Apple released iOS & iPadOS 18.3.2 last Tuesday to supplement a previously-released patch for a WebKit exploit that may have been actively exploited in the wild against specifically targeted individuals running firmware older than iOS & iPadOS 17.2.
In an extremely predictable fashion, however, Apple has followed its iOS & iPadOS 18.3.2 release by ending the signing window for the previous iOS & iPadOS 18.3.1 firmware, which effectively prevents iPhone and iPad owners from voluntarily downgrading their device’s installed firmware through iTunes on Windows PCs or Finder on macOS machines.
While downgrading firmware versions on iPhones and iPads isn’t a common practice, it really doesn’t help that Apple caps the practice by making it physically impossible once unsigned. Firmware downgrades were once used by jailbreakers to install vulnerable firmware on their devices, but it also serves as a way for those who experience bugs after updating a means to remedy the issue by re-installing a stable release. Examples 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
Despite the inability to downgrade to iOS or iPadOS 18.3.1 anymore, it’s still possible to upgrade to it from an older firmware using the DelayOTA method. Sadly, this method only involves upgrading, not downgrading.
Blocking firmware downgrades not only gives Apple a substantial upper hand against the jailbreak community, but it also lets the company over-inflate their new firmware adoption numbers since they’re effectively giving users no other option but up.
At iDownloadBlog, we think that iPhone and iPad owners should have the freedom to choose what firmware version they’re using on their device, whether that opens them up to security vulnerabilities or not. Some users are happy to trade that security for the ability to jailbreak, especially since jailbreak tweaks can be used to patch many of those vulnerabilities after the fact.
Since it seems unlikely that Apple will change course any time soon, iPhone and iPad owners will need to monitor what firmware version(s) are or aren’t being signed with the popular IPSW.me online utility if they want to know what’s available to them. Our dedicated Downloads page also provides direct download links for any firmware file you may need for your particular device.