Apple Responds to Legalization of Jailbreaking

Apple really cares about you.  That’s why it fought so long and hard to prevent you from jailbreaking your iPhone and running unauthorized apps, or unlocking your SIM card and jumping to another network.  In fact, it only tried to brick your unlocked phone because it is so concerned about whether you’re having a quality experience.  

Or, at least that’s the line Apple’s spokeswoman was trying to sell in the wake of the legalization of jailbreaking, based on revisions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by researchers at the Library of Congress.

Apple released for following statement to Cult of Mac:

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.

Apple’s spokeswoman confirms that while the government may say its legal, jailbreaking violates your warranty — but only because the company cares so much about your experience.  She commented that the company hadn’t yet filed any suits against makers of jailbreaking or SIM unlocking software.

While Apple obviously isn’t happy with the changes, underground iPhone developers like George Hotz and the iPhone Dev Team are rejoicing.  The change means they will have the opportunity to sell their jailbreaking/unlocking tools more openly, rather than merely seeking donations.  They can also rest easy that they are unlikely to be prosecuted for their efforts.

The shift is also beneficial for Cydia.  Cydia, an underground app store specializing in safe unauthorized apps (such as tethering apps), has been picking up steam of late.  It services the estimated millions of jailbroken iPhones in the wild.