You’re in luck: A group of hackers known as evad3rs has released the first jailbreak for iPhone 5, EvasiOn.

The EvasiOn website says the jailbreak is compatible with all iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and iPad mini models, as long as you’re running iOS 6 or the recently-released 6.1, and has released desktop jailbreak kits for Mac, Windows, and Linux. The group also says the jailbreak is safe … if you back up your phone or tablet prior to attempting the jailbreak, you can always restore your original system and data.

That is, of course, if you trust an anonymous group of hackers with complete root control of your device. What could go wrong?

Jailbreaking your phone allows you to install apps that are not authorized by Apple, and in fact a non-Apple app store: Cydia, which aggregates and installs apps that are not on the official app store. An untethered jailbreak, such as this one, survives multiple device reboots without needing to be reapplied.

As ExtremeTech mentions, this jailbreak means that Apple’s system-on-chip built into the Apple A6 processor has been cracked. No details have been released on how that actually happened, since those would then help Apple seal the leak.

One unfortunate detail, to those who want their devices to be free. According to one iOS hacker, the new software is a “userland jailbreak,” which exploits holes in iOS 6, but not the underlying layers of the system like the Bootrom. That means Apple can block it simply with a system update.

Other challenges, according to the FAQ EvasiOn has put up, include that users are experiences crashes on some standard apps, such as the Weather app. Another user reports that his iPhone was not charging after jailbreaking — which sounds like a hardware issue — and yet another user said his “sound died after jailbreaking.” And, of course, it does void your Apple warranty.

As the saying goes, YMMV.

Image credit: evasiOn.com

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. In other cases, however, the cover tells you exactly what’s in the book.

I know how much we all love to see the awesome innards of the gorgeous gizmos and gewgaws that we caress every day for work and pleasure. But the new iPad 4 is pretty much like the iPad 3 … with a few minor revelations.

iFixit tore down the newest flagship iPad and discovered that yes, smartphone king Samsung is no longer Apple’s supplier of choice for iPad screens. LG, as rumored, has won that contract, or at least a significant portion of it.

Source: iFixit

iPad 3 and iPad 4, stacked

Other than that, the screen is still glued shut, the battery is the same 3.7 volts, and it too is still glued in. The space surrounding the new Lightning connector is also still the same as the old 30-pin dock connector, and the speakers are still the same.

What’s new, of course, is the 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera, basically a 4X improvement on the old model. And the A6X processor, a major improvement to be sure.

But on iFixit’s repairability scale, iPad 4 still rates a 2/10, just like iPad 3.

Not much to see here, folks, move right along.

Image credit: iFixit