Can I jailbreak iOS 9.2.1, iOS 9.2 or iOS 9.1 on iPhone or iPad? Here we look at the state of the jailbreak with Apple having now released iOS 9.1 / 9.2 / 9.2.1 final versions to the public.
The introduction of a jailbreak solution with Pangu 9 for iOS 9.0, 9.0.1, and 9.0.2 in fall 2015 took many by surprise. It was, of course, a very welcome surprise for those who were yearning for an untethered jailbreak on Apple’s latest mobile OS, but it still managed to blindside a lot of individuals. Of course, Pangu 9 release also meant that any vulnerabilities used to exploit iOS 9.0.x essentially enter the public domain, leaving Apple to tear the jailbreak apart and patch any of those holes. And Apple did exactly that by patching that jailbreak in iOS 9.1.
In subsequent iOS 9.2 and 9.2.1 releases, Apple patched even more jailbreak exploits making it ever so difficult for jailbreak teams to come out with a public jailbreak. All this while, a number of independent hackers confirmed to have successfully jailbroken iOS 9.2, 9.2.1 and 9.3 betas, but none of them planned to release it to public.
In a surprise move in March 2016, Pangu Team dropped another jailbreak, this time for iOS 9.1 devices only. If you have a 64-bit device still rocking iOS 9.1, you can follow the instructions below to jailbreak iOS 9.1:
- Download Pangu iOS 9.1 Jailbreak For Windows And Mac
- How To Jailbreak iOS 9.1 On iPad Pro, iPhone 6s / 6s Plus, More [Tutorial]
The release of the jailbreak coming this late obviously means that those who already updated to iOS 9.2 or 9.2.1 are now out of luck as Apple as of December 2015 is no longer signing iOS 9.1. At this point even iOS 9.2 is no longer being signed which makes downgrading from iOS 9.2.1 impossible as well. What this also means is that if you are on a firmware version below or above iOS 9.1, downgrading/upgrading to the jailbreak-friendly iOS 9.1 is not possible and you can’t take advantage of this latest jailbreak by Pangu.
Pangu gives this reason for making jailbreak available for iOS 9.1 devices:
Pangu9 V1.3.0 used a kernel bug from Lokihardt to exploit iOS 9.1, and the bug is patched in iOS 9.2. Thanks Lokihardt for helping!
So it goes like this, Pangu had an exploit which was only vulnerable in iOS 9.1 as Apple patched it in iOS 9.2. Instead of wasting it, they made it available now for iOS 9.1 devices. While they haven’t confirmed this yet, maybe they still have exploits saved for iOS 9.3 and they are now waiting for Apple to release final version of iOS 9.3 to make a jailbreak available for iOS 9.2-9.3 devices? Lets hope that’s the case! Fingers crossed on this one!
Apple has a media event set for March 21 where the company is expected to release final version of iOS 9.3 to public. Italian developer and researcher Luca Tedesco has already demonstrated in a video that iOS 9.3 jailbreak is possible. While he doesn’t plan to release it, it’s still good to see latest versions of iOS being vulnerable to jailbreakable exploits.
The bottom line is that while there’s now a public jailbreak available for iOS 9.1, there’s still no public jailbreak solution available for iOS 9.2 and iOS 9.2.1 devices. As previously mentioned, jailbreak vulnerabilities used for iOS 9.0 – 9.1 jailbreaks have all been patched in iOS 9.2 and 9.2.1. Until there is a new jailbreak solution available, stay away from the latest versions of iOS if you’re a jailbreaker.
Update x1: iOS 9.3 is out today. There’s no jailbreak available for it yet. Download and other details on iOS 9.3 can be found here: Download iOS 9.3 Final Version For iPhone And iPad [Direct Links].
Update x2: Should jailbreakers update to iOS 9.3? We explain it here.
Update x3: Apple has now released iOS 9.3.1. More details on iOS 9.3.1 can be found here: Download iOS 9.3.1 For iPhone And iPad [Direct IPSW Links].
Update x4: Apple has now stopped signing iOS 9.2.1, making downgrades from iOS 9.3.1/9.3 to 9.2.1 impossible.
Update x5: For the latest on the state of jailbreak, check our follow-up article here which covers the latest iOS 9.3 and 9.3.1 releases: iOS 9.3.1 / 9.3 Jailbreak For iPhone And iPad [Status Update].
You may also like to check out:
- Download iOS 9.1 Links For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch [IPSW]
- Download iOS 9.2 Final Links For iPhone And iPad [IPSW]
- Download iOS 9.2.1 Final Links For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
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