Apple on Tuesday stopped signing iOS & iPadOS 17.5, just over a week after releasing iOS & iPadOS 17.5.1 to fix a frustrating bug where iPhone or iPad users may sometimes find deleted photographs surfacing in their Photos app.
By unsigning the older firmware, the Cupertino-based company has made it impossible for ordinary Finder or iTunes-based methods, which generally involve using the Option + Click technique on the Mac or the Shift + Click technique on Windows PCs to manually select iOS or iPadOS 17.5 to downgrade to from the newer iOS or iPadOS 17.5.1.
Apple regularly unsigns older firmware to prevent firmware downgrades, as it wants its users running the latest available iPhone or iPad firmware at any given time. In fact, when setting up a new device out of the box, Apple pushes the ability to allow automatic software updates particularly hard.
Apple’s primary reason to prevent firmware downgrades is to prevent jailbreakers from having any chance of installing a firmware with security flaws that could be exploited by jailbreak makers, but they often point the finger toward other ambiguous reasons, such as “using the latest features” or “ensuring the best user experience.”
It’s worth noting that there isn’t a public jailbreak for any version of iOS 17 at this time, but should that ever change, it will be particularly difficult for someone on a newer firmware to downgrade to an older one.
We should also add that while downgrades from iOS or iPadOS 17.5.1 to iOS or iPadOS 17.5 are no longer possible, DelayOTA upgrades still are. This will remain the case for several more weeks before no longer being viable, which is really a moot point given the lack of jailbreaks.
Jailbreaks, however, aren’t the only reason why someone might want to install an older firmware on their iPhone or iPad. For example, sometimes software updates introduce bugs that can disrupt the user experience, and a firmware downgrade is often the only remedy for these situations until Apple can provide an official fix. Examples include:
- 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
Often, I find myself struggling with the fact that Apple exercises such control over its users by preventing them from installing any firmware they want on their iPhone or iPad, especially since Mac users have this ability. However, it seems like it would take a government entity slapping Apple for this kind of control as opposed to its user base expressing concerns, as they have yet to listen to their users after so many years thus far.
In any case, you can find out what version of iOS or iPadOS is being signed for your iPhone or iPad by using the handy online IPSW.me utility. You can also use our Downloads page to acquire any firmware files you might need for your iPhone or iPad on demand.
Are you upset to see that iOS & iPadOS 17.5 are no longer being signed by Apple? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.