London - A San Francisco hacker says he cracked the new iPhone 5 less than eight hours after its release to the public.
Grant Paul, who develops software for Apple’s iOS operating system, posted photos on his Twitter page of a “jailbroken” iPhone 5.
Apple ships its iPhones and other mobile devices with restrictions that only allow Apple-approved software to be installed.
However, hackers have worked to jailbreak all previous versions of the operating system by exploiting security flaws.
Instructions for stable jailbreaks are posted online, which allow normal users to free their phones of Apple’s restrictions.
Tech news site The Next Web said Paul’s hack of the new phone was remarkably fast.
The iPhone 5 runs on Apple’s new iOS 6 operating system, which does not have the same security flaws as previous versions of the software.
Other hackers have also found cracks to jailbreak older devices running the new operating system.
The development doesn’t mean a hack is available for lay users – although it does mean one will likely be online much sooner.
Apple fans lined up around the world to have the first chance to buy the iPhone 5 at 8am on Friday.
At 3.49pm, Paul tweeted a photo of an iPhone 5 screenshot that included Cydia, the app used to download non-Apple approved software on jailbroken iPhones.
The implication of the photo was that Paul had been able to download Cydia to his iPhone 5 only because he was able to hack it.
He celebrated the remarkable achievement with an understated tweet: “Taller screens like Cydia too. :)”
As sceptics weighed in, Paul posted a screenshot of the Cydia home page and then a photo of his phone with Cydia on it. – Daily Mail