14 DAY TRIAL // The iPhone 7 was launched only a few days ago, but a jailbreak has already been developed by hacker and security researcher Luca Tedesco.
Let’s start with the good news. According to the screenshot he posted on Twitter, he managed to jailbreak an iPhone 9.3, which is the identification code for iPhone 7 in black version, running iOS 10.0.1 - this is the public version of iOS 10 that all supported devices should be on already.
The screenshots show Cydia 1.1.26 up and running on the jailbroken iPhone, so when it goes public, everyone is supposed to be able to install apps and tweaks from the Cydia store just like on older iPhone models.
The bad news is that the jailbreak is not publicly available, and Tedesco most likely developed it for personal use. And while this could disappoint some users, it’s not as bad as it seems: the simple fact that a jailbreak has already been developed is living proof that it’s indeed possible to jailbreak the iPhone 7, so it’s most likely just a matter of time until someone else does the same thing.
Apple could patch it in next iOS update
Pangu, for instance, has recently developed a jailbreak for iOS 9, so a new version supporting iPhone 7 and iOS 10 should arrive in the coming weeks.
The more important question, however, is “do we still need a jailbreak for these new iPhones?” There are mixed thoughts on this and while more users are tempted to keep their iPhones untouched because of the security risks that are involved in jailbreaking, others just want to do it in order to get rid of the restrictions and limitations that Apple has implemented.
On the other hand, Apple isn’t likely to be pleased with such news, so the company could very well block the vulnerability used to develop the jailbreak in the next iOS update. Fortunately, Apple is rarely in a rush to release software updates.