iPod Touch

Apple stops signing iOS 12.2, preventing firmware downgrades from iOS 12.3

In a routine move by Apple on Thursday, the Cupertino-based tech company stopped signing the iOS 12.2 firmware for its mobile lineup of devices, a move that hinders the iTunes-centric downgrade process to any firmware older than the recently-released iOS 12.3 update.

Apple first released iOS 12.2 nearly two months ago, and iOS 12.3 has been publicly available for a little longer than a week at the time of this writing. Given the circumstances, Apple’s decision to discontinue downgrades to iOS 12.2 isn’t particularly surprising.

How to check if an iPhone is new, refurbished, or a replacement unit

Icon of a confused man next to an iPhone asking if it's new

There are no external indicators on an iPhone or iPad that reveal whether it’s fresh out of the box, refurbished, or a replacement provided by Apple through a service request.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to distinguish between brand-new iPhones, refurbished models, replacement units, and even devices customized with Apple’s laser engraving.

Apple stops signing iOS 12.1.3, preventing downgrades from iOS 12.1.4

Apple appears to have stopped signing iOS 12.1.3 on Monday, a move on the Cupertino-based company’s part that prevents iOS device users from downgrading their device’s installed firmware from iOS 12.1.4 via iTunes.

This move doesn’t impact the jailbreak community very much because the latest jailbreakable firmware at the time of this writing is iOS 12.1.2, which Apple stopped signing more than a month ago. That said, the jailbreak community isn’t particularly rushing to downgrade to iOS 12.1.3 these days.