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Apple warned yesterday that any attempt to unlock the phone so it can be used on any network "will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed".

But the collection of hackers known as the iPhone Dev Team said this is not true.

"The removal of those firmware problems, which were built in in favour for AT&T, does not cause 'damage' as they want to make us believe," the group said in a statement. But just in case, it said that it would soon release a new tool that will restore the phone to a working state.

"In the meantime we advise you

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not to update your free iPhone with the upcoming firmware," it said, referring to the update Apple will soon released. "Wait for the next version to be fixed to work properly with your carrier and not break your phone."

The iPhone Dev Team claims that there are hundreds of thousands of unlocked iPhones, based on the number of times its software has been downloaded. Apple's Philip Schiller said yesterday that the company did not know how many phones were using networks other than AT&T in the US. He reiterated that Apple has found that unlocking software has damaged iPhone software and that in some cases, applying a software update can render the touch screen inoperable.

''This has nothing to do with proactively disabling a phone that is unlocked or hacked,'' Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said. ''It's unfortunate that some of these programs have caused damage to the iPhone software, but Apple cannot be responsible for those consequences.''

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