Apple is quoted as confirming that an update to the iPhone’s firmware will be coming this week and that iPhone owners who have modified their phones, particularly by unlocking them for use on carriers other than AT&T, are at risk of “bricking” them when the update is applied.

The trigger for this statement could have been an owner who brought his iPhone in for service (green tinted photos from the camera, which I am also seeing) with 3rd party applications installed, and an unauthorized unlock hack and a T-Mobile SIM in the phone. Granted the green tint was probably unrelated to the mods but, given that the phone was probably going to have to be replaced to fix the problem, restoring it to some semblance of its original condition by say Restoring it iTunes and removing the unsupported carrier’s SIM might be considered a prudent step. Otherwise you’re not exactly giving the store employee a whole lot of choice.

The full contents of the update aren’t known but the addition of the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and other features introduced with the iPod touch seems likely. Improvements to existing iPhone apps, support for MMS messaging and for games a la the iPod would be welcome if not downright expected. Of course, it may probably also bring the iPod touch “improvements” that have so far prevented hackers from running any 3rd party applications on it which would be a less welcome change.

If Apple does manage to close the door to all 3rd party applications on the iPhone they are also assuming full responsibility for keeping it relevant via frequent and significant updates that not only fix problems but fill holes in its feature set that would normally be filled by developers writing inventive new applications using an officially supported API.

So iPhone users: clean up your phones and get ready for that first major update.