Jailbreak, 6.1 release rumors swirl as unlocks become ‘illegal’ tomorrow

Although the decision was made by the Librarian of Congress in October to make unlocking cellphones illegal, tomorrow marks the end of a 90-day grace period when the new rule will officially go into effect. As noted by TechNewsDaily, the policy will not apply to devices purchased before tomorrow or change unlocking policies for carriers. However, the policy will make it illegal for end users to unlock new devices they purchase. It will still be possible to buy an unlocked iPhone direct from Apple, while Verizon iPhones come unlocked out of the box, and AT&T will continue unlocking devices off contract. Several users have taken to Twitter to voice their concerns about the new law.

UNLOCK YOUR iPHONE HERE NOW.

While iPhone hackers might have some issues with unlocking going forward, tomorrow could mark the release of iOS 6.1GM to developers. That could also mean a release of an iOS 6 jailbreak…

Odds of an iOS 6.1B update by tomorrow? Close to 100%

Current Beta expires Sunday night

— 9to5Mac (@9to5mac) January 24, 2013

Jeff Benjamin at iDB pointed us to tweets from a couple of developers within the community working on the jailbreak. While it’s clear the team is waiting for iOS 6.1 to know if a jailbreak will still be possible, team member @planetbeing noted, “Tons of progress the last few days. I think the future is looking bright for jailbreaking.” With the current iOS 6.1 beta set to expire Sunday night, it’s likely Apple will release iOS 6.1 by tomorrow. Pending any surprises in the final iOS 6.1 release, we could have a functional jailbreak in the near future.

@musicruz nobody knows… Apple can be surprising at times. We'll know as soon as 6.1 final is there.

— pod2g (@pod2g) January 24, 2013

Come on Apple. Release that 6.1 now! /cc @planetbeing @pimskeks @MuscleNerd

— pod2g (@pod2g) January 23, 2013