whole porting OS X to a mobile platform that did take up considerable resources.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solipsism

I agree with everything you've said, but the OP said priority number 1, which is why I asked posted my initial question.

We talk about the iPhone in terms of the OS or the product as a whole, but we don't usually look at the fact that both generations of the iPhone and iPod Touch run the same OS on the same main hardware. Symbian runs on many more units, but it also runs on many more models that offer completely different HW setups. I would think this would be an important factor for developers. I would think this would be an important factor for developers to consider knowing that they can build one app that works on every single mobile OS X device. That seems to be a powerful motivator.

Yes, that's exactly what I said. here is a lot of splintering in the Symbian market. The same thing exists, to a lessor extent, in the Win Mobile market, but this time it just the different hardware functionality.

Could that be a reason why Apple choose to under-clock the processor so much, instead of just using a cheaper CPU that more closely matched the current speed?

You'll have to explain that a bit more, I'm missing something.

I always thought it was because underclocking a processor uses less power than running a lower version at full speed. That would be an advantage. Also, if Apple later needed a higher speed, they wouldn't have to change the design much, just clock it higher, and adjust the cooling part of the design. It would be cheaper to continue using the same parts for many more devices.

PS: Apple does make quite a few of the popular apps for the Mac. I wonder if they'll continue do so as they increase in popularity knowing it will pull in more developers. iLife development has slowed, but there was the whole porting OS X to a mobile platform that did take up considerable resources.

I suppose it depends on what part of the market the apps play to. Developers come out with competition to Apple's apps. Some do very well, because Apple isn't moving in certain areas.

We can look at Aperture, and Lightroom. Lightroom is doing very well.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by jameskatt2

Hackers on the iPhone are very useful to Apple.

Whenever they hack the iPhone, they show Apple what security holes exist on the iPhone.

Then Apple patches those holes.

The Hacker community complains then creates another hack.

But Apple will repeatedly close those security holes - breaking the hack.

It is a useful tit-for-tat.

For Apple, it is an opportunity to improve security on the iPhone.

Jailbreaking the iPhone is also good in term of sales. My guess is that Apple intentionally made it much more harder to unlock the 3G iPhone while easier to jailbreak. This help Apple sells more iPhone and make the iPhone more attractive to people who love to hack their gadgets without getting complains from carrier about how easy it is to unlock the iPhone.

[zunx]

Originally Posted by solipsism

You'll have to explain to me why marketshare is more important than profit.

Hint: Apple vs Microsoft, 25 years go. Result: 95% worldwide M$ market share vs 3% Apple.