iPhone 1.1.3 and the update conundrum
iPhone Central’s Big Cheese, Dan Moren, recently reported on leaks of a purported 1.1.3 iPhone firmware update. These leaks are based on pictures and video showing off some alleged upcoming iPhone features. Personally, the evidence look kosher to me but if you want to doubt, be my guest.
I’m offering this lackadaisical invitation largely because I’d like to address this broader issue: Regardless of what the next iPhone update offers, is it worth your while to update? Let’s look at the pros and cons:
PROS:
• Without the update it’s possible that you won’t be able to use whatever Apple-authorized applications are made available as the result of Apple releasing an iPhone SDK in February.
• Some of the alleged features look very cool. Under the listing of “supposedly,” you’ll be able to move icons around on the Home screen, add Safari bookmarks as icons on the Home screen, have more than one page on the Home screen, send SMS messages to multiple recipients, drag a pin to any location you like in the Maps application, access a hybrid map and satellite view in Maps, and kinda/sorta pinpoint your iPhone’s location in the Maps application through cell tower triangulation.
CONS:
• If you’ve unlocked your iPhone to use with another carrier there’s the possibility that applying the update will kill your phone.
• If you’ve jailbroken your iPhone to use with third-party applications, there’s a very good chance that those third-party applications will disappear when you apply the update. Getting those third-party applications on your iPhone is possible thanks to a couple of security exploits that Apple is sure to close with the next update. A lot of very smart people will invest a lot of time trying to find a way to jailbreak an iPhone running the 1.1.3 firmware so that those third-party applications can be used, but no one knows how long it will take or, ultimately, if it will even be possible.
I’ve made no secret of my love for third-party applications running on my iPhone. And because I do love it to its jailbroken core (and find that I already have many of the alleged features mentioned as part of this similarly alleged update) I’m going to be in no rush to update my phone. You, of course, may feel differently.
Regardless of which side you come down on, history has taught us that it’s prudent to let others update their stuff before you do. Having a measure of patience allows you to learn from others’ mistakes and, if you choose to, avoid making them yourself.
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