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AppleCare+ owners... get iOS6 back for $50?

T

terzinator

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 27, 2011
294
1
If I need to replace my 4S (applecare+), does anyone know if the replacements they're providing are shipping with iOS6 or iOS7?

Just realized that if they're shipping with iOS6, and if you were really unhappy after upgrading your 4S to iOS7, you could get iOS6 back for $50! (Or perhaps free, if your phone has a warranty issue...)

I suppose that could be true for the iPhone 5, too!

The things that come to mind waiting for the coffee to brew...
 
terzinator said:
If I need to replace my 4S (applecare+), does anyone know if the replacements they're providing are shipping with iOS6 or iOS7?

Just realized that if they're shipping with iOS6, and if you were really unhappy after upgrading your 4S to iOS7, you could get iOS6 back for $50! (Or perhaps free, if your phone has a warranty issue...)

I suppose that could be true for the iPhone 5, too!

The things that come to mind waiting for the coffee to brew...
Click to expand...

I got my 4S replaced the day after iOS 7 came out with AppleCare+. Had iOS 6 on it.
 
terzinator said:
If I need to replace my 4S (applecare+), does anyone know if the replacements they're providing are shipping with iOS6 or iOS7?

Just realized that if they're shipping with iOS6, and if you were really unhappy after upgrading your 4S to iOS7, you could get iOS6 back for $50! (Or perhaps free, if your phone has a warranty issue...)

I suppose that could be true for the iPhone 5, too!

The things that come to mind waiting for the coffee to brew...
Click to expand...

Is it not possible to just boot into DFU and restore completely from an ios6 IPA file??
 
afinch1992 said:
Is it not possible to just boot into DFU and restore completely from an ios6 IPA file??
Click to expand...

No.

As of a few iOS generations ago (I think it started with iOS 4 and the 4S) Apple requires you to authorize (iTunes does this automatically without your knowledge) the iOS being installed. When new ones are released (such as iOS 7, or say, 7.0.1) then Apple stops authorizing the previous versions for that device. So when you send a request to install iOS 6, Apple says NO, only iOS 7 can be installed and it cancels/fails the installation.

There were ways around this but they have since stopped working for newer devices.
 
troy14 said:
No.

As of a few iOS generations ago (I think it started with iOS 4 and the 4S) Apple requires you to authorize (iTunes does this automatically without your knowledge) the iOS being installed. When new ones are released (such as iOS 7, or say, 7.0.1) then Apple stops authorizing the previous versions for that device. So when you send a request to install iOS 6, Apple says NO, only iOS 7 can be installed and it cancels/fails the installation.

There were ways around this but they have since stopped working for newer devices.
Click to expand...

That's incorrect. I downgraded my mothers 4S to iOS 6 from iOS 7. It does work.

All I did was go into iTunes and hold option while pressing restore, selected the old ipsw and it installed.
 
auero said:
That's incorrect. I downgraded my mothers 4S to iOS 6 from iOS 7. It does work.

All I did was go into iTunes and hold option while pressing restore, selected the old ipsw and it installed.
Click to expand...

That's because Apple was still signing iOS 6 restores. Once they stop signing it, it'll be impossible.
 
Why does Apple stop signing the previous iOS so quickly? Don't you think they'd make a lot of people happier if they could downgrade their OS in case they upgraded to iOS 7 and didn't like it?
 
You could always ask. As far as I know, if you're paying the $50 (or $229 if no Applecare+) the apple employee doesn't really care about your reason. And if you go during a non-busy time, and get the right apple employee, they can probably grab an older one for you based on serial number. But the clock is ticking...
 
Triangle Man said:
Why does Apple stop signing the previous iOS so quickly? Don't you think they'd make a lot of people happier if they could downgrade their OS in case they upgraded to iOS 7 and didn't like it?
Click to expand...

It's beneficial for Apple to have everyone on the same OS version. If you don't like it, TS has always been Apple's official policy
 
Triangle Man said:
Why does Apple stop signing the previous iOS so quickly? Don't you think they'd make a lot of people happier if they could downgrade their OS in case they upgraded to iOS 7 and didn't like it?
Click to expand...
Because Apple wants you to update to the newest version of iOS.

But more realistically, Apple stops signing because if you cannot roll back to a previous version of iOS and there is no current jailbreak for the current version of iOS, you can't jailbreak.

It's all about defeating the jailbreakers and ensuring that Apple continues to control how you interact with your device. I'll cite an example. iOS 6 was jailbroken up to 6.1.2. But Apple fixed the holes and released 6.1.3 and stopped signing 6.1.2. This forced everyone that either needed to restore or update to 6.1.3. Since 6.1.3 was no longer jailbreakable that effectively prevented new users from jailbreaking their devices and caused unfortunate souls to lose their jailbreak when forced to restore.

The iPhone 4 and below have a jailbreak that is works off the baseband (firmware) which makes it possible if you have saved the parts that allow you to authenticate to rollback. But in order to save those parts you would have had to jailbreak back when iOS 6 was jailbreakable. But there is no baseband security flaw to take advantage of with the 4S and above, so no rolling back.

So jailbreakers have a choice. Stay on iOS 6 and keep their jailbreak or move to iOS 7 and lose their jailbreak. That's why a lot of us are staying put and waiting for the iOS 7 jailbreak (should it come). But if anyone is forced to restore, Apple nails us and forces us to iOS 7 which means we lose our jailbreaks. And THAT is what Apple wants and why it forces updating.
 
auero said:
Friday or Saturday which explains why it worked.
Click to expand...

Yep. They stopped signing iOS6 sometime on Saturday the 21st. I did a downgrade to iOS6 from iOS7GM on my 4S on Friday night in anticipation of that; glad I didn't wait.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/09/21/apple-not-signing-ios-6-1-34/

At this point anyone on iOS7 wanting to downgrade is SOL without doing a device swap as the OP intends. I have no idea whether the current replacement units are shipping with iOS6 or 7, but would recommend acting fast if anyone hopes to downgrade that way.
 
For what its worth, I coincidentally had to get my 5 replaced today. It came with iOS 6 and I asked him not to update it.
 
auero said:
For what its worth, I coincidentally had to get my 5 replaced today. It came with iOS 6 and I asked him not to update it.
Click to expand...
Good info... I'd guess, because they're not making them anymore, if you need a replacement 5, it probably would come with iOS6.
 
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