In response the U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress’s ruling that jailbreaking an iPhone is a legal act, Apple released a statement saying that doing so still might void your warranty on the device. The company also warned users that jailbroken iPhones offer a “degraded” experience.
“Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience,” the company said in a statement given to Wired’s Cult of Mac. “As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”
The issue also shouldn’t be mistaken for being a settled one, as it is possible for Apple to appeal the ruling. Legal sources The Mac Observer has consulted with on the issue laid out a couple of arguments Apple could make, and the company’s legal resources are extensive.
In the meanwhile, there is already a large community of iPhone users with jailbroken devices, and that community seems likely to grow. Should the process remain legal, in fact, it seems likely that above-board companies may begin developing commercial jailbreaking solutions for iPhones and other iOS devices, and whether or not Apple can say that doing so will void the warranty on the device could be put to the test.