A newly disclosed flaw in Apple's chips could let hackers break into and unlock older iPhones — and because the problem lives in the hardware itself, it reportedly cannot be fixed with a software update.
According to TechCrunch, the European offensive cybersecurity company Paradigm Shift published details of the vulnerability along with a technique for exploiting it. The company describes the flaw as the kind of weakness that opens the door to an iPhone jailbreak — the process of removing Apple's built-in software restrictions to gain deeper control over a device.
TechCrunch reports that the exploit affects older iPhones and could allow attackers to unlock and break into them. Paradigm Shift, which TechCrunch identifies as an offensive security firm, released the information publicly.
The word "unpatchable" is the part that stands out. Most security holes can be quietly closed by pushing out a new version of the operating system. When a flaw is rooted in the silicon, however, there is no patch that can fully erase it — the affected hardware stays vulnerable for as long as it remains in use.
The TechCrunch summary does not specify exactly which chip models or iPhone generations are involved, how difficult the attack is to carry out in practice, or whether Apple has responded.
Why it matters: a hardware flaw that can't be patched means the millions of older iPhones still in people's pockets could carry a permanent weak point, raising fresh questions about how long aging devices stay safe to use.