Worried Buyer Advice needed

[holtender]

I know this has been mentioned before in one way or another but I want to bring it all together to put my mind at ease and anyone else who is in my position.

I have just bought an iPhone from the US (yesterday) the buyer has not yet sent it but is due to today.
I emailed in with reference to the Apple statement and he advised me it would be fine to update and the warranty would not be voided and that It was just a scare tactic.

I however do not feel the same I feel it is a threat from Apple and I am now stuck in limbo of whether to carry on with the purchase and get it shipped and just see what happens or try and get a refund.

What I want to know Is what people would recommend me to do?

If I got it and simply didn't do the update would It still work and not become a brick and waste of money?

Thanks in advance,
please someone put my mind at ease and tell me exactly what Is going on?

Thomas

 

[arkitect]

You entered into an agreement to buy… don't renege on it.

Just be careful how you update your iPhone…

Good luck.

 

[cookiemoose]

By the time you receive it 1.1.1 will be out.

You should be able to get 1.0.2 on it aslong as you don't update your iTunes.

Aslong as you get 1.0.2 the iPhone can be unlocked and won't be bricked, you just won't be able to install updates. I'm not going to sit on the fence and say the 1.1.1 firmware might work or it could be hacked. It won't work and it won't get hacked. The baseband bug at the restore exploit that enabled the iPhone to be hacked will all be fixed. It is unlikely that there will be a workaround for this. It took 3 months to find an obvious flaw to Apple's design implementation so don't hold your breath expecting to have the latest iPhone firmware on your phone. Then again, I would never use the iTunes store and the other minor updates are neither here nor there. BUT what I would be must concerned about are any remote exploits found in 1.0.2 that will be patched in subsequent released that will not be fixed on your phone.

It is your choice, for me I have 12 months left in my contract that is £10 cheaper (with data incl) than what o2 are offering. I had an iPhone from the U.S. that I used as an iPod, now I have phone functionality. I sold my existing phone. BUT, If I was not stuck in a contract however I would seriously toy with the idea of getting o2.

Best case scenario,
Everything works on your iPhone and you unlock with 1.0.2
No major updates that you'd personally require
No malicious exploits found in 1.0.2
You stay happy with your iPhone not paying ridiculous o2 tariffs/dealing with their awful CS.

Worst case,
iPhone has hardware fault on arrival - seller won't accept returns
iPhone develops fault - voided warranty
Apple agressively blocks invalid handshake tokens to YouTube, Google Maps, Stocks(?)
o2 tariff becomes more competitive after 2 months

It's your risk. I've outlined everything for you. Nobody can tell you whether it's worth taking, you can only use the best information available at hand to make the decision yourself.

 

[sparkyms]

It was speculated that this could happen, so you bought whilst knowing the risks involved.

However, if you don't update you should be fine, but you might just want to keep it boxed until the new firmware comes out, and people see if the things still work, and whether it can still be unlocked under the new firmware.
If they dont work, I'd recommend selling it. Not for a profit or not even necessarily to get your money back, just sell it to someone that can use it and get as much as you can for it, then, you'll have learnt a lesson the hard way.

 

[Sobe]

it's a risk, sure.

But I doubt Apple will permanently brick every unlocked iPhone.

Look at it this way...worst case scenario, you restore the sucker and sell it on ebay to someone in the US so they can use it on AT&T.