After months of waiting, an untethered jailbreak tool has finally been released for Apple devices containing the dual-core A5 processor, offering a software unlock for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2.
The tool is called Absinthe A5 and can be downloaded to either Windows or Mac and used to install custom software on both of Apple’s latest gadgets, thus unlocking a world of possibilities unavailable on a standard Apple product. It will jailbreak an iPhone 4S running either iOS 5.0 or 5.0.1 or an iPad running 5.0.1, and install the Cydia store.
A collection of the world’s best iOS hackers and developers, collectively known in scene as the “Dream Team”, have been working hard since Apple released the iPad 2 last year to release a full jailbreak. We mentioned recently that iOS 5.0 and 5.0.1 had been jailbroken on older Apple devices such as the iPhone 4, but due to the A5 processor, the same could not be easily replicated for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S.
In a blog post on the greenp0ison (also an iOS jailbreak tool) website, the new hack was announced. Developers have spent literally thousands of hours creating exploits in order for an untethered jailbreak to work, and now they have finally finished the tool and released it for everyone to use.
If you’re not familiar with the jailbreaking process, in basic terms it involves connecting your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to a PC via USB and using a piece of software, known as a jailbreak tool, to install custom software and unlock the device’s true potential. One such piece of software is Cydia, which is an app store of sorts, containing everything from themes to software tweaks to apps that Apple has rejected.
A jailbreak can be achieved in either a ‘tethered’ or ‘untethered’ state. The former is easier to achieve, though the jailbreak is lost if the device has to be rebooted or runs out of power. An untethered jailbreak is more desirable as it only has to be installed once, though it is much harder to achieve for developers, hence why the release of Absinthe A5 is such big news.
The new Absinthe tool can be downloaded for Windows or Mac from greenpoison.com. If you’re feeling brave why not give it a go, and check out the tutorial for Windows below.
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Tags: A5, Absinthe, chpwn, Dual Core, iOS, iPad 2, iPhone 4S, jailbreak, p0sixninja, planetbeing, Untethered
