The newest devices hitting the market have an updated boot ROM that blocks the exploit typically used in jailbreaking the 3GS, known as the 24kpwn exploit. iPhone Dev-Team member MuscleNerd confirmed that the block does indeed mean that for now, a standard jailbreak on these devices is out of the question.

The 24kpwn exploit was originally discovered early on in the production life of the iPhone 3GS, thanks to connections between the iPhone Developer community and iPhone unlockers. George Hotz (also known as geohot), building on the iPhone Dev Team’s work, published a way to jailbreak the 3GS a few weeks after the exploit was revealed.

Apparently, this is the first time ever that Apple has changed the boot ROM on a production device. Previously, Apple has waited until it released brand new devices to do this, like when the 3GS was originally introduced. Presumably, there is a not insignificant cost associated with making that kind of change mid-production.

In all likelihood, it’s only a matter of time before another exploit is discovered and taken advantage of in order to jailbreak the newer 3GS phones, too, but for now, Apple has dealt a significant blow to the Dev-Team and those who’d rather not rest comfortably under the yoke of Apple and friends. Of course, if you haven’t bought your device within the last week, you should have no problem using the recently released jailbreaking tools for the most recent iPhone OS release, 3.1.2.

Apple’s main problem with jailbreaking, in all likelihood, is the fact that it leads to significantly high rates of piracy on the company’s devices. According to MacRumors, of the nearly four million jailbroken iPhones estimated to be in existence, a full 38 percent of those are using at least one pirated app. Additionally, of iPhone apps that have been successfully cracked and distributed, a full third of the installations are of pirated copies.

So, to Apple’s mind, jailbreaking is depriving it of a nice chunk of its revenue on some of the most popular apps available in the App Store. Even if the boot ROM update only effectively blocks jailbreaking for a month or two, it should have a positive effect in Apple’s income stream for that period.

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I thought once the Dev Team got on board with George Hotz (better known as Geohot, the man responsible for the very first iPhone jailbreak), all differences between the two would be resolved and he would quietly rejoin the fold. Not so, apparently, as he continues to release new software using the Purple prefix, with a new iPhone 3GS unlocking program dubbed Purlesn0w…like what Prince would name his song if he grew up north of the tree line.

The new unlocker, which is out, albeit in beta form (and the source code is available now via Geohot’s blog), is meant to improve upon thee somewhat clumsy solution currently used by Ultrasn0w, which doesn’t actually truly “unlock” anything. Instead, it uses a daemon to generate a ticket that allows the baseband to support carrier sim cards other than the official one. Purplesn0w likewise can’t “fully” unlock anything, but it does use a more elegant solution that takes up fewer system resources.

As a result of his improvements, Hotz also claims that users who unlock via Purplesn0w will sidestep many of the problems plaguing many early Ultrasn0w adopters, including spotty Wi-Fi, battery and unlock failures. There are some caveats, the biggest of which being that you can’t unlock using the new software if you don’t have a legit SIM card with which to activate. Hacktivation support is supposed to be coming in a future iteration, though, so unofficial users won’t be left completely out of the loop.

While some may see the apparent split between Geohot and the rest of the Dev Team as a “breaking up the band,” negative thing, I think it’ll be good for the jailbreak community as a whole. Teamwork is lovely, but a little productive competition never hurt anyone, and usually helps push the envelope. Check out detailed instructions about how to get Purplesn0w on your phone at Hotz’s blog.

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At this point we probably shouldn’t need to start a jailbreaking post off with a disclaimer about how doing it with your iPhone is not condoned with Apple, and may void your warranty, so you should approach doing so at your own risk, but a friendly reminder never hurts. Now, on to the reason behind the disclaimer: The iPhone 3GS, after only three weeks on the market, has been successfully jailbroken, and the software that allows it is now available online. Happy Independence Day.

The iPhone Dev Team, who are behind this and almost every previous iPhone jailbreak, actually hadn’t planned on releasing this particular jailbreak yet. George Hotz (aka Geohot), a member of the Dev Team and the first to unlock the original iPhone, seems to have gone behind the team’s back and leaked the software early. The Dev Team was holding out for iPhone OS 3.1 to drop, in order to hopefully avoid Apple patching the vulnerability that allows jailbreaking with that update.

For now, the hack, called purplera1n, is Windows-only (and doesn’t work with the Windows 7 Release Candidate), and obviously you need an iPhone 3GS to use it. People hoping to unlock their 3GS for use on other carriers will also have to wait, since unlocking is not yet available for Apple’s newest phone. It will, however, allow you to install unofficial third-party apps, like Backgrounder, which might prove far more useful given the iPhone’s new, more muscular hardware specs.

Geohot explains his decision to leak the release early on his personal blog:

Normally I don’t make tools for the general public, and rather wait for the dev team to do it. But guys, whats up with waiting until 3.1? That isn’t how the game is played. We release, Apple fixes, we find new holes. It isn’t worth waiting because you might have the “last” hole in the iPhone. What last hole…this isn’t golf. I’ll find a new one next week.

In the same blog post, Geohot also goes into detail about how to find and install the purplera1n tool, and steps you can take in case anything goes wrong. Check it out if you’re a Windows user and you’ve been eagerly awaiting a 3GS jailbreak.

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This time around, it took a little longer, but the iPhone 3G has finally been unlocked, thanks to the efforts of the hardworking iPhone Dev Team, makers of the Pwnage Tool, which is used for jailbreaking Apple’s handhelds.

The Dev Team reports successful unlocking, using their oddly codenamed “yellowsn0w,” but they’ve yet to release it to the public. Now, they’re working on repackaging it in user-friendly form, like the Pwnage Tool, so that your average end-user won’t have much trouble tossing off their carrier oppressors.

The unlock, which is said to be dropping Dec. 31, requires a number of things from your iPhone in order to work properly. First, your phone must be using the 2.11.07 baseband or earlier, and using the QuickPwn jailbreaking tool or official firmware updates are both advised against, with the only “safe” method listed being updates via the PwnageTool. There are a whole lot of other specific guidelines, depending on the type of phone you have, and what state it’s in relative to firmware updates, etc.

In related news, the recently released 10.5.6 update apparently blocks Pwnage once again, so if you’re New Year’s resolution involves an unlocked, jailbroken iPhone, you might want to hold off. Also note that the Dev Team has yet to find a workaround for the jailbreaking protection built in to new Apple notebooks, which prevent vanilla, factory phones from being pwned. Users who are already using Pwned 2.1 can still upgrade to Pwned 2.2, however. And, as with any kind of jailbreaking antics, you proceed at your own risk. Potential bricking of unauthorized unlocked phones in the future by Apple is not inconceivable, after all.

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