I first heard about the iPhone's unlocking capabilities in August when news spread of of 17 year old George Hotz's and "the hack." Although not an iPhone owner myself, I found this topic an interesting one and just two short months after its unlocking capabilitie were released to the public, today the method appears to have become even simpler.Apple is not happy with its customers. Disobedient iPhone owners are unlocking their iPhones (modifying them to work with carriers other than AT&T) and installing "unauthorized" third-party apps. Last week the company struck back with a software update that acts much like a virus. It wrecks the operation of third-party applications and can turn unlocked iPhones into "bricks." Is Apple on the right side of this fight? Is it really wrong or illegal to unlock your iPhone? Well, I figured, there's only one way to find out.
Unlocking works, is doable, and improves the iPhone. But while unlocking can be fun, it's still a vaguely scary process, a little like installing your own car brakes. My project began at the giant Apple Store on New York's Fifth Avenue. I needed to buy the iPhone and figure out how to unlock it, and I had imagined that Apple's sales staff might be ambivalent or even helpful—"You really shouldn't, but …." I know that there's even discontent inside Apple headquarters, that some of the company's own employees have unlocked their phones and are complaining about Apple's Empire Strikes Back mentality.
My hopes were high as I approached a typically chipper Apple salesman, clad in
black with spiked hair. "I'm purchasing an iPhone," I began, "but I'm a T-Mobile
customer, and so I was just wondering, I read that you can unlock the phone—"
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