Apple released iOS 11 on September 19, a week after the September 12 iPhone 8 launch event and the release of iOS 11 GM. While iOS 11 includes hundreds of new features and improvements such as the all-new customizable Control Center, unified Lock screen and Notification Center, all-new dock for iPad and lots more, jailbreakers will still want jailbreak iOS 11 when it is released.
So here’s an update on the iOS 11 jailbreak. But before we give you an update on the iOS 11 jailbreak, a quick update on the current situation.
Current iOS 10 Jailbreak Status
The first iOS 10 jailbreak known as Yalu (formerly Yalu + Mach Portal) was released on December 21, 2016, by well-known hacker Luca Todesco, famous by his Twitter handle qwertyoruiop. The Yalu jailbreak made use of Ian Beer’s, of Google Project Zero, mach_portal exploit. It supported select 64-bit devices such as the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Read: How to Jailbreak iOS 10.1, iOS 10.1.1 on iPhone or iPad Using Yalu Jailbreak and Cydia Impactor
Todesco then released a more stable version of the Yalu jailbreak tool for iOS 10.2 by using Ian Beer’s, extra_recipe exploit with the help of Marco Grassi on January 26, 2017. It supported all 64-bit devices except for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
You have to use a computer application known as Cydia Impactor to install the Yalu jailbreak. The jailbreak is a semi-untethered jailbreak, which means that when the iOS device boots, it will no longer have a patched kernel. You are required to run the Yalu app again, to re-jailbreak your iOS device. The other limitation of the jailbreak is that the Yalu app certificate expires seven days, so you have to reinstall it again using Cydia Impactor to renew it for another 7 days.
Read: How to Jailbreak iOS 10.2 on iPhone or iPad Using Yalu Jailbreak and Cydia Impactor
The exploits that were used in Yalu iOS 10.2 jailbreak were patched by Apple in iOS 10.2.1 and iOS 10.3, so it has not been possible to jailbreak iOS 10.2.1 or later.
Read: iOS 10.3.3 Jailbreak Status
iOS 11.1.2 – iOS 11 Jailbreak Status [Updated]
It has been a while since a jailbreak has been released. The last jailbreak was released in January for iOS 10.2 if we don’t consider the Pheonix jailbreak released for iOS 9.3.5.
The positive news is that a group of security researchers demoed a functional jailbreak for iOS 11 beta 2 firmware and iOS 10.3.2 at this year’s MOSEC (Mobile Security Conference) 2017 in Shanghai, China in June. The iOS 11 jailbreak tool that was demoed at the event seems to have been created by Liang Chen of Tencent Keen Lab.
Since iOS 11 beta has been jailbroken, we are hopeful that a jailbreak for iOS 11 could be released. Apple has released 10 iOS 11 beta versions so far, so it is not clear if they have already patched the exploit that was used to jailbreak iOS 11. It is also possible that the iOS 10.3.2 and iOS 11 jailbreak was only for research purposes. But the fact that it was jailbroken gives us hope that hackers will be able to develop a jailbreak if the exploits haven’t been patched.
It is also possible that the iOS 10.3.2 and iOS 11 jailbreak was only for research purposes, so even though it can be jailbroken, the security researcher or hacker may not release a jailbreak for it to the public. But the fact that it was jailbroken gives us hope that hackers like the Pangu team will also be able to discover the exploits and develop an iOS 11 jailbreak tool if the exploits haven’t been patched. Of course, it is still wishful thinking so I wouldn’t get your hopes too high. But let’s hope that we will finally get a jailbreak.
UPDATE (November 10):
Liang Chen of Tencent Keen Lab has demonstrated the world’s first iPhone X jailbreak on iOS 11.1.1 at POC 2017, the security and hacking conference in South Korea.
At the moment it is not clear if the jailbreak will be released but based on the type of event, we don’t expect Chen to release the jailbreak. However, the great news is that the latest version of the iOS 11 software, which was released yesterday can be jailbroken. The fact that iPhone X can be jailbroken would also mean the vulnerabilities used by Liang Chen could be used to jailbreak most iOS 11 compatible devices.
UPDATE (November 24):
Apple has released iOS 11.1.2, but there hasn’t been any further updates to iOS 11.1.2 jailbreak status. We continue to wait eagerly for the iOS 11.1.2 jailbreak.
Why Do You Want to Jailbreak iOS 11?
Will you jailbreak your iPhone or iPad running iOS 11 despite all the new features and improvements? If so we would love to hear why you still want to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad.
As always, we will keep you posted as soon as there is an update about the iOS 11 jailbreak.
