Thanks to the guys at MacNN, we’ve caught Apple’s official statement and stand regarding the numerous ways of unlocking its pride and joy, the iPhone. iPhones that have been damaged as a result of hardware hacking will not be covered under the warranty (Duh!? Who would have thought that Apple will condone such an act?), and those that have been unlocked through software hacks are strictly warned that in the event of future firmware updates, their iPhone may be rendered useless. According to Apple, many of the unauthorized (is there an authorized version?) iPhone unlocking programs cause irreparable damage to the iPhone’s software which will likely result in the hacked iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when installed with an Apple-supplied firmware update. An update is expected to be released within the week.

So for you early adopters out there, think twice before getting your iPhone unlocked lest you want to void your warranty or just stay clear of any updates. However, you never really know when you might need that warranty so better start thinking real hard what you really want: an unlocked iPhone or a warranty-covered iPhone coming in a few months time.