iPhone Dev Team

The iPhone Dev-Team has confirmed that updating to iTunes 8.2 will make the current versions of QuickPwn and Pwnage Tool inoperable. They are warning users who wish to jailbreak iPhones to wait until the new versions of their tools are available before upgrading iTunes to the new version.

The Dev-Team plans to release updated jailbreaking software after Apple makes a public release of iPhone OS 3.0. An update to the unlocking software yellowsn0w will also have to wait.

In just a few short days the iPhone Dev-Team has worked out a fix for users interested in upgrading to 2.2.1 firmware without breaking the yellowsn0w unlock. As was announced earlier this week, the new firmware update from Apple changes the baseband version from 02.28.00 to 02.30.03, rendering yellowsn0w impotent.

If your device is an iPhone 3G and you're interested in unlocking now or in the future, you must follow the Dev-Team's Golden Rule. First and foremost do not use the iTunes update process without using PwnageTool. This means the official ipsw file for 2.2.1 must be modified so that the older baseband is preserved. Furthermore, the Dev-Team says this cannot be done with QuickPwn.

Firmware update 2.2.1 (5H11a) for iPhone and iPod Touch is now available from Apple via iTunes. Besides some bug fixes, 2.2.1 also includes a baseband update, which brings the modem firmware to version 02.30.03. The iPhone Dev-Team immediately suggested that users with jailbroken and/or unlocked devices wait for further instructions while they continue to inspect the update.

Three more days until the latest iPhone software release. Ever since the September release of firmware 2.1 there has been speculation of what features might be added to 2.2. Confirmed improvements mostly revolve around the maps application, including pedestrian and Google Transit directions, Street View, and location sharing.

Firmware 2.2 also includes improvements to the MobileSafari browser, support for audio input from third-party devices, and over-the-air (OTA) podcasts. Downloads of audio or video podcasts will be limited to 10MB file sizes when using 3G or EDGE, similar to app store downloads.

Apple is trying to get smart, however the iPhone DevTeam seems to have them beat. iTunes 8.0 has new features that prevent the Pwnage exploit on iPhones and iPod Touch models that have not already been jailbroken. iTunes 8.0 will not allow restores to a hacked IPSW archive on a factory firmware device. Syncing is possible, however, if the device has already been Pwned.

The problem for Apple is that PwnageTool works by exploiting a hardware bug. According to the iPhone DevTeam, this means that Apple can use software to prevent jailbreaking, but only until the DevTeam comes up with new countermeasures in the form of patches. DevTeam has already released a software patch to circumvent iTunes 8.0 when jailbreaking a clean iPod Touch.