After releasing iOS & iPadOS 16.3 to the general public last week, almost anyone could have predicted that Apple would soon stop signing the older iOS & iPadOS 16.2, and it now seems that time has come.
Apple is no longer signing iOS or iPadOS 16.1.2 as of Tuesday evening, a move that could’ve been predicted by almost anybody given that it’s been around a week since the company released the newer iOS & iPadOS 16.2 software update to the general public.
With the official rollout of iOS & iPadOS 16.1.1 a several Wednesdays ago, and the release of iOS 16.1.2 just last week, Apple has made a predictable move this evening by unsigning iOS & iPadOS 16.1 and 16.1.1.
Following a move earlier this week by Apple to unsign iOS 16.0.3 about a week after launching iOS & iPadOS 16.1 to the general public, Apple on Friday appears to have also unsigned iOS & iPadOS 15.7 after subsequently releasing iOS & iPadOS 15.7.1 with bug fixes and security patches for the iPhone and iPad.
Apple has stopped signing iOS 16.0.3 on Monday following the official public release of iOS & iPadOS 16.1 just over a week ago.
Apple just last week released iOS 16.0.3 to address a multitude of bugs affecting various handsets in the iPhone 14 lineup. And as expected, the company is now leveraging its firmware signing mechanism to stop downgrades to the previous iOS 16.0.2 firmware.
Just last Thursday, Apple publicly released iOS 16.0.2 with a patchwork of bug fixes for the company’s latest mobile operating system – iOS 16. Just some of the remedies included with the update were a solution for the freaky camera vibration when using third-party apps and a resolution for the excessive clipboard permission prompts users would get upon pasting text copied from one app to another, among other things.
Apple has officially closed the signing window for iOS & iPadOS 15.6.1 on Monday after just last week dropping a multi-pronged software update comprised of both iOS & iPadOS 15.7 and the debut iOS 16.0 for the iPhone & iPod touch (iPadOS 16.0 is currently delayed for a while longer).
After releasing iOS & iPadOS 15.6.1 last week with bug fixes and security improvements for the iPhone and iPad, Apple is at it again this week with the company’s standard process of unsigning older firmware after pulling the plug on the previous iOS & iPadOS 15.6 release.
Just this week, Hyperixa released a neat little app called IPSW, which could be used to see if a particular iPhone or iPad firmware version was being signed by Apple at the time of checking. The IPSW app was first made available for jailbroken iPhones and iPads via package managers such as Cydia, Sileo, and Zebra.
One thing jailbreakers and jailbreak hopefuls must pay close attention to is their handset’s firmware. Apple intently unsigns older versions of iOS and iPadOS to prevent users from downgrading to them from newer versions — an effort that makes jailbreaking more difficult as Apple pushes software updates frequently to patch the bugs and exploits used by jailbreak tools.
Apple just last week released iOS & iPadOS 15.6 to the masses following an extensive beta testing period involving both developers and public beta participants. Fast-forward to today, and Apple doesn’t want anyone turning back.