When iOS, the operating system for the Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, gets an update, there are those that seek to jailbreak it. This is what is known on the iOS 8.3 and 8.4 jailbreak update, as well as the possibility for jailbreaking iOS 9, after it hits its expected release date.
According to Gotta Be Mobile, Apple is expected to unveil a number of new products at the WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) next week, and one of them is an iOS 8.4 update for the iPhone, iPad, and iPad Touch. The iOS 8.4 is an iOS update that Apple confirmed shortly after the arrival of its iOS 8.3 update back in April. Apple has yet to confirm the iOS 8.4 update for Monday's WWDC keynote, but it has reported that it will share the stage with the iOS 9 update that will likely replace it later this year.
The big question that a lot of people are asking is about jailbreaking. It would appear that developers could not deliver an iOS 8.3 jailbreak. As for iOS 8.4, Some experts are saying that the updated iOS 8.4 could be impossible to jailbreak, according to the Day Herald. Apparently, iOS 8.4 could bring many improvements and features, and the vulnerability and security issues could be fixed.
There are reports that a hacker named Stefan Esser, also known as i0n1c, has been able to develop untethered jailbreaks for both versions 8.3 and 8.4 of iOS. Esser doesn't plan on releasing this jailbreak to the public, but he has a proof of concept iOS 8.4 beta 1 jailbreak, found right after the SyScan security conference.
The fact that i0n1c hasn't released the iOS 8.4 jailbreak does arouse suspicion, as there still is no confirmation on the iOS 8.3 jailbreak release date. Gotta Be Mobile reports that if jailbreak developers wait until Apple releases the iOS 8.4 update, then the jailbreak for it will probably last longer as iOS 8.4 could be the last major update before Apple releases iOS 9.
It is possible that it might take until iOS 9 before jailbreaking happens, as it seems that iOS 8.3 seems completely ineffective against jailbreaking attempts. As far as iOS 9 is concerned, we are probably going to see that very soon. As Apple will have their WWDC conference soon, they might announce the newest version of their operating system, and then a beta version would become available to developers.
There has been reports on 9 to 5 Mac that Apple could be working on a new Kernel level security feature known as "Rootless" that is going to really make jailbreaking a difficult affair. Rootless is a kernel-level feature for both OS X and iOS to prevent malware, increase the safety of extensions, and preserve the security of sensitive data.
An interesting report from iDigitalTimes talks about how a reliable but anonymous source has stated that both the iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 jailbreak has actually been achieved, but it was held from release because there were key vulnerabilities patched on iOS 8.4 betas. Should that iOS 9 jailbreak be as difficult as predicted, then there might be a release of the iOS 8.2 and 8.3 jailbreak soon.
For those of you unfamiliar with the process of jailbreaking, it is a way of removing the restrictions of iOS (the closed source operating system on Apple devices) on their mobiles such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. According to iPhone hacks, there is no current tool to jailbreak iOS 8.2, but if you want to jailbreak iOS 8.1.2 or lower, that is quite possible. Apple patched most of the vulnerabilities used by jailbreakers TaiG and PPJailbreak for version 8.1.3, and they have carried over to version 8.2.
Like a real jailbreak, it could take some time before the Jailbreak on iOS 8.3 or higher is achieved. Expect iOS 8.4 by next week at WWDC, and then iOS 9.0 later.
