The recent launch of the checkm8 bootrom exploit for A5-A11 devices certainly piqued the interest of many, and perhaps a lot more than some people would like.
Electra Team lead developer CoolStar took to Discord over the weekend to announce that he would be shifting focus away from A12(X) jailbreak development on iOS 12.1.3 and later and more toward experimenting with and developing around the checkm8 exploit:
From what we can gather, CoolStar has a lot more interest in building an iOS 13-centric jailbreak for A8X-A11 devices than continuing development on support for iOS 12.1.3-12.3 beta and 12.4 on A12(X) devices via Chimera.
The announcement is certain to leave a significant portion of jailbreakers disgruntled, but CoolStar instead directs those users toward “buggy jailbreaks on A12” in a clear jab at Pwn20wnd’s unc0ver jailbreak tool, which just recently underwent its first public beta release with full-fledged A12(X) device support up to iOS 12.4.
While I’ve never had any problems with the unc0ver jailbreak personally, it’s worth noting that the current state of unc0ver’s A12(X) support is “public beta” and bugs are to be expected. In the public beta stages, casual jailbreakers are advised to hold off anyways, at least until the tool comes out of beta.
CoolStar also noted that Chimera would still be maintained for A7-A11 devices on iOS 12.x and A12(X) on iOS 12.0-12.1.2, but that this would draw the line for standard maintenance. Moreover, Electra is expected to receive one final update in the near future that will back-port Chimera’s changes to the iOS 11-centric jailbreak tool.
Notably, CoolStar also reaffirmed the idea that Sileo could eventually be released for other jailbreaks besides Chimera and Electra once the package manager is open-sourced, but also claimed that this wasn’t a guarantee. The unclear intentions in this department are like a thorn in the side for many, myself especially.
As it would seem, CoolStar sees more value in working with the checkm8 exploit because any subsequent releases would immediately impact significantly more people in the long run than an A12(X) jailbreak would. Then again, it’s particularly rotten luck for those on newer versions of iOS who’ve been holding out for A12(X) support via Chimera all this time…
How do you feel about CoolStar’s current attitude toward A12(X) development? Will you shift to unc0ver instead? Discuss your thoughts in the comments section below.
