Jailbreak Developer Palera1n Demonstrates Tweaking and Kernel Read/Write on iPhone 8 Running iOS 16.1.1

The palera1n jailbreak, although intended more for developers than the general public, remains one of the few public jailbreaks that support iOS and iPadOS 15.x. But as more users turn to newer iOS and iPadOS 16 for new features, it seems appropriate to mention that Palera1n co-developer @itsnebulalol teased the successful introduction of tweaks and the ability to read and write kernel memory on a physical iOS 16 device.

The announcement posted via a post on /r/jailbreak shows us that the pwned phone was an iPhone 8 running iOS 16.1.1. This device is powered by the same A11 chip as the iPhone X and made possible by the unrecoverable checkm8 bootrom hardware exploit, the same exploit that the checkra1n jailbreak provides.

It’s worth noting that iOS and iPadOS 16.1.1 are still under signing by Apple at the time of this writing.

Because the @itsnebulalol hack uses the checkm8 bootloader exploit, it will not work on devices newer than the iPhone X. A7-A11 phones were affected by the checkm8 bootloader exploit when initially discovered; however, Apple software restrictions prevent iOS and iPadOS 16 from being installed on A7 and A8 devices, so this means the latest hack only supports A9-A11 devices running iOS or iPadOS 16.

The post also includes screenshots of the Cydia and Sileo homepages, which show that the phone in question is indeed an iPhone 10.1 running iOS 16.1.1. These screenshots confirm the terminal window, which directly showed that the device in question was an iPhone 8:

While these phones are definitely close to obsolete status, it’s worth noting that many jailbreakers are still using the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or iPhone X as these devices can be jailbroken effectively for life thanks to checkm8. However, it’s worth noting that iOS 16 doesn’t run as smoothly on these devices as it does on newer phones like the iPhone 12 and later due to hardware limitations.

However, this won’t stop avid jailbreakers from going ahead and jumping on board when the green light is given, as many users, developers or not, are already enjoying the benefits of the palera1n jailbreak, despite being designed for developers. This is because other jailbreak development teams have not yet been able to release a working iOS or iPadOS 15 jailbreak to the general public.

It remains to be seen if @itsnebulalol plans to release his work, or if it will be provided as an update to palera1n or as a completely different jailbreak tool. Obviously no ETA has been provided and only time will tell. iDB will continue to monitor the progress of this latest development and keep its readers informed.

Would you jailbreak iOS or iPadOS 16 if they saw the light of day? Let us know in the comments section below.