Ever since late September and the release of the checkm8 BootROM exploit by axi0mX, the iOS jailbreak community had been anxiously waiting for a jailbreak to drop using the unpatchable exploit. Finally, the wait is over and the checkra1n jailbreak has officially been released after missing its ETA by less than 2 days!

What’s checkra1n? Which devices are compatible?

Checkra1n is a full jailbreak making use of the checkm8 BootROM exploit that currently supports iOS 12.3 to iOS 13.2.2 which is the latest stable version of iOS; iOS 13.3 Beta 1 is also supported.

The flood gates are open and the latest version of iOS is now officially jailbroken! (Image Source)

This jailbreak was developed by iOS hacking veterans such as Luca Todesco (@qwertyoruiopz), Sam Bingner (@sbingner), Siguza, Jamie Bishop (@nullpixel) and axi0mx among many others that gave a hand in certain portions of the jailbreak meaning that a very high level of stability is to be expected.

Today, checkra1n 0.9 beta (or RC1 in other places) has been released and it’s very important to note that it only works on macOS for now since it requires low-level control of the USB driver which is something that Windows needs a tailor-made kernel driver to support. However, work on a Windows port is currently ongoing and a Linux port might drop sooner so you needn’t go buy yourself a Mac if you can wait although Hackintosh (macOS on a PC) is still an option.

Currently, the following devices are supported by checkra1n:

• iPhone 6 to iPhone X (included)
  • There’s experimental support for the iPhone 5S although it might require more attempts to actually work – you can only use it through CLI for this device
• iPod Touch 6th and 7th generation
• iPad Pro 2nd generation (both 10.5 and 12.9″)
  • The iPad Pro 1st generation isn’t supported for now but support is coming soon
• iPad Mini 4
  • Experimental support is also available for the iPad Mini 2/3 via CLI
• iPad 6th generation and 7th generation
  • The iPad Air has experimental support while the iPad Air 2 and iPad 5th Generation have no support at all for now but it’s coming soon
• Obviously, all devices using an A12 SoC or newer are not supported!

How do I use it?

Unlike previous jailbreaks, you needn’t use Cydia Impactor to install an IPA and hack your device but instead, a desktop application is used. Before using it, make sure you have access to the following:

• A supported device running iOS 12.3 to 13.2.2
• A computer running macOS
  

  For now, checkra1n is a macOS-only tool but work is being done on adding Linux/Windows support!

  • The version of macOS required isn’t specified but the application seems to open on macOS 10.13.6 High Sierra and newer
  • Using a virtual machine isn’t an option since checkra1n requires low-level control of the USB driver
• Some time and a USB->Lightning cable at your disposal

To hack your device, follow these steps:

• Grab checkra1n from the link below
• Mount the DMG file and copy the application to your ‘Applications’ folder (no, you can’t run it directly from the DMG)
• Open the checkra1n application and follow the steps on-screen to put your device in DFU mode
• Your device will automatically be jailbroken once in DFU mode and will boot into jailbroken mode
• You’ll get an application on the homescreen named ‘checkra1n’ from which you can install Cydia (more package managers will come eventually)
• Congrats, your device is now jailbroken!
  • It’s important to note that if you reboot, you’ll boot into a non-jailbroken version of iOS from which you can’t use jailbreak functionality (tweaks/3rd party apps). To boot back into jailbroken mode, you need to boot the device from a computer but the jailbreak is said to be quite stable by developers such as Jamie Bishop so you needn’t rejailbreak often.

Conclusion

As usual, the general advice when a new jailbreak is released holds and it’s recommended to wait at least 2-3 days before installing it on a device you use frequently so that any major issues that could potentially arise are fixed. Early adopters on Reddit have already created a compatibility sheet which may be useful to consult before jumping ship to iOS 13 since there’s no going back due to SEP incompatibility with iOS 12!

Checkra1n Website (download link + FAQ): https://checkra.in/