Heed the warnings from the iPhone Dev Team regarding jailbreaking

We’ve heard so many sad stories in the past about ones who accidentally lost their jailbreak, or thought they could go back to a previous firmware when they couldn’t.

As jailbreak aficionados that truly saddens us. Hence, whenever we can help get out a warning, we’re all about it.

The iPhone Dev Team, the folks responsible for tools like RedSn0w, PwnageTool and more, have sounded a loud warning about the iOS 5.1 firmware, and its implications on jailbreaking.

If you’re at all concerned with jailbreaking, we highly recommend you listen up…

In a blog post entitled “March Mayhem” the Dev Team outlines the specifics regarding each device and how they are impacted by the release of iOS 5.1.

In a nutshell, unless you absolutely need the features included on iOS 5.1, don’t update if you care about jailbreaking. Absolutely nothing good comes from updating your device if you care about jailbreaking.

While you can still jailbreak older devices like the iPhone 4, iPod touch, or original iPad with the latest version of RedSn0w, you will lose your untethered status by doing so (not including 3GS old bootrom).

If you update the iPhone 4S, it is flat out impossible to jailbreak, or downgrade to jailbreak the 5.0.1 firmware once Apple stops signing the older firmware. Stay away!

For iPad 2, while it’s still possible to downgrade to iOS 4.x if you have your 4.x blobs saved, (theoretically allowing you to jailbreak iOS 4.3.3 with JailbreakMe) you cannot and will not be able to go back to iOS 5.0, or iOS 5.0.1, even if you have your blobs saved for those firmwares.

For more information, we highly suggest you read the Dev Team’s entire blog post. Even if you’re an experienced jailbreaker, it’s worth looking over as a refresher.

What will you do? Will you stay were you are, or update to iOS 5.1?