Only yesterday, Apple released iOS 5 beta 5 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Many people, developers and non-developers alike have already got their hands on iOS 5 beta 5 and its particularly the non-developers that are anxious for an iOS 5 beta 5 jailbreak release. Expect redsn0w 0.9.8b5 release very soon, as it will come bearing support to jailbreak iOS 5 beta 5 tethered on your favorite iOS device.
Many people thought that jailbreaking iOS 5 could be impossible due to the fact that it updates over-the-air. Regardless of that, the first beta of iOS 5 was jailbroken within 12 hours and a short while after that, the iPhone Dev Team released redsn0w 0.9.8b1 to the public for iOS 5 beta 1 tethered jailbreak. As the iOS 5 beta releases increased, so did the number of redsn0w 0.9.8 beta releases for both Windows and Mac. The last update was redsn0w 0.9.8b4 which was released to jailbreak iOS 5 beta 4 tethered on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
One must understand how redsn0w actually works. It could have been possible that there would have been no need for the devs to update redsn0w 0.9.8b4. If the exploit exists in the most latest firmware update, redsn0w can easily jailbreak it if you select that ipsw of the previous iOS beta version rather than that of the most recent beta firmware. So when we got our hands on iOS 5 beta 5, our first thought was to try and see whether we could jailbreak it. We launched redsn0w 0.9.8b4, selected the iOS 5 beta 5 ipsw and started the jailbreak process. It took a longer time than usual however the process did complete and we were taken to the Home screen which displayed a white Cydia icon. This usually happens after you run redsn0w to jailbreak iPhone, iPad or iPod touch tethered. So this meant that we had to do a tethered boot once redsn0w finished installing Cydia on our device. However, the device was unable to boot tethered further confirming our doubts that redsn0w 0.9.8b4 will not be able to jailbreak iOS 5 beta 5.
Please keep in mind that redsn0w iOS 5 beta 5 tethered jailbreak will be compatible with all devices that are susceptible to the Limera1n bootrom exploit. You can not jailbreak iOS 5 beta 5 on iPad 2. Also, this is a tethered jailbreak meaning that should your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch run out of charge or you feel the need to reboot it, you will also have to connect it to a computer in order to boot it tethered. That is the biggest downside to a tethered jailbreak. However, if you wish to receive iOS 5 beta 6 download OTA as soon as it goes live, you must not jailbreak iOS 5 beta 5 as Apple does not push OTA iOS 5 beta updates to jailbroken devices. If you do the jailbreak, then you'll have to do a clean restore of iOS 5 beta 5 before you can get iOS 5 beta 6 OTA.
Expect the new update of redsn0w to be out within 24 hours. Believe it not, the hackers are pretty busy right now. DEF CON 19, the biggest hacker convention, is underway in Las Vegas and almost all of the major iPhone hackers and jailbreakers are present there. See for yourself:
MuscleNerd, member of the iPhone Dev Team is also present at DEF CON 19, however he is not in this picture. We can expect them to begin work on the latest redsn0w release for iOS 5 beta 5 jailbreak with in the next 42 hours as the world's largest hacker convention has officially ended on August 7. As we have said repeatedly in this post, it is highly likely that redsn0w 0.9.8b5 will be released with in two days for iOS 5 beta 5 tethered jailbreak on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
How anxiously are you waiting for iOS 5 beta 5 jailbreak? Love Cydia much? Did you know you can share Cydia apps and packages with your friends? Fire up the discussion in the comments below!
UPDATE: As we said, Redsn0w 0.9.8b5 has been released. Download redsn0w 0.9.8b5 and read up on the guide on how to jailbreak / boot iOS 5 beta 5 tethered on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, here.