iOS 10 jailbreak not ready for prime time

Cydia iOS 10

For many weeks, the Yalu jailbreak for iOS 10.2 has been available in beta. This might be good news for the jailbreak community, however as of this writing the iPhone 7 is not included on the list of supported devices. Furthermore, with iOS 10.2.1 already installed on many devices and the upcoming release of iOS 10.3, Yalu's capabilities may be further limited. As is the case with any beta software, those looking to take advantage of the Yalu jailbreak should be aware of some caveats before taking the plunge.

Firmware limitations

When using the Yalu102 jailbreak beta 7 only firmware versions iOS 10.0 through iOS 10.2 are supported. Yalu will not work for those with an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch device that has already been updated to iOS 10.2.1 or 10.3.

While the developers of Yalu plan to add iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus jailbreak capabilities in the near future, they anticipate that only iOS 10.0 through iOS 10.1.1 will be supported.

In short, the latest firmware that can now be jailbroken is iOS 10.2. The upcoming iPhone 7 jailbreak will only support up to version iOS 10.1.1.

Hardware limitations

All iOS 10 64-bit devices are supported, except the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. This means the following devices can be jailbroken with Yalu:

iPhone 5s
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
iPhone 6s
iPhone 6s Plus
iPhone SE

iPad Air
iPad Air 2
iPad mini 2
iPad mini 3
iPad mini 4
iPad Pro

iPod touch 6G

Other considerations

Developers Luca Todesco and Marco Grassi have warned that Yalu102 is a "work in progress" and its beta designation further emphasizes that you should not install it unless you know what you are doing. Simply put, jailbreaking iOS 10 with Yalu remains in its early stages. Users should be aware that Cydia Impactor must be used to install the Yalu app.

Once installed the jailbreak is semi-tethered. Each time the iOS device is rebooted the Yalu app must be launched to re-jailbreak the device.

Last but not least, if you do jailbreak your iOS 10 device do not install software or tweaks from Cydia that are untested. Launching untested or unsupported packages could cause your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to enter a bootloop or end up bricked.