We’ve been getting all sorts of questions from avid jailbreakers asking when a jailbreak for iOS 11 might drop. While there are no official details about an iOS 11 jailbreak as of now, we’d like to dispel some rumors and quell confusion by putting everything we know into a full post.
Where’s the iOS 11 jailbreak?
There currently isn’t a public jailbreak for iOS 11, although one hacker did recently demonstrate that it’s possible to jailbreak the iPhone X, which means that both iOS 11 and Apple’s latest flagship handsets can be jailbroken.
More excitingly, security researcher Ian Beer recently released a robust tfp0 kernel exploit for iOS 11.0-11.1.2. While it’s not a jailbreak in and of itself, it’s an essential puzzle piece that could contribute to making one in the future.
What we can gather from the current situation is that Ian Beer himself will not be creating an iOS 11 jailbreak. Instead, part of his motivation behind releasing this exploit to the public was to empower the community to make one themselves.
Who’s working on the iOS 11 jailbreak?
As of right now, you know as much as we do. There have been no official announcements from any reputable jailbreak teams that an iOS 11 jailbreak is underway, nor have any respected members of the jailbreak community stepped forward with plans to create one.
Last year, iOS hacker Luca Todesco released the Yalu jailbreak tool for iOS 10.0-10.2, and he kept the community apprised of his progress as he went. This time around, we don’t have the luxury of continuous updates from anyone, and everything’s left to speculation.
When is the iOS 11 jailbreak coming?
Since we don’t even really know if anyone is actually working on an iOS 11 jailbreak at this point in time, this question is more challenging to answer.
For the last few years, we’ve seen functioning public jailbreak tool releases right around the holiday season, but everything seems to be up in the air this year.
Given what we know, the phrase “No ETA” seems fitting for answering this question.
But I’ve seen lots of jailbreak news recently, what’s that about?
Tihmstar just released a new untethered jailbreak called JailbreakMe 4.0 for iOS 9.1-9.3.4 devices, and Abraham Masri released a semi-jailbreak tweaking tool called Houdini for iOS 10.0-10.3.2.
Unfortunately, neither of these tools support iOS 11. Furthermore, JailbreakMe 4.0 only works with 32-bit devices, and Houdini isn’t a full jailbreak like most are accustomed to using.
If you’re waiting for an iOS 11 jailbreak, then both of these tools will be irrelevant to your needs.
Will the iOS 11 jailbreak be semi-untethered?
Again, we don’t have any confirmation that anyone’s actually working on an iOS 11 jailbreak, so there’s no telling what type might come to fruition for iOS 11 (if at all).
If history serves us right, it’ll most likely be a semi-untethered jailbreak just like the last several releases. Untethered jailbreaks, unfortunately, seem to be a thing of the past. But look at the bright side… at least it’s not tethered!
Another possibility is a semi-jailbreak just like Houdini. Such jailbreaks don’t provide access to Cydia or enable users to install jailbreak tweaks, but they do allow for elevated privileges that Apple wouldn’t typically allow.
The type of jailbreak we get ultimately depends on who picks up the project and whether they have the skills to develop a user-friendly jailbreak tool that installs Cydia during the jailbreak process.
Will I jailbreak iOS 11?
You probably already know the answer to that already. I’ve been jailbreaking since around 2010, and it’s one of my favorite past-time hobbies.
I already have a device set up on iOS 11.1.2, and much like a lot of you, I’m just waiting to see if Ian Beer’s tpf0 exploit ever materializes into anything special.
On the other hand, I haven’t given up on my iOS 10.2 jailbreak because it’s all I have at the moment. Personally, I’d advise anyone who’s happily-jailbroken on iOS 10 to stay there since there’s no guarantee of an iOS 11 jailbreak.
While some people think the jailbreak is totally dead, I for one use my jailbroken device for a more than just installing tweaks. That said, having total access to my filesystem is a valuable privilege, and for that, I look forward to any potential jailbreak in the future.
The wrap-up
We wish there were more information regarding the state of the iOS 11 jailbreak, but that isn’t the case at this point in time.
If you’re excited to learn more about future jailbreak opportunities, then the best advice we can give you is to stay tuned to iDB for the latest news. As always, we’ll have guides whenever the time comes.
If you have any questions relating to the state of the iOS 11 jailbreak, feel free to drop a comment below to spur discussion.
