Firmware

Apple no longer signing iOS 12.3-12.3.2, hindering downgrades from iOS 12.4

Anthony Bouchard ∙ July 31, 2019

Apple is no longer signing iOS 12.3, 12.3.1, or 12.3.2 for its mobile device lineup as of Wednesday evening, a move that prevents users from restoring to any firmware version older than iOS 12.4, which was released to the general public just last Monday.

It’s not uncommon for Apple to stop signing older versions of iOS, especially a week or two after releasing a new update, but it’s particularly noteworthy that Apple stopped signing at least three iterations of iOS in one fell swoop this week, which doesn’t happen too often.

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A tfp0 exploit has been achieved on iOS 12.2

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 28, 2019
Matrix code hacked iPhone.

The latest jailbreakable version of iOS at the time of this writing is iOS 12.1.2, but that could change in the very future.

iOS hobbyist @NedWilliamson Tweeted a teaser Friday afternoon of what appears to be a successful tfp0 exploit for iOS 12.2 on an iPhone 6s Plus, a feat that was purportedly made possible after working closely with long-respected security researcher Brandon Azad:

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iPhone hobbyist claims to have ported iOS 13 beta 1 to the iPhone 6 [updated]

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 16, 2019

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard about Apple’s upcoming iOS 13 for iPhone and iPod touch (iPad gets its own new operating system dubbed iPadOS), which implements native dark mode and a plethora of other jaw-dropping features that users have been requesting from Apple for quite some time. On the other hand, the oldest handsets it supports out of the box are the iPhone SE, 6s, and 6s Plus.

In a seemingly unbelievable turn of events, however, an Apple device tinkerer with the Twitter handle @NighttigerFTW has purportedly managed to get the first iOS 13 beta running on an iPhone 6 with minimal tweaking. The full details below:

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Apple stops signing iOS 12.2, preventing firmware downgrades from iOS 12.3

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 23, 2019

In a routine move by Apple on Thursday, the Cupertino-based tech company stopped signing the iOS 12.2 firmware for its mobile lineup of devices, a move that hinders the iTunes-centric downgrade process to any firmware older than the recently-released iOS 12.3 update.

Apple first released iOS 12.2 nearly two months ago, and iOS 12.3 has been publicly available for a little longer than a week at the time of this writing. Given the circumstances, Apple’s decision to discontinue downgrades to iOS 12.2 isn’t particularly surprising.

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Succession: An upcoming Cydia Eraser alternative for iOS 10.0+

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 7, 2019

Veteran jailbreakers are likely familiar with a handy utility called Cydia Eraser, which Saurik released several years ago to help jailbreakers ‘un-jailbreak’ their pwned handsets without restoring and updating their firmware via iTunes. Saurik’s busy life has prevented him from updating Cydia Eraser for modern versions of iOS, but it now looks like there could be a light at the end of the tunnel.

iOS developer Sam Gardner, perhaps better known to the community as Samg_is_a_ninja, took to /r/jailbreak this weekend to tease a spectacular project that he has been working on for nearly a year and a half, and he calls it Succession.

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Apple stops signing iOS 12.1.4, thwarting downgrades from recently-released iOS 12.2

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 4, 2019

Apple on Thursday stopped signing iOS 12.1.4 for its mobile devices, a move on the Cupertino-based company’s part that prevents users from using iTunes to downgrade their firmware to any version below iOS 12.2.

Apple just released iOS 12.2 to the public last Monday, and so the decision to stop signing iOS 12.1.4 today is somewhat abrupt, even to Apple’s standards. The last time Apple stopped signing an older version of iOS, the window remained open for several weeks before Apple flipped their magical anti-downgrade switch.

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watchOS 5.2 brings ECG app to more regions, adds support for AirPods 2

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 27, 2019

Apple on Wednesday released watchOS 5.2 to the public as expected, an update for the Apple Watch that adds support for Apple’s brand-new second-generation AirPods, among other things.

The update also brings the ECG app and irregular rhythm notification to Hong Kong and 19 European countries. It also offers support for the AirPods 2nd generation and real-time text (RTT) for phone calls.

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AirPods 2 will work on pre-iOS 12.2 firmware, albeit with ‘limited’ functionality

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 26, 2019

When Apple’s second-generation AirPods became available to order from the Cupertino company’s website, asterisks discovered at the bottom of the web page denoted that the Bluetooth headphones would necessitate macOS 14.10.4, iOS 12.2, and watchOS 5.2 to be used. But is that really the case? Perhaps not…

Citing a post shared on /r/jailbreak by Reddit user TomLube just this week, Apple’s second-generation AirPods will work just fine on pre-iOS 12.2 firmware, albeit with semi-handicapped functionality.

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Second-generation AirPods hint imminent release of macOS Mojave 10.14.4, iOS 12.2, & watchOS 5.2

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated March 26, 2019

In case you missed it, Apple released its highly-anticipated second-generation AirPods on Wednesday with some notable under-the-hood improvements including the brand-new H1 chip and a Qi wireless charging-compatible case.

But as you might come to expect from Apple, the release of new hardware often requires newer software with support built-in, and the Cupertino-based company’s second-generation AirPods are no exception to this general rule of thumb.

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Apple stops signing iOS 12.1.3, preventing downgrades from iOS 12.1.4

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 18, 2019

Apple appears to have stopped signing iOS 12.1.3 on Monday, a move on the Cupertino-based company’s part that prevents iOS device users from downgrading their device’s installed firmware from iOS 12.1.4 via iTunes.

This move doesn’t impact the jailbreak community very much because the latest jailbreakable firmware at the time of this writing is iOS 12.1.2, which Apple stopped signing more than a month ago. That said, the jailbreak community isn’t particularly rushing to downgrade to iOS 12.1.3 these days.

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Neptune for iPhone brings several newer features to unsupported handsets and firmware versions

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 18, 2019

Apple is renowned for introducing new features that are specific to certain devices or firmware versions, and if you’re jailbroken on an older device/firmware combination, then you might be inclined to feel a bit left out. For this very reason, iOS developer Duraid Abdul has just released a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed Neptune for iPhone.

Citing the points made by the developer in the tweak’s Cydia depiction, Neptune for iPhone brings each of the following features to the table for jailbreakers using iOS 12.0-12.1.2:

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