MuscleNerd of the iPhone Dev Team has posted a video of iPad 2 jailbreak on iOS 5, and its likely that the iOS 5.0.1 iPad 2 jailbreak is going to be untethered.
Earlier today MuscleNerd posted screenshots of iPhone 4S jailbreak. However he did mention that the iPhone 4S jailbreak was in preliminary stages and a public release was not coming any time soon. A lot of work still needs to be done before the jailbreak is ready for public release.
It has been over eight months since Apple released iPad 2 and up till now its only possible to jailbreak iPad 2 on iOS 4.3.3 using JailbreakMe 3.0. Apple patched that particular exploit in iOS 4.3.4 firmware release. The reason why there hasn't been a lasting iPad 2 jailbreak is because no body has been able to dump the A5 bootrom and the only jailbreak for iPad 2 was made possible through a PDF based exploit which was patched by Apple.
We already know that the iPhone Dev Team is working around the clock on iPhone 4S jailbreak and iPad 2 jailbreak on iOS 5, iOS 5.0.1 and future versions. The only way to ensure that both iPhone 4S and iPad 2 remain jailbreak-able on future iOS 5 firmware versions is by dumping the A5 bootrom, both devices have A5 processor, and developing the jailbreak using a bootrom exploit which can not be patched without replacing the hardware itself. The team has not revealed whether the jailbreak they're working on for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is tethered or untethered on iOS 5, but if the jailbreak is developed using a userland exploit, bear in mind that Apple will easily patch it in iOS 5.0.1 firmware.
As we mentioned, MuscleNerd tweeted a video demo of iPad 2 jailbreak on iOS 5. In this rather short 19 second clip, you can see that first Photobooth app is launched to establish that the device is indeed an iPad 2 and after that the Newsstand app is launched to proof that the device is running iOS 5 firmware. After that, Cydia is launched which confirms that the iPhone Dev Team has been able to jailbreak iPad 2 on iOS 5, albeit in a very preliminary stage.
MuscleNerd has not given a particular date on which iPad 2 jailbreak on iOS 5 firmware will be released. Though he has mentioned that a lot of work needs to be done in order to make this jailbreak stable and fit for public release. We're guessing that it could take a couple of months before any such jailbreak is released. Of course, we'll keep you updated on all the latest happenings.