Apple is about to break iTunes for Pre (Update: Palm responds)

Remember way back on September 24th 2007, Apple released a notice that hacking the iPhone could cause irreparable damage?:

Three days later they released an iPhone 1.1.1 update that temporarily bricked many iPhones.  Fast forward to today, they’ve put out the following statement as a KB article:

Apple designs the hardware and software to provide seamless integration of the iPhone and iPod with iTunes, the iTunes Store, and tens of thousands of apps on the App Store. Apple is aware that some third-parties[Palm Pre] claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.

We expect to see an iTunes update shortly that isn’t going to be a pleasant one for 3rd party device owners who sync to iTunes.. If we were Palm Pre owners in particular, we’d try as hard as we could to avoid hitting that next iTunes update button, until some other suckers watch it kill their iTunes-Pre sync…and then Palm figures out away around it.

Us?  We’re still on iTunes 8.2 pre-release 1!  (via everybody)

Update: Palm responds:

Palm seems unfazed by Apple’s implied threat. Reached for comment, the company said Cupertino will only harm consumers if it disables iTunes integration with the Pre. “Palm’s media sync works with the current version of iTunes,” Palm spokesperson Lynn Fox told me. “If Apple chooses to disable media sync in a future version of iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we could consider.”

Somehow, we don’t think Apple gives a f….