A5

How to prepare for the iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak

The upcoming iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak release is imminent. It's so close we can almost smell it.

For that reason, it would be wise to go ahead and analyse your current situation, and prepare for the jailbreak.

It has been confirmed that the A5 portion of the jailbreak — the jailbreak for iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and the iPad 3 — will only support iOS 5.1.1.

While nothing has been said about A4 devices, it's a good chance that iOS 5.1.1 will be required to jailbreak any device with the new Absinthe tool across the board.

So what should you do? Should you update your device now, or wait until the jailbreak has been officially released?

What we learn from the Absinthe 2.0 video [updated]

Now that a video showcasing the Absinthe 2.0 iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak has finally surfaced, we can glean additional details about what to expect when the tool is released to the public.

If you haven't already seen our posts outing the name of the highly anticipated tool, or our post with the video of Absinthe in action, then be sure to take a look at those respective posts.

The nice thing about seeing the tool in action for the first time, is that we can have a clearer idea as to what to expect once the tool is released.

Here is what we've found so far...

How to downgrade an iPhone 4S or iPad 2 on Windows

We love our Windows readers and viewers, and to prove it we've created a video tutorial that shows you how to downgrade an iPhone 4S or iPad 2 using RedSn0w 0.9.11b1 on Windows.

The process is basically the same as what we showed you with the Mac version of RedSn0w, but this time around we downgraded an iPhone 4S instead of an iPad 2. The iPad 2, iPhone 4S and the New iPad — all being A5 devices — can be downgraded using this method....

How to jailbreak the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 with RedSn0w

Now that a method exists for downgrading A5 devices, a greater number of folks will be looking for an easy solution to jailbreak their devices.

While the Absinthe jailbreak tool still works, RedSn0w may be more desirable to you due to its all encompassing nature.

For that reason we've put together a handy guide that shows you how to jailbreak your iPhone 4S and iPad 2 using RedSn0w 0.9.11b1...

How to downgrade your iPhone 4S, iPad 2, or new iPad with RedSn0w 0.9.11b1 [Video]

It's finally here folks, the official downgrade tool for A5 devices!

Indeed, you can now downgrade your iPhone 4S, iPad 2, or new iPad (iPad 3) with the latest version of RedSn0w 0.9.11b1. Downgrading will allow you to perform an untethered jailbreak on your iPhone 4S, or iPad 2 running iOS 5.0.1 firmware.

Check out our tutorial for the step-by-step downgrade instructions inside...

Upcoming version of RedSn0w will allow you to downgrade your iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and the new iPad

Awesome news for those who accidentally updated the firmware for their A5 device (iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and the new iPad aka iPad 3), possibly resulting in the loss of the precious untethered jailbreak. MuscleNerd has announced that an upcoming update to RedSn0w will allow users to downgrade their firmware.

The only catch is that you have to have your SHSH blobs saved for the firmware that you wish to downgrade to. That means that if you purchased your iPhone 4S with iOS 5.1 pre-installed, there's no way to downgrade to iOS 5.0.1 so that you can enjoy the benefits of pod2g's untethered jailbreak...

New chipset gives revised iPad 2 longer battery life

When Apple announced that it was going to continue selling the iPad 2 for $399 alongside its new tablet, the company never mentioned any changes. After all, it's the same iPad 2 that it's been selling for more than a year. Right?

Not exactly. The folks over at AnandTech uncovered a minor, but perhaps significant, change in the discounted tablet's A5 processor that gives the slate nearly two hours of added battery life. Keep reading to find out how...

Chipworks reveals some interesting details on Apple TV A5

Last month, Apple unveiled its third-generation Apple TV alongside its new iPad. The set top box received a handful of updates, including the ability to stream full 1080p content courtesy of its all-new A5 processor.

While Apple claims that the ATV's A5 is only a single core unit, the folks over at Chipworks have a different opinion. According to their findings, the chip actually has two cores and is 41% smaller than previous A5s...

Apple TV features new single core A5 processor

While the third-generation Apple TV was rumored to have a dual-core A5X processor, the new media streaming device was announced with a different processor this afternoon. The new Apple TV, which features 1080p playback, actually packs an A5 processor underneath.

However despite what you might think, this isn't the A5 processor that Apple has included in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S...

Another Theory on Why Siri is Limited to the iPhone 4S

When Apple announced that its new Siri assistant would only be available on the iPhone 4S last October, it caused quite a commotion in the iOS community. It meant that millions of iOS users, even those who recently purchased new devices, would have to go without the feature.

We've heard a couple of theories on why Apple chose to make Siri 4S-only, including the need for a solid selling point for its new handset, and the fact that it's still in beta. But according to a recent CNET report, it's all about the processor...

How to Help the People Who Make Jailbreaking Possible

On Friday, the first ever iPhone 4S-compatible jailbreaking utility, Absinthe, was released to the public. And although it bears the Chronic Dev Team's moniker, a lot of folks contributed to the app's development including pod2g, Saurik, MuscleNerd, and others.

Recent Cydia data shows that more than 1 million people jailbroke their A5 devices over the weekend, thanks to the work of the above-mentioned hackers. Can you imagine if they would have charged $1 to download and use their software? They'd all be rich!

How to Jailbreak the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 on Linux

Now that the Linux version of Absinthe has been released, all major platforms have access to the jailbreak tools needed to jailbreak their iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

We've already covered how to jailbreak on OS X and Windows in depth, but we didn't want to leave our Linux readers out in the cold.

Since there is no iTunes for Linux, things can be slightly more tricky, but it's still extremely easy to apply the Absinthe untethered jailbreak on Linux.