Many have questioned whether Apple's iPhone September iPhone Update (1.1.1) was intended to brick unlocked iPhones. One expert doesn't think so and described the update as "very unfinished" and a "hack," according to Wired News.

Pointing to the 1.1.1 update as a PR disaster for Apple, Leander Kahney described Apple's actions as making the company look punitive and obsessed with control. Erica Sadun, a technical contributor to TUAW.com and someone who has worked on iPhone unlocking code, doesn't think Apple is being punitive. In fact, she believes Apple worked hard to avoid bricking hacked phones.

"It wasn't intentional at all," she said. "If they wanted to brick hacked iPhones, they could have done a much better job of it." Ms. Sadun pointed out that the latest update was "troublesome" and even caused problems for pristine iPhones. "They [Apple] messed up," she said.

Worse, Ms. Sadun characterized the ground-up rewrite of Apple's code as unrecognizable compared to previous versions and was "very unfinished" and in some places, "a complete hack."

However, it's still hard to figure out exactly what's happening inside the iPhone. "Everything is certified, everything is encrypted, everything requires a checksum," Ms. Sadun said. "Apple wants no one else on the platform. It's a pretty strong statement of that."

Amidst all this, there could be larger, global economic issues at stake. Because of the weak dollar, unlocked iPhones are entering a thriving grey market in Europe where cheap, unlocked phones are very desirable. In light of this, Apple may have no choice but to play cat and mouse with the hackers.