A Legacy Mac computer (macOS High Sierra to Mojave works best for USB driver stability). A standard 30-pin Apple sync cable.

If you have the hardware (Arduino) on hand, bypassing an iPad 2 is a fun weekend project that saves a device from the landfill. It’s a great way to learn about the history of iOS security and breathing new life into a classic 9.7-inch display.

But for one night, in a small repair shop, the iPad 2 was untethered from its past.

: You can start an official Activation Lock support request with Apple.

Since the A5 chip is resistant to software-only injections from a standard boot, you must use an . Flash the "Checkm8-A5" sketch to your Arduino. Connect your iPad 2 in DFU mode to the Arduino.

: By physically removing a specific resistor on the logic board, you effectively turn the device into a "WiFi-only" model.

The "untethered" aspect comes from a bootROM limitation on the A5 chip (the exploit was patched in the A6, but the A5 still has vulnerabilities). Using a combination of:

"935 is not a wall. It is a door with a broken handle. Replace the handle."

: Deleting Setup.app allows the iPad to boot directly to the home screen. This remains untethered unless the device is restored via iTunes. Software-Only Bypasses (Usually Tethered)

Users cannot afford to run a computer every time the battery dies. The nature transforms a brick into a usable device that behaves like a stock iPad for basic tasks.

Connect the iPad 2 to the USB Host Shield using the 30-pin cable.

Because Setup.app is renamed to .bak , iOS skips the activation process entirely on boot, rendering the bypass completely untethered. Limitations of a Bypassed iPad 2

The most reliable methods for an untethered bypass on this specific hardware involve the following: Hardware-Based Bypass (Arduino Method)

How to install on iOS 9.3.5 after the bypass Share public link

The post was from 2018. The file links were dead. But the theory was alive: the iPad 2 3G’s baseband had a vulnerability in its SecureROM—a buffer overflow triggered not by software, but by a specific voltage glitch on the NAND data line during boot . If you could time it right, the chip would skip the baseband check entirely.