Apple stops signing iOS 9.2, downgrades no longer possible

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Apple stopped signing iOS 9.2 firmware for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches on Thursday, a move that prevents users from performing downgrades from iOS 9.2.1 to iOS 9.2 via iTunes.

Apple stops signing iOS 9.2 – what this means

Apple uses a special signing process in iTunes to ensure users stay on a modern firmware. This signing process, despite how annoying it is for jailbreakers who are often forced to upgrade to newer firmware versions when problems arise and an iTunes restore becomes necessary, prevents users from going backwards to an earlier firmware version and helps keep users on modern firmware releases.

This is what keeps users up to date with the best new features and security improvements to ensure their iOS devices are running the best of what Apple’s updates have to offer, and it’s one of the reasons iOS is one of the most secure mobile platforms available today.

For the most part, Apple ceasing its signing of iOS 9.2 is no big deal for most users because iOS 9.2.1 and iOS 9.2 are essentially one in the same, with iOS 9.2.1 having just a few additional security fixes and performance improvements over iOS 9.2.

No major new features or changes were introduced from iOS 9.2 to iOS 9.2.1 that have been known to cause issues, so there’s really no motivation to downgrade from iOS 9.2.1 to iOS 9.2 at this point.

Moreover, neither firmware has seen a public jailbreak, so no one’s really going to be crying about losing the ability to downgrade to iOS 9.2 for jailbreak reasons either.

Conclusion

If you are ever interested in learning what firmware versions Apple is signing for certain devices, our very own Jeff Benjamin posted a useful guide on how to reliably check Apple’s firmware signing window. You can check this regularly to see if downgrades are possible or not.

Have you upgraded your devices to iOS 9.2.1 yet, or are you still using an older firmware version? Share below.