Fortunately, today the much-awaited iOS 6.1 Jailbreak tool will be released. And for those of you who are waiting for a way to “jailbreak” your device, then it’s time to start preparing.
Before we begin, let's make a short introduction and say (in case you don't already know) that the group of hackers who have created the tool is called Evad3rs, the tool will be called evasi0n, it is for iOS 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 and 6.1, and not support the following devices:
- iPhone 2G
- iPhone 3G
- iPod touch 1-3G
- iPad 1
- Apple TV 3
So if you own a supported device (such as iPhone 5 and iPad mini) then start with the following steps:
Step 1- Backup
We'll start by backing up your device. You can do this either through iTunes manually or through iCloud.
To backup via iTunes, open the program, connect to your device and on the left where it will appear, right-click and select backup
To do this via iCloud, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup, and turn on the option that says iCloud Backup.
Although it is more convenient to backup via iCloud, we note that it will take much longer to restore it to the device, so we recommend doing it via iTunes. In addition, those of you who have a jailbroken device, do not forget to keep a backup of the Cydia packages separately. To do this, you can use the free OpenBackup application which you will find in Cydia or use the paid (but much better) application PKGBackup, also from Cydia.
Now that you have your backups, it's time for the upgrade.
Step 2 – Upgrade to iOS 6.1
If you haven't already updated your device to iOS 6.1, now is the time to do so. You can download the .ipsw file for your device below to update manually, or you can connect your device via iTunes and update it by tapping the update button or via OTA (by going to Settings > General > Software Update).
Note: You will only update your device automatically via iTunes or OTA if not jailbroken. If you are on an iOS version (such as 5.1.1) and have a jailbreak, you will not upgrade it directly, but you will do it manually as described below. Additionally, we recommend manually upgrading (via restore) for all devices so that they are clean on iOS 6.1 and the jailbreak process takes less time.
For those of you who decide to do it manually, download the .ipsw file that corresponds to your device:
- Apple TV 2G (AppleTV2,1) version 5.2 (Build 10B144b),
- Apple TV 3G (AppleTV3,1) version 5.2 (Build 10B144b),
- AppleTV3,2 (AppleTV3,2) version 5.2 (Build 10B144b),
- iPad 2 (Wi-Fi) (iPad2,1) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad 2 (GSM) (iPad2,2) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad 2 (CDMA) (iPad2,3) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad2,4 (iPad2,4) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad Mini (Wi-Fi) (iPad2,5) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad Mini (GSM) (iPad2,6) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad Mini (CDMA) (iPad2,7) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad 3 (Wi-Fi) (iPad3,1) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad 3 (GSM) (iPad3,2) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad 3 (CDMA) (iPad3,3) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad 4 (Wi-Fi) (iPad3,4) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad 4 (GSM) (iPad3,5) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPad 4 (CDMA) (iPad3,6) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPhone 3GS (iPhone2,1) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPhone 4 (GSM) (iPhone3,1) version 6.1 (Build 10B144),
- iPhone 4 (GSM) (2012) (iPhone3,2) version 6.1 (Build 10B144),
- iPhone 4 (CDMA) (iPhone3,3) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
- iPhone 4S (iPhone4,1) version 6.1 (Build 10B142),
- iPhone 5 (GSM) (iPhone5,1) version 6.1 (Build 10B143),
- iPhone 5 (CDMA) (iPhone5,2) version 6.1 (Build 10B143),
- iPod Touch 4G (iPod4,1) version 6.1 (Build 10B144),
- iPod Touch 5G (iPod5,1) version 6.1 (Build 10B141),
Those of you who have already upgraded, or prefer to do it automatically, are finished and can go to step 3, the rest stay here.
To manually install the update via iTunes, open the program, connect the device, select it when it appears on the left, and in the main window, click “Restore” while holding down the Option button for Mac or the Shift button for Windows.
A window will appear asking for the .ipsw file, navigate to the folder you downloaded it to and select it, in my case it is the following:
When you select it, click “Open” and the process will begin.
Step 3 – Backup and Jailbreak
Now that we have upgraded our device to iOS 6.1, it is best not to restore from a backup before jailbreaking. Although many of you will definitely have things you need, it is a good idea to wait a bit until the jailbreak is done first and then run them through the backup, so that the process of jailbreaking the device is much faster.
Step 4 – TinyUmbrella
Although this is not a necessary step for jailbreaking, it is always a good idea to do it, regardless of whether you are going to jailbreak or not. TinyUmbrella stores the SHSH of the version that is currently released and is “signed” by Apple. You need the SHSH if at some point later you want to go back to a previous iOS version. For example, if I upgrade to version 6.1, if I want to go back to 6.0 or 5.1.1 or even older, because I have the SHSH of these versions saved, I can do it.
SHSH is a unique key for each device that Apple “signs” in order to upgrade to the latest operating system (in our case 6.1). When a newer version is released, e.g. 6.1.1, Apple stops “signing” SHSH for 6.1, so no one can go back to that version. Having kept this key via TinyUmbrella, we can “fool” iTunes into thinking that Apple is still signing it for the version we want, allowing us to go back to that version.
These keys, as we said, are unique for each device, so you cannot use another one, e.g. someone you know, and we can only store the one that Apple is "signing" at the moment.
Those of you who want to save it (and we recommend it to both those who are going to jailbreak and everyone else) can download the application from here and follow the three easy steps below:
- Open TinyUmbrella
- Connect your device
- Press the “Save SHSH” button located at the top left
Once you've done that, you're ready to go and you can close the program. You won't need it again for now.
As we said at the beginning, fortunately, the jailbreak for iOS 6.1 will be released today and we are now ready to welcome it.
As soon as it is released, we will be the first to inform you, while a corresponding guide will follow on how to jailbreak and what the first steps are that need to be taken.
Dimitrios Georgoulas
