iOS 8
Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the IOS 8 operating system during his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California June 2, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith Reuters

With Apple's iOS 8.1 update rollout beginning this week, jailbreak fans have become more hopeful that the next iPhone and iPad unlocker - release date of the iOS 8 jailbreak that is - will happen sooner than expected.

It could be that the iOS unlocking tool will be made public as early as October 2014 and the jailbreak community has Apple to thank for the accelerated iOS 8 jailbreak release. The tech giant thought it wise to move from iOS 8 to 8.1 real quick.

Recall that in iOS 7 case last year, the jump to 7.1 did not happen until after six months. The swift progression opens the door for either Team Evad3rs or Pangu to finalise their respective jailbreak works, perhaps in a matter of weeks.

And these developers are somehow assured that the jailbreak will remain in good working condition over the next few months as Apple is only expected to dispatch the next major iOS 8 update - iOS 8.2 - in the latter months of Q1 2015.

Granting 8.2 and 8.3 will arrive in quick succession with numerous reports suggesting that the iOS 8 update cycle will be wrapped up by April 2015, then hackers have around six months of leisure time with the assurance that the iOS 8 jailbreak will remain in good form until 8.3 is deployed.

The scenario could be - iOS 8 jailbreak is unleashed anytime soon then jailbreak fans will be advised to stay away from succeeding software updates by Apple until 8.3 has been completed and distributed then cracked by developers.

With that, the whole picture indeed points to an earlier treat, likely an advanced Christmas gift this October, for iPhone and iPad users who plan to liberate their devices from Apple's tight control.

Now the next big question is: Who gets to provide the iOS 8 jailbreak first?

To date, Team Evad3rs remain mum on its jailbreak plans and the last update from the group was a reminder from @MuscleNerd to keep the distance from iOS 8.1 update if looking forward to install Evasi0n8 once it is made available.

The dev also hinted that poking around iOS 8 is happening, which indicated that efforts are underway to find an opening to jailbreak the iOS 7 replacement.

Pangu from China, however, is more re-assuring. As soon as iOS 8 was out last month, the group advertised its claim that jailbreaking Apple's new mobile operating system is ongoing. The statement signaled three things - that iOS 8 can indeed be jailbroken and Pangu developers are hard at work to issue that tool.

Lastly, it seemed apparent that the Chinese hackers were able identify the crucial exploits from their works on the beta build of the OS, which explains the earlier and bold boast that work is set for completion very soon.

It is safe to assume then once the iOS 8 jailbreak release date become real, and it could happen this October 2014, Pangu's signature and not Team Evad3rs' is written all over the creation.