iOS 5 Untethered Jailbreak for iPhone 4S, iPad 2: The Progress So Far

Thanks to the iPhone Dev Team and the Chronic Dev Team, an untethered jailbreak for all A4-powered devices like the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, the iPad, the iPod Touch 4G and the iPod Touch 3G running iOS 5 or iOS 5.0.1 has already been released. However, users of A5-powered devices are still in the dark, waiting for an untethered jailbreak for their iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

Pod2g, the man behind the untethered jailbreak on iOS 5.0.1 for A4 devices, is reportedly hard at work finding an untethered jailbreak for A5 devices. The latest reports suggest that some of the jailbreak community's biggest names have offered their support; the renowned iOS hacker seems to have a promising future this time around.

Over the last couple of weeks, a lot has happened in the figuring out of the much-awaited untethered exploit for the iPhone 4S and iPod 2. Here is a quick run through...

For those who are new to the topic, although technically the iPhone 4S has been jailbroken, there has not been any legal and constant method of making that exploit available to the public.

When it comes to the iPad 2, the device did get an untethered jailbreak but it was only for iOS 4.3.3. In July last year, iOS hacker Comex released JailbreakMe Saffron, an untethered exploit compatible with iOS 4.3 devices and newer. The devices included the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4, the iPad 1, the iPad 2 and the iPod Touch.

Last week, Pod2g made a shocking announcement on Twitter, saying he had made significant progress on an untethered jailbreak for A5 devices and if everything went well there could be a release within a week.

Following his update, it looked like users of iPhone 4S and iPad 2 would finally get what they had long been waiting for. Unfortunately, a few days later a second update said it might not be possible to release the untethered jailbreak for A5-powered devices, since there was a big hurdle in the way.

The exploit I used to inject the untethering files to the 4S relies on having a developer account, and can't be released publicly, Pod2g explained in his blog.

That bit of bad news, fortunately, was countered by news from Pod2g that said three more well-known jailbreakers - planetbeing, MuscleNerd and p0sixninja - had joined the fight.

Pod2g wrote on his blog:

@planetbeing, the legendary hacker behind iPhone Linux and lot of jailbreaks (see http://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Planetbeing) has joined the A5 research!

The famous @MuscleNerd (http://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:MuscleNerd), the leader of the iPhone Dev Team, who did a lot of tests for Corona and whom integrated it and made it simple in redsn0w is willing to help also.

And last, but not least @p0sixninja (http://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Posixninja), the leader of the Chronic Dev Team, and my partner for years on iPhone security research has started to code and fuzz the Apple sandbox.

We now have a dream team to find a path for a public release of the A5 jailbreak.

Cross your fingers.

It's hard to say, as of now, when the self-proclaimed Dream Team will announce an untethered jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 but a release is expected soon.

Meanwhile, users are advised to update their devices to iOS 5.0.1 before Apple releases another update and stops signing 5.0.1. Considering an untethered jailbreak for A5 devices is on the cards, it has become imperative that users update to iOS 5.0.1 and preserve SHSH blobs (Signature HaSH blobs) for all devices, including the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. It will help users downgrade to iOS 5.0.1 in the future and have access to an untethered jailbreak.

For more details on how to preserve SHSH blobs, click here.

MUST READ: iOS 5 Untethered Jailbreak: iPhone 4S, iPad 2 Jailbreak Confirmed; Coming to Ac1dsn0w?

UPDATE: Untethered Jailbreak for A5 Devices: Sandbox Issue Solved, 'Saurik' Offers 'Major Contribution'