Apple has advised iPhone users to steer clear of downloadable programs which allow the handset to be used with other telephone service providers.
The iPod manufacturers told Reuters that should users download an unlocking program to allow the iPhone to be used with a service provider other than AT&T, "it will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable".
AT&T is the only authorised iPhone service provider in the US, while O2 was recently confirmed as the exclusive network for the handset in the UK.
According to Phil Schiller, Apple's head of worldwide product marketing, using an unlocking program such as iUnlock or Anysim will render the iPhone inoperable once the user installs an Apple-supplied software update.
However, a market analyst told Reuters that Apple is probably legally obliged by AT&T to prevent unlocking.
"There is probably wording in their contracts to the effect that they have to make best efforts to remedy software changes that unlock the phone or make it available to other networks" said Van Baker, a Gartner analyst.
Apple chief executive recently cause controversy when, at the launch of the new iPod touch, he confirmed that the price of the iPhone was to be slashed by $200, angering customers who'd purchased the handset at its initial release price.
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