How to Jailbreak iOS 14 for iPhone or iPad

Trying to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad running iOS 14?

Apple’s new iOS 14 update has a lot of great features. We were introduced to the App Library, widget customizations, shortcuts, and more! For longtime Apple users, this kind of change is a major addition to their experience.

However, if you have a friend with a jailbroken device, you’ll realize how insignificant iOS 14’s new features are to them. Users who have jailbreaked their iPhones have been messing with widgets, dark mode, and so much more for years.

In this article, we’ll explain what jailbreaking does to your device and why you might want to do it. Furthermore, we’ll also provide safety precautions against scams and the steps to jailbreak your device through checkra1n.

Let’s get started!

 

What is Jailbreaking?

Apple has one of the best reputations for security in the tech industry. Your operating system and third-party applications are closely monitored by Apple’s secure software, ensuring that your device is safe.

However, at the cost of this, Apple’s software is completely limited to applications and design choices that only Apple can approve. Compared to Android and Microsoft users who can install any third-party application on their device, Apple users have limited options.

jailbreaking iphone

Jailbreaking your device is a solution to all these constraints. A jailbreak will uninstall Apple’s official version of iOS on your device and will replace it with an iOS version of your choice. Furthermore, you’ll be able to install older iOS versions on your iPhone or iPad.

Disclaimer: The iOS installed on your device will be completely unsupported by Apple, which means your device will not be applicable for warranties. Since your operating system is unsupported by Apple, neither Saint nor Apple will be held responsible if anything does happen to your device.

 

Why You Might Want To Jailbreak Your iPhone or iPad.

Now that you know what jailbreaking is, why would you want to risk the warranty or security of your device? To be honest, jailbreaking is a personal choice. Some users feel constrained by Apple’s lack of apps, non-customizable aesthetics, and so on.

These users are either from Android or are Apple users that have tried the Android experience. Android operating systems offer a ton of customizability and variety. However, at the cost of this, there is no central system of quality assurance. Android users can download and install any file on the internet, malware or not.

jailbreak ios 14 for iphone or ipad

This is how Apple has maintained such a good reputation for safety. All applications are passed through the App Store and are monitored to be safe. With that being said, this also limits the customizations and variety that these applications can offer.

Jailbreaking your iPhone can let you download a ton of otherwise prohibited apps. These can be old apps that are no longer supported or new ones like Youtube++ that allow you to play music in the background.

An entire ocean of customizability and variety open when you jailbreak your iPhone. This experience allowed jailbroken devices to have dark mode way back in 2008, years before it was finally added to the official iOS which only came in 2019 with the release of iOS 13.

 

What is Cydia?

Cydia to jailbroken iPhones is the store equivalent of Apple’s App Store. The program was first developed by Jay Freeman for iOS 1.1 back in 2008. Since then, the unofficial ‘App Store’ has been the go-to for users trying to download apps on a jailbroken device.

cydia logo

Other notable websites that offer the same service are iOS Ninja, Sileo, and AppValley. In good faith to the jailbreak community, Cydia even published a list of alternative websites you can download apps from on their webpage.

As of October 7, 2020, Cydia should be available for iOS 14. However, some iPhone models are still unsupported and cannot be jailbreaked.

 

Can I Jailbreak Any iPhone Model Running iOS 14?

Yes and no. In iOS 13, all iPhone models were supported for jailbreaking. However, iOS 14 is a recent update and your iPhone model may not be compatible for jailbreaking as of yet.

At the same time, Apple employed new security tactics against jailbreaking so we can’t estimate when your model will be ready for a jailbreak.

For us in the jailbreak community, programmers like Sam Bingner at checkra1n do this for free. These are unpaid individuals who dedicate their time to look for defects that can be exploited, and this meticulous process can take a lot of time.

jailbreak ios 14 for iphone or ipad

In this guide, we will be using checkra1n to jailbreak your device. However, they have expressed that new iPhone models are currently unsupported by the latest jailbreaking software.

As of now, only these iPhone models are available for jailbreaking with iOS 14:

  • iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and SE
  • iPad 5th generation
  • iPad Air 2
  • iPad mini 4
  • iPad Pro 1st generation
  • Apple TV 4 and 4K
  • iBridge T2

iphone model

According to their announcement, Apple’s system for newer models is tricky to overcome.

“In iOS 14, Apple added a new mitigation to SEPOS on A10 and above (except on Apple TVs and iBridge): if the device was booted from DFU mode and the Secure Enclave receives a request to decrypt user data, it will panic the device. Since checkm8 does not give us control over the Secure Enclave, this is not trivial to workaround. However, with the recently published blackbird vulnerability, we are able to get control of the Secure Enclave on A10 and A10X and disable this mitigation. Support for A10 and A10X devices is being worked on and is expected to be ready in the coming weeks.

We are not yet sure whether the same can be done for devices with the A11 chip with this vulnerability, but we will release another statement once we know more.”

Unfortunately, users with newer iPhone models will have to wait. You can refer to their official announcement here. Although you might find a lot of different software programs you can use to jailbreak your device, we at Saint have found checkra1n to be the leading company for iOS 14 technology.

If you’re into learning more about how jailbreaking is done, you can read checkra1n’s PDF slides on the methods for exploiting and jailbreaking iPhones.

 

Keeping Yourself Safe When Jailbreaking on iOS 14.

Jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad will leave you vulnerable to threats. However, these threats aren’t always from applications. There are a ton of faulty and fake jailbreaking companies out there that sell a “better way” to jailbreak your device.

These are extremely suspicious and bad for your iPhone or iPad if something goes wrong. Furthermore, giving them root access to your device is an incredibly large security concern. Before trying out any jailbreaking method, we recommend that you, like us, read what the jailbreaking community says first.

jailbreak ios 14 for iphone or ipad

Nothing is safer than an entire community that looks out for each other. You can browse through community posts on Reddit, which is the easiest way of getting into the culture. Beware of scams like Zeon or zjailbreak and always make sure to double-check your sources.

 

How to Jailbreak Your iPhone or iPad With Checkra1n.

It can be a daunting task to jailbreak your iPhone for the first time. However, don’t worry. The technical steps shouldn’t be too complicated.

Take note that before we proceed, you will need a Mac with checkra1n’s latest release installed. Although checkra1n does support Linux-based operating systems, this is not yet released as of writing this article. Regardless, you can quickly check on the link above to see if it’s available at your time of reading this.

Furthermore, checkra1n has no notable history of providing Windows support for their program. If you’re using a Windows operating system, you will have to use checkra1n on a virtual machine or through a USB with checkra1n and a macOS.

With that said, here’s how you can jailbreak your device with checkra1n, step-by-step:

  1. Open up your Mac and let’s get started. If you missed the brief above, go to checkra1n’s website and install their latest package. Once the download is complete, install it by opening the DMG and dragging the app to your Applications folder.
  2. Now, in your Applications folder, right-click on the checkra1n app and select Open. Do not open it by double-clicking. Once the security dialog pops up, go ahead and click on Open again.
  3. Next, connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac through a USB cable. If a prompt appears asking whether you trust the device or not, simply tap on Trust.

trust this computer

  1. If your device is currently compatible with the jailbreak process, you can proceed with the jailbreak by clicking on the Start button. However, incompatible devices will be rejected with a ‘Sorry’, and you will be unable to click on the Start button.
  2. Then, we’ll need to initiate the DFU mode of your iPhone. Do this by pressing on the power and volume button for more than 10 seconds. If an Apple logo appears, redo the whole process and start again.

jailbreak ios 14 for iphone or ipad

  1. After 10 seconds, release the power button but keep pressing on the volume down button for 5 more seconds before releasing. Once you’re done, your screen should remain black while in DFU mode.
  2. While in DFU mode, the checkra1n’s app will automatically detect this and start the jailbreaking process. Leave this to finish.
  3. Finally, open the checkra1n app on your device and install Cydia.

You should now be done with the jailbreak process! Congrats on being a rebel, you’ll love the freedom and control this gives to you over your iPhone.

Keep in mind that iOS 14 is still a new release. Similarly, jailbroken apps will have to adjust to the new operating system as well. If your new apps aren’t functioning as intended, give it a couple of weeks to finally be iOS 14 ready.

That wraps up this article! Hopefully, we’ve helped you jailbreak your iOS 14 iPhone or iPad. If you have any questions regarding the article, feel free to leave a comment down below.

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂

Author

  • Mako Young

    Mako is a staff writer at Saint. He's been writing about tech for more than a decade. When he isn't reading about the latest news on Apple, he's busy studying cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, cloud computing, and other IT-related sectors. His exceptional work graces technology and Apple-related blogs like How-To Geek, VEED.io, Macgasm, onMac, PhotoWorkout, GameRant, and many more. He also has a Bachelors in Computer Science and has been writing since 2018, with over 400 posts published. LinkedIn X (Twitter)

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