iPhone Unlock App for $99? Don't Do It

The Web was alight yesterday with reports that an iPhone-unlocking app went on sale for a cool $99. Folks, do yourselves a favor and keep your wallet stowed—and here's why.

First, some background: as you probably know, a bevy of hackers have recently come out with various methods and software for unlocking an iPhone (which lets you use it with any SIM card, not just AT&T's). Naturally, it was only a matter of time before someone got the bright idea of making a little cash in the bargain. So it wasn't much of a surprise yesterday when news broke that an iPhone-unlocking app (no soldering required) from iPhoneSIMfree.com had popped up on the Web for $99.

Now, I don't think there's anything philosophically wrong with unlocking your iPhone—hey, it's the wave of the future, whether the major U.S. carriers like it or not. But paying $100 for this particular iPhone hack is just plain dumb, for a couple of reasons.

Number one: While the software has been proven to work by the likes of Engadget Mobile, there's no guarantee that Apple's next iPhone update (which will probably enable the upcoming Wi-Fi iTunes music store) won't render the unlocking app useless—and if that happens, "you will be charged to unlock [your iPhone] again" (or so says the fine print on the vendor's Web site). Apple's been known in the past to break third-party iTunes plug-ins through software updates (especially the ones that circumvent its DRM schemes), and I wouldn't be surprised if Jobs & Co. disabled iPhone unlocking apps in the same way—and then you'd be out a C-note.

Number two: As we speak, competing hackers are busy reverse-engineering the iPhoneSIMfree.com software, with the intention of distributing their own unlocking apps on the Web for free. So if you wait a few weeks (or even days), you'll probably be able to download a perfectly good iPhone-unlocking app without paying a dime.

Beyond the issue of whether you should pay to get your iPhone unlocked, don't forget that doing so will void your warranty, and if you fry your phone in the process, the cool kids at the Apple Genius Bar probably won't have much sympathy for your plight. Oh, and the legal implications are murky, too.

So, anyone out there throwing caution to the wind and buying the iPhoneSIMFree app anyway?

Update: It looks like the onslaught of free iPhone unlocking apps has already begun.

Related:
iPhoneSIMfree goes retail, let the unlocking begin [Engadget]
DVD Jon and Other Hackers Reverse Engineering the iPhone Sim Free Unlock [Gizmodo]