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Apple Stops Signing iOS 16.3.1 to Prevent Downgrading

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Following the release of iOS 16.4.1 today, Apple has stopped signing iOS 16.3.1, preventing iPhone users from downgrading to that software version. iOS 16.4, iOS 16.4.1, and the iOS 16.5 beta remain signed at the time of writing.

iOS-16.3.1-Public-Beta-Feature.jpg

iOS 16.3.1 was released on February 13 and was a minor update with bug fixes, security improvements, and additional Crash Detection optimizations for iPhone 14 models. Apple routinely stops signing older iOS releases over time in order to prevent users from downgrading to an outdated software version.

iOS 16.4 will likely be unsigned later this month, so iPhone users who wish to downgrade to that version have limited time remaining to do so.



Article Link: Apple Stops Signing iOS 16.3.1 to Prevent Downgrading
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/04/07/apple-stops-signing-ios-16-3-1/
Weird, my Ipad Pro Gen 3 is on ioS 16.1 still.
It's set to automatically download (but not install) updates. It surely should have downloaded 16.4 at least by now. Oh well I'll update it manually this weekend. Just surprised to see a bug like this in 2023.
 
When I was younger with no money I didn't care about jailbreaks and hacks. Now that my family and I will suffer immensely if I get malware or Russian ransomware, I rather stick to the latest versions if possible. Imagine your keychain and email in the hands of "the bad people". So, if it's time to upgrade your iPhone or iPad, then so be it
 
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iOS 16.4 will likely be unsigned later this month, so iPhone users who wish to downgrade to that version have limited time remaining to do so.
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Why on earth would anyone who has already installed 16.4.1 want to downgrade to 16.4? The main point of 16.4.1 was to patch a jackalope exploit that was still not fixed in 16.4 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
 
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TheGenerous said:
When I was younger with no money I didn't care about jailbreaks and hacks. Now that my family and I will suffer immensely if I get malware or Russian ransomware, I rather stick to the latest versions if possible. Imagine your keychain and email in the hands of "the bad people". So, if it's time to upgrade your iPhone or iPad, then so be it
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I've been hearing about this possibility for years. However I have NEVER seen a single report of this happening. Millions of people use old, unupgraded, or non-upgradeable iOS and MacOS computers. When has it ever happened?
 
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Apple treats its customers like kids. It may not be wise to downgrade like it also may not be wise to drive a twenty year old car, which consumes a lot of gas. However adults should have the choice. You also have the choice to go back to your ex girlfriend, if the new one sucks and the old one still wants you.
 
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FeliApple said:
Apple’s most purposefully harmful (arguably a segment of planned obsolescence) policy ever. I reckon that it will never change, but I will never get tired of saying this.
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except its not planned obsolesence at all but rather the fact that old iOS versions have security vulnerabilities that are fixed in newer iOS versions - it has nothing to do with planned obsolesence, and i highly disagree of it being harmful in any way - if anything its not harmful because it stops people from making their phones vulnerable again.
 
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Paddle1 said:
The updates that nerfed the noise cancelling on the AirPods I'd argue were worse. You don't have a choice on whether to install.
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I mean, you technically can in the sense that you can block all updates, AirPods included. But I get your point.
Aston441 said:
I've been hearing about this possibility for years. However I have NEVER seen a single report of this happening. Millions of people use old, unupgraded, or non-upgradeable iOS and MacOS computers. When has it ever happened?
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I'm only half joking, but I'd like to submit my case study as someone who used iOS 6 in the wild for 10 years and still uses OS X 10.9 everyday.
 
Avenged110 said:
I mean, you technically can in the sense that you can block all updates, AirPods included. But I get your point.

I'm only half joking, but I'd like to submit my case study as someone who used iOS 6 in the wild for 10 years and still uses OS X 10.9 everyday.
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i'd love to know a) why you disagree with what i said (since there's nothing in my forum post thats false, what i said is genuinely factual) and b) why you use 10-11 year old operating system versions despite them having been long out of support and having rapidly shrinking support for applications...
 
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Aston441 said:
I've been hearing about this possibility for years. However I have NEVER seen a single report of this happening. Millions of people use old, unupgraded, or non-upgradeable iOS and MacOS computers. When has it ever happened?
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I don’t know how many people here were around at the turn of this century, but after 9/11, there were a lot of conversations nationally about how willing people are to go along with the very worst ideas when you just convince them they’re in the interest of “security”, and it doesn’t take much to convince them of that at all.

However, if I were a Ukrainian family right now, I‘m sure I wouldn’t take any chances either.

I’m typing this on an iPad with iOS14. I could have chosen the iPhone 6 With iOS12, which Apple has decided is apparently fine to continue using as-is forever.
 
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evelynmarie3 said:
i'd love to know a) why you disagree with what i said (since there's nothing in my forum post thats false, what i said is genuinely factual) and b) why you use 10-11 year old operating system versions despite them having been long out of support and having rapidly shrinking support for applications...
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(a) I disagree with the sentiment defending Apple deciding which version of software I can use on my device.
(b) Because I strongly prefer the way they look and work. They both largely do/did what I needed of them the way I wanted them to and whatever newer versions might have brought wasn’t worth the drawbacks. Applications I use continue to work just as they always have, no updates needed, and I can still run the current version of Chromium anyway.
 
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Avenged110 said:
(a) I disagree with the sentiment defending Apple deciding which version of software I can use on my device.
(b) Because I strongly prefer the way they look and work. They both largely do/did what I needed of them the way I wanted them to and whatever newer versions might have brought wasn’t worth the drawbacks. Applications I use continue to work just as they always have, no updates needed, and I can still run the current version of Chromium anyway.
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it is absolutely your device, but it isn’t your software. it is apple’s; they own the intellectual property and source code to iOS - therefore they have the ability to say whether or not they will continue signing a specific iOS version or not. you may not agree with it, which is entirely fine, but it is within their rights and abilities to stop signing older versions of iOS if they so choose.

regarding macOS mavericks, absolutely - that is a solid macOS version. however i honestly can’t really agree with your implication that ios 6 was good - for the time it absolutely was. but ios has matured a lot since then, and is a much better mobile operating system now than it was back then.
 
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Skyscraperfan said:
Apple treats its customers like kids. It may not be wise to downgrade like it also may not be wise to drive a twenty year old car, which consumes a lot of gas. However adults should have the choice. You also have the choice to go back to your ex girlfriend, if the new one sucks and the old one still wants you.
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Depends, how many bugs does she have? 😉
 
Skyscraperfan said:
Apple treats its customers like kids. It may not be wise to downgrade like it also may not be wise to drive a twenty year old car, which consumes a lot of gas. However adults should have the choice. You also have the choice to go back to your ex girlfriend, if the new one sucks and the old one still wants you.
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But you are not willing to accept the consequences of your choices are you. if you choose to downgrade and are compromised by one of the active exploits the first thing you’ll do is scream and rage at Apple, demand they make you whole, hire a lawyer. You’ll go after your bank, your credit card holders, the credit bureaus. You’ll play the victim and want to the world to feel bad for you.

It’s one thing to a have choices, another thing altogether to take responsibility for those choices, and admit yeah, i screwed myself with that choice.
 
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