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The controversy with Apple refusing to accept cash for iPhones is heating up. Now it seems that not only is Apple refusing cash, insisting on credit or debit cards instead, but is also even refusing their self-branded gift cards. Whereas they might have had some water to hold with not allowing cash or even 3rd party gift cards, Apple's own gift cards being refused is another thing altogether.

The real tricky part is the fine print. Apple doesn't claim that the iPhone is excluded from their gift cards, and in fact says that more or less you can purchase whatever you want with them. The speculation is that they are treading into dangerous legal territory now. While people are already willing to sue over just about anything these days, it seems bizarre that Apple would make themselves such an obvious target in this case.

All of this comes back to Apple not wanting to people to mod or hack the iPhone – or at the very least not profit from doing such. I can understand the latter, but after so many years of Apple products being tweaked with it seems that they are losing touch with a large portion of their customer base. In fact, about a fifth of their iPhone customer base.