At last, jailbreak enthusiasts can proudly wave a middle finger at Apple’s “closed” system on iOS. Though it’s not available yet, an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5 is clearly on its way and there’s even a video for proof.
Hacker Pod2g filmed a video and uploaded it to YouTube showing it off in full effect on an iPod touch. The Settings panel in the video indicates that the jailbroken iPod touch is running iOS 5.0 — not 5.0.1, the most recent version — which may affect compatibility.
Redsn0w has had a jailbreak solution out for iOS 5 since mid-October, but it’s tethered. Tethered jailbreaks are tedious in comparison to untethered, because every time your iOS device has to reboot, it needs to be connected to the computer to boot from the jailbreak tool. Untethered jailbreaks require that initial process and then you are free to use your device without wires for as long as you wish.
Back in 2008, I used to jailbreak my iPhone 3G running iOS 2.0 since the OS was dreadfully bare-bones then. Apple’s iOS 3.0 officially removed my need for jailbreaking, though I am but one person with but one opinion on the matter and I know others disagree.
Pod2g’s video of the iOS 5 untethered jailbreak is embedded below in all its glory.