An iOS 6 jailbreak has been in the works since Apple released the iPhone 5 last fall, and it’s taken a long time for hackers to crack the enhanced security measures in Apple’s latest mobile operating system. After many months, the pieces have finally been put together. There is a full jailbreak for Apple’s latest iOS devices, and iOS 6.1 is the key to unlocking it.

While the jailbreak could be released for everyone now, trusted hackers behind past jailbreaks are waiting to see if Apple squashes any of their exploits in the final version of 6.1. If the bugs that form the jailbreak are still working, the iOS 6 jailbreak will be unleashed on the world after 6.1’s release.

“There will certainly be no jailbreak release from us until 6.1 is out.”

iOS 6.1 has been in the developer beta stages for months. The most recent fourth beta is set to expire on Monday, January 28th. When it does, Apple will either release yet another beta, or the final Gold Master (GM) version. All bets are on the GM.

The final GM version of an iOS release is the same version that is released for everyone. Apple gives developers a last-minute look to make sure their apps work with the final version.

It wouldn’t make sense to release the jailbreak now and waste valuable exploits, because Apple could have time to quickly patch the jailbreak in 6.1 before it ships. So hackers Cyril (pod2g), David Wang (planetbeing), Nikias Bassen (pimskeks), and MuscleNerd are waiting to test their jailbreak on 6.1 first. If it works, then the jailbreak is good to go for public release.

“There will certainly be no jailbreak release from us until 6.1 is out,” assured David Wang. A couple months ago Wang tweeted a picture of his jailbroken iPhone 5.

“A few times in the past they added heavy security features in the GM,” noted hacker extraordinaire Cyril, who recently released a DJ app in the App Store. At this point, nobody knows if Apple will beef up security or leave things the way they are. But the jailbreak will likely still work. “We already focused on 6.1 beta 4 and we expect it to work with 6.1 GM,” confirmed Nikias Bassen to Cult of Mac. There is a slim chance that Apple will make some security changes in 6.1. If that happens, it’s back to the drawing board.

All iOS devices that can run iOS 6.1, including the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S, will be supported in this upcoming jailbreak. The four men behind it have founded a new hacking group called “evad3rs” (presumably since they’re masters at evading Apple’s security measures), and they will release the iOS 6 jailbreak under that name.

When iOS 6.1 drops, a new jailbreak will be right behind it.