More than one million iOS devices have been jailbroken using the recently released Absinthe 2.0, the Chronic Dev Team has reported in a tweet.

Only two days after the untethered jailbreak tool was released, the group recorded 211,401 jailbroken iPad 3s and 973,086 jailbroken devices. That figure has certainly increased since then.

Absinthe 2.0 can be used to jailbreak most Apple devices running iOS 5.1.1, including the iPhone 4S and the iPad 3. The iPad 2 with 32nm A5 chip continues to be incompatible with the jailbreak, even after the release of the Absinthe 2.2.2 update. However, the Chronic Dev Team has said it plans to release a fix for that device at some point.

The advantages of jailbreaking include access to third party app stores and greater customisation options that Apple does not yet offer. For users with locked phones, the main draw of jailbreaking would be the ability to unlock a device so that it can be used with any network operator.

Despite the potential benefits, though, jailbreaking an Apple device voids its manufacturer warranty. As well, unregulated third party app markets are prone to security issues like malware and scams that would otherwise be screened out of the official web store.