Apple on Wednesday pulled the plug on the iOS & iPadOS 18.4 signing window nearly one full week after launching iOS & iPadOS 18.4.1, a minor bug fix update for iPhones and iPads.
By taking this action, Apple device users can no longer fire up iTunes on Windows or Finder on macOS and forcibly downgrade their device’s firmware from the newer release. Instead, the software will urge the user to update and restore, which forces a fresh install of the newer iOS & iPadOS 18.4.1 firmware.
Firmware downgrades have long been used by jailbreakers to install older software that could be vulnerable to security holes that once made jailbreaking popular. Unfortunately, most recent iterations of iOS & iPadOS aren’t jailbreakable at the time of this writing, making this somewhat of a moot point.
Firmware downgrades have also been used by non-jailbreakers to revert to a stable software version when an update causes unexpected device behavior that affects daily use. Examples of such catastrophes remain rather uncommon for Apple, but aren’t completely out of the question, such as these:
- 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 it isn’t possible to downgrade to iOS or iPadOS 18.4 from iOS or iPadOS 18.4.1 anymore, it is still possible to upgrade if using the DelayOTA method, an updating method that forces the host device to allow upgrades to unsigned firmware up to 90 days after Apple stops signing it.
At iDB, we think these firmware unsigning games Apple plays harm the consumer, as end users should have the final say in what firmware they choose to use. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Apple will change its tune unless governments step in and stand up for the people at large, much as the European Union has been doing.
As always, you can see what firmware is or isn’t being signed for your iPhone or iPad by visiting the ever-handy IPSW.me website. You can also acquire any firmware file you need for your device from our Downloads page.