iOS 8.2, 8.3 Jailbreak Release Date: 8.4 Update Coming to iPhones and iPads

May 06, 2015 01:19 PM EDT

With every update to iOS (the operating system for Apple products like the iPhone, iPad, and iPhone Touch), there is always a way to jailbreak it.  However, newer versions of iOS such as 8.2, 8.3, and the soon to be released 8.4 seem to be completely un-jailbreakable, at least until there is the proper update.

For those of you unfamiliar with the process of jailbreaking, it is a way of removing the restrictions of iOS (the closed source operating system on Apple devices) on their mobiles such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.  According to iPhone hacks, there is no current tool to jailbreak iOS 8.2, but if you want to jailbreak iOS 8.1.2 or lower, that is quite possible.  Apple patched most of the vulnerabilities used by jailbreakers TaiG and PPJailbreak for version 8.1.3, and they have carried over to version 8.2. 

Yibada reports that the release date for the iOS 8.3 or 8.4 jailbreak may no longer happen as it seems impossible for the Chinese developers TaiG and Pangu to penetrate the security of Apple's iOS.  Apparently, the security features of 8.2 and 8.3 are very difficult, and it is impossible to update to 8.2 and users must be updated straight to iOS 8.3.  Jailbreak developers have noted that 39 security bugs in Apple iOS 8.3, and it has undergone one of the biggest security patches in recent memory. 

It should be noted that iOS version 8.4 is about ready to be released, even if there really hasn't been any official announcement of a release date.  Chances are, it will be announced sometime before or during Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC 2015), according to Gotta Be Mobile.  Right now, there is already a release of an iOS 8.4 beta 2 for developers, an iOS beta for the public, and everything seems to point to this imminent release. 

There are reports that a hacker named Stefan Esser, also known as i0n1c, has been able to develop untethered jailbreaks for both versions 8.3 and 8.4 of iOS.  Esser doesn't plan on releasing this jailbreak to the public, but he has a proof of concept iOS 8.4 beta 1 jailbreak, found right after the SyScan security conference. 

The fact that i0n1c hasn't released the iOS 8.4 jailbreak does arouse suspicion, as there still is no confirmation on the iOS 8.3 jailbreak release date.  Gotta Be Mobile reports that if jailbreak developers wait until Apple releases the iOS 8.4 update, then the jailbreak for it will probably last longer as iOS 8.4 could be the last major update before Apple releases iOS 9. 

So what will probably happen is that iOS 8.4 will drop around WWDC, and so will the jailbreak.  After that, it will be good for jailbreakers until iOS9.  Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users should be advised not attempt jailbreaks on their own as it can lead to various unwanted software being downloaded on their favorite Apple devices.