iPhone Firmware

As was widely predicted, iPhone firmware 1.1.3 was released today after the 2008 Macworld Expo and is now available for update via iTunes or via direct download. Most of the predictions about what new features would be coming with with 1.1.3 were dead on, mostly due to the fact that a version of the iPhone 1.1.3 firmware was leaked ahead of release.

The new firmware includes the following changes, add-ons, and fixes:

Apple doesn't go out of it's way to tell you where iTunes stores the firmware files it downloads before it updates your iPhone. Should you ever need to access these files, it helps to know where to find them.

Firmware files have an .ipsw extension and can be found at the following locations:

On Windows:
Documents and Settings\<User>\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates

On Mac:
~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

Firmware files have an .ipsw extension and can be found at the following locations:

On Windows:
Documents and Settings\<User>\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates

On Mac:
~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

Last night, iPhone firmware version 1.1.2 became available. Though available for download here, the firmware is still not available via the iTunes auto-update feature. Strangely, however, if performing a restore on your iPhone via iTunes, iTunes will download and install the 1.1.2 firmware. Clearly it is only a matter of time, likely within the next few hours, before 1.1.2 is fully integrated with iTunes.

Erica Sadun of TUAW, well known in the iPhone community for "Erica's utilities", has been liveblogging her attempt to replicate the success of two iPhone hackers, named "dinopio" and "Edgan", who have recently regained access to the full file tree of the iPhone through a bit of upgrade trickery. The latest update show that Erica has acheived similar success, proven by screen shots she has posted.

Evidently, access was regained by symbolically linking (symlinking) a portion of the iPhone's filesystem prior to an upgrade from firmware version 1.0.2 to version 1.1.1. The symlink in question is created by backing up the phone's Media directory and then symlinking the filesystem root to the Media directory.

Once the symlink is in place and the iPhone is upgraded, access is gained to the entire file tree using iPHUC (the iPhone Utility Client). In Sadun's tests, read and write access is tested and working, and a copy of the new Mobile Music Store application (MobileStore.app) has been pulled down.

The hope is that this latest development will give hackers the access they need to once again re-open the

Since Apple released iPhone firmware update 1.1.1, there has been a lot of griping and complaining about Apple "re-locking" the iPhone. Users with SIM unlocked iPhones have had their phones bricked, while those who installed third party enhancements and applications on their iPhone have had these applications rendered useless.

Thankfully, thanks to a user in the Hackint0sh forums, a method of downgrading your iPhone firmware (previously thought to be impossible) is now available.

For a variety of reasons, should you need to restore your iPhone, you may not always want to use the most recent version of the iPhone firmware. We've found a good deal of instruction out there that suggests complicated (and likely ineffective) ways of doing this which usually involve disconnecting your PC from the internet during the early stages of the restore process.

Thankfully, there's a much easier, and effective way to restore your iPhone with a particular firmware version of your choosing