Jun 10, 2011 09:59 GMT  ·  By

The iPhone Dev Team has just confirmed the release of a Mac-only tethered jailbreak for iOS 5 betas that works on all devices with the exception of the yet-unconquered iPad 2.

“redsn0w jailbreak for iOS5 beta released. Mac devs only (please don't pirate Apple software!)”, reads the latest Twitter update from Musclenerd.

The Dev crew member had previously confirmed plans to release an updated jailbreak tool for the iOS 5 beta. The Team also makes it official on their blog:

“WWDC 2011 is winding down to a close, and developers of jailbroken apps for Cydia are probably itching to get started on all the iOS 5 goodness. It seems like a good time to release the tethered redsn0w jailbreak for iOS 5,” reads the announcement, likely also authored by the team’s most vocal member, Musclenerd.

They confirm the following device models as supported by redsn0w 0.9.8b1 for Mac: iPod touch 3G; iPod touch 4G; iPad 1; iPhone 3GS; iPhone 4 (GSM); iPhone 4 (CDMA).

As usual, unlockers are warned to stay away from iOS 5. Even if jailbroken, the baseband is not yet unlockable, posing a great risk for future unlocking attempts.

The hackers also warn that only developers of jailbroken apps are to use the new redsn0w, even though the tool is made freely available for download.

“There are just too many broken components (Apple’s official apps, 3rd-party App Store apps, Cydia apps, MobileSubstrate apps, etc) for this to be useful to anyone but those truly looking to fix bugs in their iOS 5 jailbroken apps.  (Seriously!)”, reads the blog post.

The jailbreak will not hacktivate iOS 5 beta 1 and users also need to be an iOS developer with a registered UDID to get past all the new activation screens, the Team states.

However, it has been revealed that iOS 5 Beta 1 can be easily tricked into displaying the springboard, effectively letting anyone in, regardless of their ‘relationship’ with Apple.

Those who see a white icon for Cydia, or if Cydia or Safari crash when attempting to launch them, will need to remember to boot tethered, the Team says.

The iOS tinkerers cannot stress enough that “Only registered devs with Macs can develop iOS applications, and only those people will have legitimate access to the beta IPSWs.”

For the full details on this new jailbreak, visit the Dev Team blog here.

They have quite a few warnings in there, so it’s best if you read through the whole thing carefully before proceeding to jailbreak.