Apple Responds: Jailbreaking Can Still Violate iPhone Warranty

Following yesterday's great news surrounding the EFF-proposed "new rules" that have changed the jailbreaking landscape, Apple has commented on the situation in a phone call with fellow tech site, Cult of Mac. Here's what the company's spokersperson had to say:

"Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience. As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably."

So what does this mean for potential jailbreakers? Well, as Apple has said all along, jailbreaking your iPhone allows a whole load of non-authorized material to find its way onto your beloved iDevice. This unauthorized material could include viruses, spyware, or at the very least could affect your iPhone for the worse. As we all know, Apple likes to keep the jailbreaking door firmly shut, only allowing Apple-approved third party apps to find their way into the Apple-controlled App Store. This way, users can be certain that everything their non-jailbroken phones encounter is safe. However, wise-jailbreakers won't go on a download spree in Cydia. Often, most of the apps users download in Jay Freeman's unofficial app store will have been recommended by a site, or at the very least, a friend. So debatably, Cydia is safe for those who know how to use it.

However, users need to be aware that jailbreaking their iPhone may still void its warranty. So if you do manage to pwn your phone, and it promptly dies, don't expect much help from Apple or AT&T. You'll probably get the "we told you so" face. We need to remember that, despite this new change, jailbreaking is still a risk. Essentially, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it. Cult of Mac also asked their source whether Apple might sue companies who publish or retail jailbreaking software. She reminded us that Apple hasn't done such a thing in the past. So as far as this goes, nobody knows. For the meantime, potential jailbreakers can check out the easy-to-use Spirit jailbreak, which couldn't be simpler. With 10 million jailbroken iPhones already out there, one can only speculate how this recent change will affect that number. Personally, I'd expect potential jailbreakers to have already jailbroken their iPhone by now, regardless of the stigma attached to it. Though I guess this new change might push those sitting on the fence into the pineapple orchard. If you've recently decided to take a crack at jailbreaking your iPhone, let us know in the comments box below!

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