Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad iPad 2 on iOS8 - revert to factory OS?

N

Noeb

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 8, 2014
24
1
I'd like to return to an older version of the iOS, as the iPad 2 on the newest OS is so slow it's ridiculous. When trying to "restore" to factory settings in iTunes, it says that it will automatically update to newest OS after wiping.

Is it possible to go back to an earlier version?
 
Ann is 99.99% correct. There is one possibility, but odds are if you meet that possibility, you would already know it.

IF you had Jailbroken your iPad before upgrading, and if you had done a task called "saving your SHSH blobs" on the exact iPad you're talking about now, while iOS 7 was still the "current" OS, then and only then would it be possible.

If the preceding sentence was gibberish to you, then it's impossible. If you hadn't done what was mentioned above, while iOS 7 was still current, there is no way to revert back to it now.
 
good,you really need to upgrade to a better iPad, and this will always be the best solution to your problem.
vlpy
 
dumastudetto said:
iOS 7 is EOL. You really need to upgrade to a better iPad, and this will always be the best solution to your problem.
Click to expand...

No, not if the iPad2 satisfied the user's needs. If Apple says an iOS upgrade supports a device it should do so without downgrading the device's usability, or Apple should provide the option of reverting back. If there's something to drive people away from Apple, this is it. Not everyone knows that they should avoid installing new iOS versions because you can't trust Apple's "up"grades.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tim Riding
I complained to an Apple store employee about this ios 8 on the ipad2 a couple of days ago. Response was "well, its pretty old. Maybe you should upgrade". If I do, it will NOT be to an Apple tablet. IOS 8 on the Ipad 2 is a very annoying experience, its slow, mail crashes many times, copy,paste does not work. It wouldn't surprise me if the have hooks in the code that look for Ipad2, and then crap on what the user is trying to do. I've been using Apple products since the early 1980's, and this experience on my IPad is making me re-think future purchases. We have a lot of Apple products in the house (2 Airs, 2 Ipads, 15 inch Macbook pro, IMac and 3 Iphones).
 
merkinmuffley said:
I complained to an Apple store employee about this ios 8 on the ipad2 a couple of days ago. Response was "well, its pretty old. Maybe you should upgrade".
Click to expand...

See, that's the very response that annoys me with Apple. Don't get me wrong; I love my Apple devices... however, iOS has left a bad taste in my mouth overall. Sure it works great if you plan to use it within Apple's plans, of which downgrading an OS version is not one of them. Had this same thing happen to my iPad 1... and 3GS... and 4... and even my wife's 4S. It was at that point that I grew tired of a new "supported" OS effectively EOL'ing my perfectly good and usable device. Sure, I've still got iOS devices (currently an iPod Touch and an iPad 2), but I REFUSE to upgrade their software without plenty of hands-on time.

On the other hand, I LOVE my Macs - currently that consists of a Mac Mini and an iBook G4. Both are quite old and work wonderfully, serving their purposes perfectly. My Mini is a Core 2 Duo "server" model - when I installed Mountain Lion on it, I was very unhappy with the performance and quickly downgraded back to Snow Leopard. Later, I installed Mavericks and it has been a quite pleasant experience (no hardware changes between the versions, btw). Same is true for ye olde iBook - when I got it as a cheap Mac portable, I installed Leopard; I was unhappy with that, so I was able to wipe it and install Tiger - now all is good. :)

The point of my rant is this: what would it hurt to allow us to downgrade our iOS devices? NOTHING. The problem is, though, the above statement is exactly Apple's thoughts on the matter - "ah, it's old - get a new one." No thank you. If my device works fine with one version and doesn't with a newer one, I should have the option to roll back to the old one.

And on a related note... maybe this Apple employee forgot about the fact that Apple themselves was selling the iPad 2 until this past MARCH.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to add this...
Sent from my iBook G4 running OS X Tiger 10.4.11 BECAUSE I STILL CAN. :p
 
Last edited:
Ev0d3vil said:
Yeah this is one Thing that annoys me, the lack of ability to downgrade..
Click to expand...

I can download an iOS 7.1.2 ipsw and alt-click on the restore tab, choose the 7.1.2 ipsw and click restore. This downgrades the software does it not?

I dont remember apple ever giving you an official way to downgrade.
 
The-Pro said:
So you can no longer download and an .ispw file of an older OS and alt-restore in iTunes?
Click to expand...
The-Pro said:
I can download an iOS 7.1.2 ipsw and alt-click on the restore tab, choose the 7.1.2 ipsw and click restore. This downgrades the software does it not?

I dont remember apple ever giving you an official way to downgrade.
Click to expand...

You can download it; but iOS 6 and later when you do a restore, check with Apple to make sure the .ipsw file is still signed by Apple. Apple revokes the signing for old versions. That doesn't make the old versions stop working on devices it's installed on; but it DOES prevent you from installing that version on to a device.

A jailbroken device with its "SHSH blobs" saved allows you to bypass this check with Apple, as you can convince the installer that you are merely "reinstalling the same version" without checking with Apple. So far, nobody has found any way to bypass this check without previously-saved SHSH blobs. If you haven't saved your specific devices SHSH blobs, then there is no way to install a firmware without the check to Apple.

And no, nobody has found a way to fake Apple's response, since it is device-specific. (Hence the SHSH blobs being required.)

Yes, this also means that if you try to restore a different firmware that currently installed, from a computer with no internet connection, it will fail. You need an internet connection to restore an iDevice via iTunes, since it must check with Apple.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
Ann is 99.99% correct. There is one possibility, but odds are if you meet that possibility, you would already know it.

IF you had Jailbroken your iPad before upgrading, and if you had done a task called "saving your SHSH blobs" on the exact iPad you're talking about now, while iOS 7 was still the "current" OS, then and only then would it be possible.

If the preceding sentence was gibberish to you, then it's impossible. If you hadn't done what was mentioned above, while iOS 7 was still current, there is no way to revert back to it now.
Click to expand...

Actually you need to have saved iOS 4.3 blobs for the iPad 2 for it to work.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
You can download it; but iOS 6 and later when you do a restore, check with Apple to make sure the .ipsw file is still signed by Apple. Apple revokes the signing for old versions. That doesn't make the old versions stop working on devices it's installed on; but it DOES prevent you from installing that version on to a device.

A jailbroken device with its "SHSH blobs" saved allows you to bypass this check with Apple, as you can convince the installer that you are merely "reinstalling the same version" without checking with Apple. So far, nobody has found any way to bypass this check without previously-saved SHSH blobs. If you haven't saved your specific devices SHSH blobs, then there is no way to install a firmware without the check to Apple.

And no, nobody has found a way to fake Apple's response, since it is device-specific. (Hence the SHSH blobs being required.)

Yes, this also means that if you try to restore a different firmware that currently installed, from a computer with no internet connection, it will fail. You need an internet connection to restore an iDevice via iTunes, since it must check with Apple.
Click to expand...

AHHH i see now.
tried to actually do the restore and it says the iPad could no be restored. This device is not eligible for the requested build

what a pain in the ass. why would they do that??
 
Moving everyone to the newest OS helps enforce conformity among the install base and reduce fragmentation. Apple brags about iOS install numbers pretty much every keynote along with an Android fragmentation pie chart. That conformity is a huge carrot that Apple dangles out to developers, and directly translates to $$$$ for Apple. And to top it all off, they will gladly take any sales coming out of frustrated users throwing in the towel and upgrading their hardware, just like the Genius you encountered was trained to suggest.
 
So here is the issue. On OSX you can downgrade to a previous OS. Because of that, plenty of you are using Mac's that are 10+ years old. Yes they are a bit slow and don't have all the latest bells and whistles but they are stable and work.

On iOS devices Apple wanted you to upgrade more often. Like every year or two. So you can't roll back your IOS and if you upgrade (which they allow), your hardware can't really support it, so your device becomes unstable and you get frustrated. Then you go and buy a new device.

Personally I still use iOS 6 on my iPad 2 (am now in fact). I won't be upgrading anytime soon, as it still does what I use it for, web browsing and the odd game.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Personally I still use iOS 6 on my iPad 2 (am now in fact). I won't be upgrading anytime soon, as it still does what I use it for, web browsing and the odd game.
Click to expand...

I wish I had 6 on my iPad 2... I bought one of the later iPad 2s and it came with iOS 7 on it. Honestly, it's not that bad, but at the same time its not any better than 6 would've been, which would've almost certainly been faster. But 7 is it - I'm not going to 8 on this iPad for any reason. I'll sell it with 7 when I'm done with it. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back