iOS 6.1, iTunes Restore, Jailbreaking

Last week I restored my iPhone via iTunes to iOS 6.1. Push email in iOS 5 had stopped working and overall the phone seemed buggy. Aside from needing to manually transfer my apps back to the phone and re-running 'restore from backup', everything went well.

Earlier this week I got tired of waiting months for an untethered version of iOS 6 jailbreak so I rolled the dice and ran redsn0w tethered. Okay, the problem with a tethered jailbreak is that anytime your device reboots, you have to plug it into a computer and re-run redsn0w to get things back to normal. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way that the user experience of a tethered jailbreak isn't generally up to par with that of an untether. Just because the dev-team releases a tethered jailbreak for an OS version doesn't guarantee that developers have gotten around to updating their apps, tweaks and themes to be compatible with that OS version. That lack of compatibility damn near ensures that your device will be rebooting more often than normal - thereby requiring you to stay within close proximity of a redsn0w-running computer.

To add insult to injury, there seem to be some new bugs inherent in iOS 6.1. Whatever it was in iOS 5 that was responsible for my Push email not working seems to have been fixed but now iOS 6 appears to have a bug that affects screen brightness. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Another unfortunate error, I made the mistake of assuming this screen brightness issue was related to jailbreaking so, combined with the app/tweak/theme compatibility issues mentioned above, I decided to go back to stock iOS 6.1

Now this is gonna sound like rambling but it's worth mentioning, so hang in there. I've restored enough iOS devices and run enough jailbreaks to know that iTunes needs access to the internet during a restore operation. Even if you've already downloaded the new firmware file to the computer beforehand, iTunes still needs to contact Apple's servers to basically make sure there isn't a newer version of the firmware available. I won't go into detail as to why Apple requires this step but suffice it to say that it's not entirely for the benefit of the customer. And while I understand there's supposed to be a way to trick iTunes into doing a restore without internet access, I've never had any luck with it.

One thing that I was unaware of however, is that iTunes also needs internet access again near the end of a restore operation. It would be very useful to customers if Apple mentioned this beforehand, especially if they're gonna continue giving us the option to 'just download' the update. The 'just download' option implies that one has the option to install the update at a more convenient time, perhaps somewhere in which internet access is not available. But as I learned the hard way - even after taking steps to ensure that I at least had internet access at the start of the restore - that is not the case.

What began as a simple restore operation turned into a temporarily-bricked phone. The problem was resolved easily-enough once I regained internet access but seeing as how this is primarily a communication device, there should be fair warning of the requirements for success.

Surface Storage, 128GB iPad, iOS 6 Restore

MICROSOFT SURFACE STORAGE
One sticky issue that has recently come to light regarding the Microsoft Surface line of tablets is just how much of the devices' internal storage is consumed by the OS and pre-loaded apps. Pre-loaded content takes up 50% of the 32 GB RT model's storage while the 64 GB Surface Pro leaves less than 36% free. The silver lining in this cloud is that unlike most tablets, all models in the Surface line-up have both USB ports and microSD slots that can make use of external storage.

END OF THE MACBOOK AIR?
Cnet posits that the new 128 GB iPad offering will mean either the end of the 11" MacBook Air or a storage bump from 64 GB to 128 GB on the $999 base model Air.

What I think will happen:
Apple will double the storage on the Air, add a retina display to make OS X nearly usable (my personal opinion is that OS X is garbage on such a small screen), and raise the starting price to at least $1,200.

What I hope will happen:
Apple gives the 11" Air a retina display and replaces OS X with iOS.

Think about it for a second. Knowing that the first thing many of your tablet's buyers do is shell out another $100-$200 for third party cases, stands and bluetooth keyboards to make those tablets more laptop-like, it only makes sense to give them a version of iOS in the laptop form factor. Speaking from personal experience, trying to adapt an iPad to function somewhat like a laptop is similar to using a Leatherman or Gerber multi-tool: it works in a pinch but isn't ideal.

RESTORING TO iOS 6.1
iOS 6.1 was finally released the other day, and since my iPhone has been sluggish for months now (and hackers like MuscleNerd have promised an untethered jailbreak by Feb 3), I finally gave in and updated/restored my phone. Aside from the slow response of the brightness sensor and a perceived slight decrease in battery life, this new *crippled* version of iOS works as well as can be expected on a 2.5 year-old device.

I say *crippled* because technically, the iPhone 4 stopped receiving full OS updates in Oct 2011 when Apple chose to reserve Siri for iPhone 4S and newer devices. In my opinion, the iPhone 4 has never received a full OS update - at least none of any significance. The real 'fly in this ointment' is that Apple chose to screw iPhone 4 owners this way at about the same time it was publicly ragging on HTC, Motorola and Samsung for releasing brand new devices running older versions of Android and keeping customers waiting in limbo for an OS update. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

The update/restore to iOS 6.1 was interesting to say the least. iTunes automatically reinstalled all of my audio and video files but forced me to manually transfer all of my third party apps. One more final, desperate click of the 'restore from backup' button put most everything back the way it was, though the transfer of apps and data moved at a snail's pace.

I chose to take my chances on the 6.1 tethered jailbreak, following the instructions laid out at the RedmondPie blog. Unfortunately, they forgot to mention the critical step to re-select your 6.0 ipsw file before beginning the final 'just boot' step. Always watch a video tutorial of the process before relying on the written instructions. All told, this restore/jailbreak took four hours!