If you are currently running the beta build of iOS 5 on any of your iDevices, you might want to read this. That goes double for folks using the firmware that don’t have an Apple developer’s account.
Known jailbreak developer iH8sn0w warned the Twitter nation yesterday that the iOS 5 Beta 1 has an expiration date. Once expired, the firmware will lock you out of your device until it’s downgraded or iOS 5 officially launches…
The iOS 5 beta version released last last week will be deactivated on August 4th. The process can’t be stopped because it happens at boot level, and there’s currently no boot-level exploit for iOS 5.
What does that mean for users who have installed the beta firmware on one of their devices? Not much if you were smart and saved your SHSH blobs from your previous firmware. Folks that did can downgrade at anytime.
Registered Apple developers also don’t have much to worry about. It’s extremely likely that the next beta will have been out for weeks by the time the first beta shuts down. You’ll be able to upgrade to the new firmware as usual.
This will likely also be the saving grace for users who didn’t save their blobs. As with the first beta release, there is a good chance that the new software will be made available somewhere on the web.
The bottom line is, when iOS 5 Beta 2 is released, make sure you either update or downgrade back to 4.3.3. Any device left running the original beta after August 4th will likely lock down until a newer firmware is available.
Any questions?