Apple on Tuesday officially stopped signing iOS & iPadOS 18.5, one week after releasing iOS & iPadOS 18.6 with bug fixes and security improvements for its mobile platforms.
The move by the Cupertino-based company means that iPhone and iPad owners may no longer voluntarily downgrade their firmware from the latest available version to the older iOS & iPadOS 18.5.
Before unsigning a particular firmware version, users can hold the shift key while pressing on the Restore button in iTunes for Windows or hold the Option key while pressing the Restore button in Finder for macOS to select the firmware file they wish to restore to, and Apple’s servers will accept the request.
Firmware downgrades were once a popular means for jailbreakers to download and install older firmware that was susceptible to jailbreaks, but when Apple got wise to these workarounds, they started aggressively unsigning firmware shortly after releasing new software.
Still, even non-jailbreakers take advantage of firmware downgrades. When a software upgrade introduces instability, a downgrade can offer temporary relief until Apple can address the bug at hand. That may explain why Apple still gives us at least one week of signing before closing the signing window in 2025.
Examples of such firmware update mishaps include:
- iPadOS 18.0 bricking M4 chip-equipped iPad Pros
- iOS 16.0 over-prompting users on clipboard access when pasting copied content into another app
- iOS 14.7 breaking the Apple Watch’s ability to be unlocked with the host iPhone’s Touch ID sensor
- iOS & iPadOS 13.2 imposing incredibly aggressive background management on backgrounded apps
It’s worth noting that while iPhone and iPad users can’t downgrade from iOS or iPadOS 18.6 to iOS or iPadOS 18.5, it is still possible for users to upgrade to iOS or iPadOS 18.5 if they’re running an earlier firmware, and that’s thanks to the DelayOTA method, which offers a 90-day grace period after Apple stops signing a particular version.
iDB has long taken the position that iPhone and iPad users should be able to install whatever firmware version they want on their device that they own, but Apple doesn’t seem to agree, and it may be up to government to force change at some point.
As always, you can see what version of iOS or iPadOS is being signed for your device via the IPSW.me website. You can also download any firmware version you might need from our Downloads page.
