10.5.6 update disables direct iPhone Pwnage jailbreak
If you've checked out iPhone Alley today, you've probably heard about 10.5.6 breaking pwnage. The update prevents your Mac from recognizing your iPhone or iPod in DFU mode. DFU mode refers to the device firmware update mode that has been used for communicating directly with your unit at a high level. iTunes uses DFU mode for firmware restores among other things.
This is actually not a new problem. The late 2008 MacBook line (Pro, Air, and regular) all had pre-existing issues with DFU mode. This is due to a driver issue; I'm told it's part of the USB kexts (kernel extensions) that shipped with the laptops. With 10.5.6, the kexts have been propagated to all Mac systems.
iPhone developer Steven Troughton-Smith (you might remember him as the guy who ported Doom and added TV out) tells me that the problems happen when the device is plugged directly to Macs. He relates that you can use DFU mode when your unit is connected via a hub and pwn as normal, even with the 10.5.6 update. As comforting as that advice sounds, you may want to delay your 10.5.6 upgrade until the dev team can be sure and test the USB work-around.
