HT201954: Unauthorized modification of iOS can cause security vulnerabilities, instability, shortened battery life, and other issues

Learn about Unauthorized modification of iOS can cause security vulnerabilities, instability, shortened battery life, and other issues
annkathleen1935

Q: apple may deny service for an iphone that has installed any unauthorized software. What do I do?

I unfortunately bought an iphone in good faith from Ebay without realising that it had been jail broken. Since updating software back in Oct 2012 I have had difficulty getting a signal on my phone and sometimes no signal at all.  I have restored it to factory settings but this has not worked.  Now I cannot even activate my phone and it is no longer registered on itunes as my phone.  When I try to activate my phone, I get a message that says unable to activate.  I have contacted apple support who sent me some articles one of which says "Apple may deny service for an iphone that has installed any unauthorized software.  Is this possible?  That apple simply deny access?  When I spoke to customer services, I explained I had bought the phone in good faith.  It was not me that installed the jail break software.  Surely apple will not deny me access?  Any ideas of what I can do now?

iPhone 3G

Posted on Jan 12, 2013 3:59 AM

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Q: apple may deny service for an iphone that has installed any unauthorized software. What do I do?

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  • by wjosten,

    wjosten wjosten Jan 12, 2013 4:06 AM in response to annkathleen1935
    Level 10 (94,615 points)
    iPhone
    Jan 12, 2013 4:06 AM in response to annkathleen1935

    That's always been the case with a jailbroken iPhone, & Apple has always warned that doing so voids all warranty/support & may make the phone unable to have a stock iOS reinstalled.

     

    Doesn't matter where/how you got the phone, fact is it's jailbroken & thus Apple won't help you, and since Apple owns this forum, we can't help you here.

     

    You can fix things, you'll just have to use Google & find another site.

     

    Good luck.

  • by computerdude16,

    computerdude16 computerdude16 Feb 6, 2013 2:26 PM in response to annkathleen1935
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 6, 2013 2:26 PM in response to annkathleen1935

    Do a full restore through iTunes if you are able. If not, google how to do a DFU restore. This will work. Once your iPhone has been restored it can be taken to an Apple Store for repair. There are no traces of the jailbreak after a full restore.

  • by JCRocky5,

    JCRocky5 JCRocky5 Feb 7, 2013 6:55 AM in response to computerdude16
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 7, 2013 6:55 AM in response to computerdude16

    Yeah as the above person said.

     

    It would seem you bought an hacktivated phone, but I'm not going into specifics, a jailbreak wont damage hardware, as its a software hack, but if the wrong software is installed it can create conflicts & crashing & in the worst case a reboot loop, but all can be fixed restoring.

     

    To me it looks like you bought a blocked iphone, ie stollen or the person sold it & reported it lost to apple, so they blocked it.

  • by parthpatel499,

    parthpatel499 parthpatel499 Feb 8, 2013 3:44 PM in response to computerdude16
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 8, 2013 3:44 PM in response to computerdude16

    Does restoring your iPhone mean that you get your warrenty back?

  • by Meg St._Clair,

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair Feb 8, 2013 4:00 PM in response to parthpatel499
    Level 9 (59,265 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 8, 2013 4:00 PM in response to parthpatel499

    parthpatel499 wrote:

     

    Does restoring your iPhone mean that you get your warrenty back?

    No.

  • by parthpatel499,

    parthpatel499 parthpatel499 Feb 8, 2013 5:19 PM in response to Meg St._Clair
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 8, 2013 5:19 PM in response to Meg St._Clair

    But if I do restore and go to them with a fresh iPhone, will they deny me service?

  • by wjosten,

    wjosten wjosten Feb 8, 2013 5:23 PM in response to parthpatel499
    Level 10 (94,615 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 8, 2013 5:23 PM in response to parthpatel499

    No one here works for Apple, represents Apple, or speaks for Apple. Thus, no one here can answer your question.

  • by computerdude16,

    computerdude16 computerdude16 Feb 8, 2013 10:05 PM in response to parthpatel499
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 8, 2013 10:05 PM in response to parthpatel499

    If your iPhone has a warranty, and it was "voided" by jailbreaking, and you do a successful full restore, then your warranty will be valid and they won't deny you service for jailbreaking. Simply because they'll have no idea unless someone tells them.

  • by Meg St._Clair,

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair Feb 9, 2013 5:31 AM in response to computerdude16
    Level 9 (59,265 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 9, 2013 5:31 AM in response to computerdude16

    computerdude16 wrote:

     

    Simply because they'll have no idea unless someone tells them.

    Not always true. And, it's not always possible to do a successful restore from a jailbreak.

  • by JCRocky5,

    JCRocky5 JCRocky5 Feb 9, 2013 5:59 AM in response to Meg St._Clair
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 9, 2013 5:59 AM in response to Meg St._Clair

    It's always possible to restore to an none JB'n state using DFU mode, if your phone is damaged & cannot be restored its not the jailbreaks fault, as all the jailbreak is is a few bytes changed here & there, in fact less code is executed ;-), you could how ever damage the speakers if you installed a tweak to make the volume louder, but never heard of that happening.

     

    There is a lot of bad mouthing the jailbreak going about, mainly from *****, but in all the time I have done it never once have I had phone damage due to a jailbreak & I know Apple don't like the jailbreak, due to piracy & locked down features that are possible on older devices ;-) I for one do not like the scum that pirate apps, they ruin it for the rest of us.

  • by Meg St._Clair,

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair Feb 9, 2013 7:56 AM in response to JCRocky5
    Level 9 (59,265 points)
    iPhone
    Feb 9, 2013 7:56 AM in response to JCRocky5

    JCRocky5 wrote:

     

    but in all the time I have done it never once have I had phone damage due to a jailbreak

    Bully for you. That doesn't make it universally true. Sometimes DFU mode doesn't work and the phone can't be restored. I, personally don't care whether or not people chose to jailbreak their phones. However, I do care that people are not properly warned of the consequences.