• Apple unveiled its mobile operating system, iOS 10, during WWDC 2016.

Apple unveiled its mobile operating system, iOS 10, during WWDC 2016. (Photo : YouTube/EverythingApplePro)

Over the weekend, Apple deployed two fresh OS updates - iOS 10.0.3 is mainly for the iPhone 7 and designed to fix cellular connectivity issues while iOS 10.1 was bumped up to Beta build number 4. The latter is the more notable development as it signaled the nearing finalization of iOS version 10.1, which could soon be followed by an iOS 10 jailbreak release.

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BGR reported that Beta 4 of iOS 10.1 is available over the air for iPhone users with developers account. For the most part, the OS upgrade is packed with patches and bug fixes, meaning that the dominant code in the latest build is for improved stability.

But as patches are included in the latest iOS deployment, the release is likely to trigger speculations that Apple will soon finalize version 10.1 of its latest mobile operating system. As BGR has noted on its report, the public Beta on the latest build will soon come out and there is chance that it will be the penultimate release leading to final cut of iOS 10.1.

For jailbreak fans, such event is likely the cue that Chinese hacking team Pangu is waiting for. Per the recent report by iJailbreak.com, Team Pangu merely waits for Apple's next move or the next big update for the latest iOS version and it will do its part - that is providing to the public a fully working and untethered jailbreaking tool.

The same report argued that Pangu has largely completed it jailbreak work but will not wrap up until the public release of iOS 10.1. The reason for the hold out is to make sure that exploits currently found on the OS will remain present in 10.1. The devs would not want to base the upcoming jailbreak on any of the versions 10.0.1 and 10.0.2 (or even 10.0.3) as doing so would mean that patches included in iOS 10.1 will only quash the new jailbreak in so short a time.

So the ongoing waiting game is for the benefit of the jailbreak community. Pangu is taking its sweet time to ensure that its next jailbreak release will last at least until the next big OS upgrade from Apple. That will be for iOS 10.2, which likely will touchdown in early 2017.

It is likely that Apple's iOS 10.1 Beta 4 will lead to the final cut of the OS and in turn Pangu should wrap everything then send out an early Christmas gift to millions of jailbreak fans out there - in the form of an iOS 10 jailbreak release happening real soon.