One full week has passed since Apple released iOS & iPadOS 13.7 to the general public, and like clockwork, the Cupertino-based tech company has pulled the plug on its signage of the older iOS & iPadOS 13.6.1 firmware for iPhones and iPads alike Tuesday evening.
The rather predictable move means that iPhone and iPad owners are now unable to downgrade the firmware they run on their handset of choice after upgrading to the newer iOS or iPadOS 13.7 release.
Apple stopped signing iOS & iPadOS 13.6 Wednesday evening, a predictable move on the Cupertino-based company’s part that is known to prevent users of these particular devices from downgrading from the newer iOS & iPadOS 13.6.1 firmware that was released to the general public one week ago to address a ‘green tint’ issue exhibited by some OLED displays, among other things.
We say predictable because Apple follows this trend like clockwork every time the company releases a new version of iOS & iPadOS, but we digress…
Apple stopped signing iOS & iPadOS 13.5.1 Wednesday evening, a move on the company’s part that effectively prevents iPhone and iPad users from downgrading from the newer 13.6 release that was released to the general public exactly one week ago from today.
The company is notorious for preventing firmware downgrades because it doesn’t want users downgrading to versions that are vulnerable to exploits – whether those exploits are being used maliciously or for the sake of jailbreaking. Compelling users to upgrade to newer firmware when restoring also buffs Apple’s new firmware adoption statistics that the company frequently enjoys flaunting at Keynote presentations.
Apple unsigned iOS & iPadOS 13.5 on Monday in a move intended to prevent downgrades to a publicly available jailbreakable firmware version. Hacker and unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd quickly responded to the act this week by releasing unc0ver v5.2.0 with support for iOS & iPadOS 13.5.5 beta 1, providing jailbreak hopefuls with a second chance to upgrade to jailbreakable firmware.
But as it would seem, this was a short-lived hoorah. Apple appears to have stopped signing iOS & iPadOS 13.5.5 beta 1 as of last night, effectively and once again preventing iPhone and iPad users from installing a jailbreakable firmware for the second time in the same week.
Apple this evening stopped signing iOS & iPadOS 13.5, a move on the Cupertino-based company’s behalf that essentially prevents iPhone and iPad users from installing this particular version of its firmware whether downgrading from a newer version of the mobile operating system or upgrading from an earlier version.
The move comes approximately one week after Apple released iOS & iPadOS 13.5.1 to the general public specifically with the intention of patching the 0-day kernel vulnerability that Pwn20wnd implemented into the unc0ver jailbreak to add support for iOS & iPadOS 13.5, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system at the time.
Apple on Monday released iOS and iPadOS 13.5.1 to the general public for the sole purpose of patching the new exploit in the unc0ver v5.0.0+ jailbreak tool, and as you might come to expect, Apple will soon unsign the jailbreakable iOS 13.5 firmware.
It usually takes the Cupertino-based company a week or two after a new firmware release before it stops signing an older version of iOS or iPadOS, but in recent memory, just one week has been a lot more common. By doing this, Apple can leave its user base with no option of downgrading or upgrading back to iOS or iPadOS 13.5, effectively preventing users from jailbreaking.
Apple is no longer signing iOS or iPadOS 13.4.1 as of this evening, a move that prevents iPhone and iPad users from downgrading from the iOS and iPadOS 13.5 software updates that the Cupertino-based tech giant released to the general public just last week.
Downgrading iOS device firmware isn’t a common necessity, but it can be necessary if or when Apple releases a software update that introduces bugs or instability to its devices. This isn’t a particularly common thing to happen, but it did transpire last October when iOS 13.2 was found to be ‘too aggressive’ with backgrounding restrictions, compelling many users to downgrade until a software update could be released to fix the issue.
Apple on Wednesday stopped signing iOS and iPadOS 13.4, a move on the Cupertino-based company’s part that prevents its users from intentionally downgrading their handset’s firmware version to anything besides the latest release.
Notably, iOS and iPadOS 13.4.1 were only just released last week. Apple typically waits two weeks before closing signing windows for its firmware, but has demonstrated a more aggressive approach to this behavior more recently.
Apple officially stopped signing iOS and iPadOS 13.3.1 Tuesday evening, just one week after releasing iOS and iPadOS 13.4 to the general public as an over-the-air software update.
The closing of the signing window means those who’ve upgraded to the newer 13.4 firmware will be unable to downgrade to 13.3.1. This isn’t a big deal for most iPhone or iPad users, but it’s something that can be particularly unsettling for the jailbreak community as software updates frequently patch jailbreak-centric software exploits.
Apple must’ve caught wind about Pwn20wnd’s fast-paced progress on updated the unc0ver jailbreak for iOS 13.0-13.3. Not even a few hours after internal beta testers hyped the project on Twitter with the #unc0ver hashtag, Apple officially closed the signing window for iOS 13.3 to prevent downgrades from iOS 13.3.1.
Apple’s swift blow to iOS downgrading on Wednesday was somewhat out of character for the company because it transpired much earlier in the day than usual. While Apple regularly unsigns older firmware, the abruptness of iOS 13.3’s unsigning after Pwn20wnd’s slurry of announcements regarding unc0ver suggests that Apple intended to contain the jailbreak situation before it could reach the masses.
The news that hacker and iOS security researcher Brandon Azad would be releasing a tfp0 exploit POC for the iPhone 11 on iOS 13.3 took the jailbreak community by storm, and it didn’t take long before unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd responded with plans to update unc0ver when it gets released.
Many questions have been circulating about whether this exploit would work on older devices or whether it would support older versions of iOS. Fortunately, Pwn20wnd has taken to Twitter to answer many of these questions and to prepare the jailbreak community for great things to come.
Apple stopped signing iOS 13.2.3 Thursday evening, barely over a week after releasing iOS 13.3 to the general public. It’s an expectable move on the company’s behalf that prevents iPhone and iPad users from restoring to that particular firmware version, or from downgrading from the newer iOS 13.3 release.
Apple’s official reasoning for doing this is to facilitate software upgrades to ensure that users take advantage of the latest features, bug fixes, and security patches. Behind that marketing façade, it’s also evident that Apple prevents software downgrades in an effort to keep the jailbreak community at bay, as most jailbreak tools only operate on older versions of iOS, and Apple quickly patches these jailbreaks in its software updates.