If iOS 5 Has Been Jailbroken, Why Can’t We Jailbreak the iPhone 4S?
Now that the iPhone 4S has been officially released (and some people are already having issues as is always the case), savvy users everywhere are already dying to bust into the iPhone 4S. The fact is, there is a jailbreak already available for the iOS 5 – that’s the good news. The bad news is, this jailbreak currently works well on the iPod 3G/4G, the iPad (but not the iPad 2) and the iPhone 3GS/4. A version of the iOS 5 has been available for some time, allowing hackers to work on a break. For the iPhone 4S and other new Apple models, there will be short wait.
The current jailbreak is called Redsn0w, and there are a couple of issues. One, it’s tethered, which means you’ll sometimes need to boot your device while hooked up to a computer running Redsn0w. Fortunately, however, there is a Windows version available, as well as Mac. Two, there are some problems with this jailbreak software, and the average user might want to steer clear until the bugs are worked out.
As far as the 4S is concerned, there are currently several teams working on developing an accessible jailbreak, such as those involved in previous jailbreaking tools such as Greenpois0n and Jailbreak Me 3.0. Expect a subsequent jailbreak to be untethered, and based on a bootrom exploit, which has already been discovered in the iPad 2 (which contains the same A5 processor as the iPhone 4S.) This low-level exploit means it will be more difficult for Apple to counter-attack, and they will need to make a full hardware update to stop the jailbreak. Not surprisingly, it also appears there will be a Jailbreak 4.0, which will be applied to the 4S.
And of course, as past jailbreakers know, there is a slight downside to jailbreaking. Apple does not support jailbroken devices, so gadgets needing service must be restored beforehand. But clearly, there must be many more positives than negatives, because with the release of every new iDevice, there are people waiting in line for a new jailbreak. In a nutshell, there are just too many cool third party applications available, and people don’t like being told what they can or cannot have.
While things are moving along, there is no official release date. The time frame is a bit dubious, but may come as soon as just a few weeks. Obviously, the best jailbreak is the one worth waiting for – after developers have thoroughly tested and debugged it. So take heart – there is little doubt that a full untethered jailbreak is probable, and its release imminent.
