iPhone unlock hackers promise to fight Apple updates

"People will try to break in, and it's our job to stop them breaking in," he said then.

On Monday, Apple issued a of its own, saying that any modification to an iPhone automatically voids its warranty. It also warned customers against unlocking their phones. "Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs ... will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed," the company said.

A firmware update, the third since the iPhone went on sale in late June, will be released through iTunes this week. Apple is expected to add new features to the phone, including the ability to purchase music over a Wi-Fi connection.

The iPhone Dev Team spokesman advised users who had already unlocked their phones to not apply the update, saying they should instead wait while others, presumably including the iPhone Dev Team's own programmers, analyze it. Elsewhere in the message, the spokesman claimed that about 500,000 copies of the free unlocking tool had been downloaded. If true, it would mean that almost half of the iPhones sold so far have been unlocked. Apple announced only two weeks ago that it had just sold its 1 millionth iPhone.