Apple Accidentally Allowed Downgrades All the Way Back to iOS 6 Early Today

[MacRumors]

Apple has quickly corrected a mistake that allowed iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users to downgrade to older software versions on early Thursday.

The situation began on late Wednesday when Apple suddenly stopped signing all iOS versions for select devices, including the iPhone 4s and some very old iPad and iPod touch models, according to the website IPSW.me.

Next, it appears that when Apple went to flip the switch back on, it accidentally began signing several older software versions between iOS 6 and iOS 11.1.2 for any compatible iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models.

Not entirely sure why the signing window has opened for iOS 6-10 on various iOS devices, but not gonna complain. Have some iOS 6 pic.twitter.com/Ixfpn8waU6 - Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) January 11, 2018

Apple routinely stops signing older iOS versions, which effectively closes the window on downgrading. The company stopped signing iOS 11.1.2 in December, for example, while many older versions haven't been signed in years. Yet, suddenly, users found themselves able to downgrade to over five year old software.

They opened up iOS 6.1.3 shsh signing 😝 pic.twitter.com/FV2watYKxi - Khaos Tian (@KhaosT) January 11, 2018

Many users turned to Reddit to discuss the bizarre turn of events, which transpired briefly during the early morning hours in the United States.

I literally ran into my parents room to grab my dad's poor old iPhone 5s and iPad mini 2, both of which were suffering on iOS 11. Now I managed to downgrade them to iOS 7.1.1. I then downgraded my old iPhone 5 to iOS 7.1.1 as well and now my iPhone 7 to iOS 10.3 to jailbreak. I'm so happy right now!

While some users rushed to downgrade for the nostalgic factor, the mishap provided others with an iPhone 6 or newer a brief opportunity to revert to iOS versions that aren't affected by Apple's power management changes introduced in iOS 10.2.1 and/or iOS versions that have a publicly released jailbreak.

Apple has yet to comment on the matter.

Article Link: Apple Accidentally Allowed Downgrades All the Way Back to iOS 6 Early Today

 

[Strelok]

The only problem is that some of these wouldn't allow activation I think. My iPhone 5 is currently on iOS 8.4.1 but it won't activate.

 

[scrapesleon]

confusion in the Apple camp n.b they Deliberately turn it on

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[JackieInCo]

The only device that I still have that Apple accidentally allowed downgrades early this morning for was my 5S. I could have downgraded from iOS 8 and below, but why? It's getting hard to find apps for those early OS versions and I sure wouldn't downgrade my 5S just to jailbreak. I still have a 6+, 6S+ and an iPad Mini 2 jailbroken so there's no point to downgrade my 5S.

I went to bed at about 5AM and those firmwares were still being signed. They didn't start signing older versions for my 6S+ and 7+ or 6S. I didn't check the iPad versions.

My 5S is on 10.3.1.

 

[MyMacintosh]

Is there internal conflict good on at Apple? So much weird random stuff going on lately.

 

[whooleytoo]

Funny to see people rush to downgrade.

I was on 8, and upgraded to 11 recently. The only reason I upgraded: lots of apps no longer supported 8, and Apple wouldn't allow me to upgrade to 9, so it was stay on 8 with broken apps or upgrade to 11.

It wasn't as painful as previous upgrades, but the performance is still noticeably worse than on 8. It's a pity we have to take a performance hit just to keep our apps running.

 

[xflashx]

Wish I knew this earlier...

 

[Mjmar]

Wish I would've known. iOS 6 on iPhone 5 <3

 

[btrach144]

Apple: "90% of users are on iOS 11 and loving it!"
Users: "Not really, it's full of bugs and hidden piss poor power management."
*signs all versions of iOS back to iOS 6*
Users: "Quick, revert our phones!!!"

 

[iOSUser7]

The only problem is that some of these wouldn't allow activation I think. My iPhone 5 is currently on iOS 8.4.1 but it won't activate.

Any device that have been upgraded or activated on iOS 10 can’t activate on any other previous iOS version (i.e. iOS 6,7,8,9). This doesn’t apply for people that go from iOS 11 to iOS 10 (although it’s too late to do that now).

Anyway, to be able to activate your device on 8.4.1 (even if you have been on iOS 10) you must change your MAC Address to a different one (a valid one, don’t imput some random numbers), check the r/jailbreak subreddit there are a lot of tutorials on how to do that. It’s not too late for you because iOS 10.3.3 is already jailbroken and your iPhone 5 can’t go past that version. And before you ask, yes I did this on my personal iPhone 5 and went from 10.3.3 to 8.4.1 perfectly fine.

 

[44267547]

I could never downgrade back to iOS 6. Granted no version of iOS is perfect, iOS has come a long way since iOS 6. I would gladly use iOS 11 today and be grateful for all the improvements over time.

 

[esmith512]

It's nice to see the iOS UI attractive again! Apple has attractive phones right up to the moment the screen lights up. Its like a pretty girl with bad teeth.

 

[Strelok]

I could never downgrade back to iOS 6. Granted no version of iOS is perfect, iOS has come a long way since iOS 6. I would gladly use iOS 11 today and be grateful for all the improvements over time.

Try using an iPad 2 on iOS 9. Crashes and lag. If you just browse the web and watch movies it’s fine. Now my daily? Heck no, I would never run iOS 6 on it or older iOS versions. But on a secondary device that maybe doesn’t need to perform all the functions of my daily, heck yes.

 

[vicviper789]

I can't wait to see those iOS install percentage charts they use now

 

[iOSUser7]

I could never downgrade back to iOS 6. Granted no version of iOS is perfect, iOS has come a long way since iOS 6. I would gladly use iOS 11 today and be grateful for all the improvements over time.

And boy you are right! I had an iPhone 5 on iOS 6 that I was using for backup 6 months ago and man it’s so painful to use, even for basic things like browsing the web. I can understand the nostalgia factor from many people here that wish they were still on iOS 6 but I can guarantee you that nobody would use that outdated version as their daily driver for even more than a month today.

 

[Localcelebrity]

Man, if only I had known I would have downgraded few of my older devices to 9 or 10.

 

[nexu]

It still shows ios 6 available for 4s

 

[ignatius345]

Oh man, I would gladly have downgraded my iPod Touch to iOS 9 which it worked wonderfully on.

 

[bsbeamer]

was this an accidental gift to some forensic analysist to keep another investigation out of the news?

 

[Sovon Halder]

I needed this.

 

[Westside guy]

If I'd known about this when it was happening, I'd have dropped my iPad Mini 4 back down to iOS 10.

 

[_Refurbished_]

I would've loved having my iPad Air back on iOS 7. iOS 9.3.3 is a bit wonky. Wouldn't even dream about putting iOS 10 or 11 on it. That's iPad suicide.

Somewhere in Cupertino, a man or woman is being fired in an all glass room with no seams.

 

[itsmilo]

The EU should force them to make this mandatory tbh. Id love to go back to whatever was signed for on my old iPhone 6

 

[AdonisSMU]

If I didn't have iOS 11 myself, I would think its a terrible OS but I haven't had many issues with it at all except for some minor bugs with the Control Center.