Apple: Jailbreaking May Still Void iPhone Warranty

[jbg95]

Modding my bike is perfectly legal, after all, I bought it. But you really think Harley Davidson is going to warranty repair my S&S engine ? Or revalve my progression suspension if it gives out ? No, the 3rd parties will, but it's their parts.

Heck, if I install a 3rd party air cleaner, or even Harley's own but don't follow their guidelines of flashing the ECU with a stage 1 download, you think they'll warranty the snapped rod or cracked piston sleeve from the detonation that occurred after a lean condition ? Of course they won't.

Warranties are there for manufacturing defects. If you dick around with the device, you're going to have to take the company to court to get warranty repairs. Magnusson-Moss unfortunately doesn't work with magic, it works with courts and lawyer fees. And you're not garanteed to win because let's face it, your mod might just be responsible for your trouble.

I wondered about what other industries do. Auto industry, for example. If you put an after market FI chip in the fuel injection computer, is the engine still warrantied? I'd think not, the manufacturer can't support something that modifies the expected engine function. That seems totally reasonable. Just because software is inherently flaky stuff doesn't mean companies should support every variation of it.

 

[likemyorbs]

Some people might think that jail breaking their iPhone is worth it, but I have the quaint idea that the cell phone should work rather than be a glitzy piece of crap on my belt that is more worthless than a brick...

Have you ever actually used a jailbroken device? there are no performance issues, i enjoy my iPad much more than i would if it wasnt jailbroken. and no it doesnt crash, stupid misconception.

 

[KnightWRX]

I understand where these people are coming from. However the question is: did the US government created the iphone? NO did they own it in any way? NO
Stop sticking your noses where you have no business US Gov!

That's what they are doing. Before this, anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA meant you could be prosecuted for jailbreaking, which requires you to circumvent digital protection measures Apple put in place.

Now basically the government said "Hey, we're stepping aside, it's not our business what you guys do with stuff you bought" and they made language so that ripping DVDs, jailbreaking/rooting phones and cracking security dongles isn't prosecutable under the DMCA anymore.

I wondered about what other industries do. Auto industry, for example. If you put an after market FI chip in the fuel injection computer, is the engine still warrantied? I'd think not, the manufacturer can't support something that modifies the expected engine function. That seems totally reasonable. Just because software is inherently flaky stuff doesn't mean companies should support every variation of it.

Subaru explicitly doesn't. All dealers will warn you outright since WRX's and STI's are often modded before they're broken-in. Basically, anything you do to the engine will result in claim denials for any and all engine work. Good luck taking them to court, it might cost more than fixing your engine on your dime.

Harley-Davidson is actually quite lenient on that side. They sell some performance parts with instructions on how to make the motorcycle run them in a way to preserve your warranty.

Depends on the manufacturer really. But Magnusson-Moss is clear, this is legit if the modification you did to the device/parts led to the defect in the first place. Burden of proof might be on the vendor, but you have to take them to court before they even have to start to prove it. Time, money, things that warranties are supposed to save you in the first place.

It's easy really : Do whatever you want to your device at your own risk.

Hardware and software are two very different things. If i open my iphone and install a mod chip in it, yes that should void my warranty. If something goes wrong with your iphone hardware, its NOT because of a software modification. therefore, the warranty should still be valid, and long as you're not complaining about a software issue.

Really ? Who's to say your camera is "broken". Maybe it's just the software that can't interface with it. You've jailbroken your phone, we're sorry, claim denied.

Hardware and software are often intimately linked.

 

[BrotherCrack]

In other news, it is not illegal to buy a car, go to Home Depot, buy paint, and paint the car yourself if the dealer won't sell you a car with the color you want.

There is also no law stating that the dealer must perform body work on your car should it get damaged after you have done this. You, at the very least, have no expectation that the paint will match on said body work if the dealer cuts you some slack.

Apple's refusal to support third-party hacks is not even close to "breaking balls". Seriously, chill.

U.S. Government is playing Captain Obvious again. Nothing to see here, people. Please move along.

I am chilled ! Well that's a lie it's hot as hell over here! Anyway I completely agree. I just thought my comment summed up the nonsense that might (most likely will) build up soon nicely. I have two iphones jailbroken, only reason I do this really is for carrier unlock. Hopefully they will open up the iphone soon for other carriers and I wont have to jailbreak and no switching to ATT is not an option for me.

 

[CFreymarc]

What part of "duh" is there in this article? Of course it can break a warranty.

However, there are those that like to go out in the wild without a condom for more fun and sheer pleasure of it. Not to mention you will leave your mark much better!

Crude? Yes, but accurate.

 

[g30hd3]

I understand where these people are coming from. However the question is: did the US government created the iphone? NO did they own it in any way? NO
Stop sticking your noses where you have no business US Gov!

Because the iPhone is the only phone out there right?

 

[Blorzoga]

"The federal government says jailbreaking's a-ok? Well it'll void your warranty! So there!"

lol. Apple needs to shut up for a couple months and release some new products, because their PR is not doing themselves any favors lately.

So what's wrong with Apple voiding the warranty if you jailbreak the phone? Jailbreaking can screw the phone up; why should Apple be on the hook if people choose to willingly screw up their phone?

 

[gwangung]

I understand where these people are coming from. However the question is: did the US government created the iphone? NO did they own it in any way? NO
Stop sticking your noses where you have no business US Gov!

This area is PRECISELY where the US government has business.

 

[ericmooreart]

Did you really expect anything less from Apple. They just don't get it. Let us make the choice what we want to do with our devices. If it runs crappy then its on us

Sent from my jailbroken true multitasking iPad

 

[nagromme]

Hardware and software are two very different things. If i open my iphone and install a mod chip in it, yes that should void my warranty. If something goes wrong with your iphone hardware, its NOT because of a software modification. therefore, the warranty should still be valid, and long as you're not complaining about a software issue.

That’s not strictly true: MANY problems can happen that are not obviously caused by either hardware or software.

If your screen turns yellow in one corner and smoke comes out, that’s obviously hardware. If you update to a new OS and email stops working, then it comes back when you downgrade, that’s obviously software. Most problems are in the middle. GPS sometimes shuts off? Is that hardware or software? How about an increase in app crashes? It takes time (= money) to diagnose many problems. If you’ve complicated your system with software mods that are known to cause problems for some (even many) people, then that makes it hard for Apple to judge, “is this our software failing, or bad hardware?” It could in fact, be YOUR software that’s failing.

So Apple has said jailbreaking CAN (not WILL, but CAN) interfere with your warranty.

Solution: reverse the jailbreak. Restore your phone to original state, and see if the problem still exists. That’s standard procedure anyway, so it’s really not too much to ask. And if you do that, Apple will never know you had modded your OS, and it won’t come back to bite you.

Did you really expect anything less from Apple. They just don't get it. Let us make the choice what we want to do with our devices. If it runs crappy then its on us

Sent from my jailbroken true multitasking iPad

(Bold added.) Apple has said exactly what you said. What exactly is your disagreement with Apple’s statements today? What do they “not get?” by saying that jailbreak-related problems may be your own responsibility to fix?

 

[Oshawapilot]

Though Apple SAYS it'll void your warranty, Apple stores generally don't care if your phone is jailbroken or not, unless you come to them with a software related issue.

And based on everything I've ever read about Jailbreaking, so long as you restore carefully (including removing things like MakeItMine which can survive restores) the fact that it was ever jailbroken to begin with is apparently invisible to Apple.

If you bring it back in for warranty work in a jailbroken state, sorry, you're just stupid.

 

[jbg95]

Have you ever actually used a jailbroken device? there are no performance issues, i enjoy my iPad much more than i would if it wasnt jailbroken. and no it doesnt crash, stupid misconception.

I'll buy that...the community can absolutely improve on the basic product and cater to a different audience via a different feature set. But, should Apple be liable and obligated to support that work in addition to the base configuration that they ship? There's no reason why Apple couldn't implement the same features that jailbreaking provides. But they have to accommodate a mega-market with a widely varying range of use cases.

 

[Small White Car]

If this story surprises you in any way, go back to GO, do not collect $200.

This is pretty obvious stuff.

 

[mistertomlinson]

Jailbreaking does not void your warranty... an iPhone that doesn't function as a direct result of jailbreaking does. Last time I got warranty service for my 3GS, Apple included this in it's email:

WARNING: Apple has discovered that some of the unauthorized unlocking programs available on the Internet may cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software. As part of the service process, Apple will update the software on your iPhone to the latest version. IF YOU HAVE MODIFIED YOUR IPHONE'S SOFTWARE, YOUR IPHONE MAY BECOME PERMANENTLY INOPERABLE WHEN APPLE UPDATES THE SOFTWARE. Making unauthorized modifications to the software on your iPhone violates the iPhone software license agreement, and the inability to use your iPhone due to unauthorized software modifications is not covered under your iPhone's warranty.

 

[KnightWRX]

Anyway, this is a US thing and in the US, you guys have Magnusson-Moss that protects you for an outright voiding of your warranty. Jailbreaking is reversible. Why are you guys crying ?

If they deny a claim, reverse your jailbreak and revert the phone to a stock OS and make another claim that will be approved.

What's the big deal ?

 

[slipper]

I wonder if this falls under the lines of the Magnuson-Moss Act? Meaning Apple must prove that Jailbreaking causes damage to the iPhone thus voiding the warranty.

 

[Oshawapilot]

So what's wrong with Apple voiding the warranty if you jailbreak the phone? Jailbreaking can screw the phone up; why should Apple be on the hook if people choose to willingly screw up their phone?

There's a huge difference between screwing up the software (fixable by the end user) or the hardware - virtually impossible via Jailbreaking and usually NOT fixable by the end user.

Jailbreaking is NOT damaging the hardware. If the hardware craps out (and Jailbreaking won't magically break hardware!) I expect Apple to support the HARDWARE issue.

 

[nagromme]

Have you ever actually used a jailbroken device? there are no performance issues, i enjoy my iPad much more than i would if it wasnt jailbroken. and no it doesnt crash, stupid misconception.

Not true.

There are no performance issues for SOME people.

Jailbreak mods use RAM—that’s an unavoidable fact. And CPU time. These are limited resources; VERY limited in some models. You see slowdowns on 3G-and-older generations running Apple’s OWN software. That’s how tight system resources are.

So if your mods are using limited resources, as well as doing things the OS and apps were not designed to expect, then crashes and slowdowns ARE possible. You cannot deny it. And they DO happen to some people. Maybe not to you (but are you sure? even non-broken iPhones crash sometimes) but to some people.

And so Apple says that jailbreaking CAN cause problems. This is simply the truth, and in fact it’s useful advice.

I’ve seen rants by developers who suddenly get a raft of 1-star ratings when their latest game upgdate starts to crash for some people—yet the developer can’t replicate the crash. Sometimes it turns out to be only jailbreak users who are having a problem. I’ve seen similar complaints from users of the latest Skype, for instance. Skype is targeting the official OS, but jailbreakers are complaining. These stories alarm me since I hope to have my own app in the Store some day, and I won’t want bad reviews when I don’t test every JB-modded OS out there. And Apple takes this same heat when problems occcur.

“No performance issues” is simply not true. “Some performance issues” and “some crashes” for some people IS true, and that’s what Apple has said. And IF it happens, they won’t support you in your self-created problems

Anyway, this is a US thing and in the US, you guys have Magnusson-Moss that protects you for an outright voiding of your warranty. Jailbreaking is reversible. Why are you guys crying ?

If they deny a claim, reverse your jailbreak and revert the phone to a stock OS and make another claim that will be approved.

What's the big deal ?

The big deal is that people start with the assumption that Apple is always wrong and evil, and work backwards from there to justify this assumption, generally with catchphrases in the absence of facts

 

[OGDaniel]

Until Apple gives us the features we want, jailbraking will exist. Some iPhone owners want themes. Some folks don't like Apple's lies. MMS works o the Original iPhone, and so does video recording and multitasking. saying the hardware won't support it is BS, so jailbreaking is here to solve that problem.

The features we want? How many people who JB are doing it for themes and multitasking? There may be a few here and there, but I'd say 90% of people who jailbreak their devices do it to steal from the developers.

 

[acslater017]

I haven't read the entire text of the law, but I can't imagine how a company could be forced to service a product that has been severely modified by the consumer. Why would my car dealer have to repair my car after I open the hood and start changing things?

I'd like free apps, but it voids my warranty and I don't want to destabilize my phone. So I don't jailbreak. Good for you if you like doing that, just don't complain to Apple if/when stuff goes wrong

 

[KnightWRX]

I wonder if this falls under the lines of the Magnuson-Moss Act? Meaning Apple must prove that Jailbreaking causes damage to the iPhone thus voiding the warranty.

Magnusson-Moss Act is more than that, it prevents outright voiding of the warranty. It allows the vendor to deny claims based on modifications. Burden of proof might be on them, but you'll have to get a judgement which will cost you more than an iPhone to force a claim through.

So maybe you just want to simply revert your phone to stock before trying to get it warrantied. Works just as well and is much cheaper. You can always jailbreak it again when it comes back.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Hardware and software are two very different things. If i open my iphone and install a mod chip in it, yes that should void my warranty. If something goes wrong with your iphone hardware, its NOT because of a software modification. therefore, the warranty should still be valid, and long as you're not complaining about a software issue.

I see you missed the part where he cited an update on his control system that ruins his engine. Bravo! Sorry, but machines are more and more interdependent on Software to run.

 

[QCassidy352]

I agree with both the library of Congress' position and Apple's. There's no way it should open you up to liability, but when you use it in a way apple doesn't support and in fact explicitly tells you not to, don't expect them to fix it. Sounds about right.

 

[coolbreeze]

Haha. What a bunch of crybabies AAPL are.

Give it up. You're walled garden is in danger...users want freedom.

And yes, if you hack your device, you are supporting yourself if it blows up.

Or you can just do a simple restore and it's fixed...shh, AAPL will never know!

 

[Full of Win]

King Steve and his iOS Kingdom shalt not be interfered with.