Apple Stops Signing iOS 12.4, Downgrading From iOS 12.4.1 No Longer Possible - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Stops Signing iOS 12.4, Downgrading From iOS 12.4.1 No Longer Possible

by

IPSWFollowing the release of iOS 12.4.1 on August 26, Apple has stopped signing iOS 12.4, the previous version of iOS that was available to consumers.

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners who have upgraded to iOS 12.4.1 will no longer be able to downgrade to iOS 12.4.

Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date, but iOS 12.4.1 was released because iOS 12.4 had a major vulnerability.

The vulnerability allowed hackers to create a jailbreak for iOS 12.4 and left devices vulnerable to hacking attempts. Apple fixed the bug in iOS 12.4.1, and the iOS 12.4 jailbreak will not work after upgrading.

iOS 12.4.1 is now the only version of iOS that can be installed on iPhones and iPads, but developers and public beta testers can download iOS 13, an upcoming update that's currently being beta tested and is set to be released next week.

Related Forum: iOS 12

Top Rated Comments

Howyalikdemapls Avatar
85 months ago
It should be illegal to not allow downgrading. Having your device always hassle you to upgrade is annoying enough, but having old devices become unusably slow after upgrading and having no way to return them to their factory installed OS is ********.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
85 months ago
It should be illegal to not allow downgrading. Having your device always hassle you to upgrade is annoying enough, but having old devices become unusably slow after upgrading and having no way to return them to their factory installed OS is ********.
Not sure how much of an issue that is in this case given that 12.4.1 is available and is pretty much the same thing with a few security fixes essentially.
[doublepost=1568252170][/doublepost]
It’s very easy to find every single iOS ipsw online
Sure, but being able to actually install them is a different story since only those that are signed by Apple can be installed.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fairuz Avatar
85 months ago
Be more dramatic.

Would you care to enlighten us with some actual sources to back up your claims?
What he says is true. During that time iOS 11 was throttling certain iPhones, Apple admitted to it, for other updates it's just anecdotal but totally true.
Sources? Google it, there are plenty of complaints. Nothing proves anything since there's no good benchmark for this. But there's no way any new iPhone ever took so long to, say, open the Music app, yet you can find complaints (or complain yourself) about it taking 3-15 seconds after updates.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bawstun Avatar
85 months ago
Stop you from downgrading, automatically download updates and hound you like crazy, sneakily prompt installs of the download.

Apple: Oooh, look at our industry-leading adoption rates! It’s a miracle, we are so great!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
85 months ago
Until someone figures out a way to fake Apple signing these things, that doesn’t do us any good. They still badger the hell out of you to upgrade until you hit install by accident, then cripple your device into unusability. Can’t even use an old phone for an audio player during workouts without a 4 second delay between touch and action. Ridiculous.
I hate how when I hit the flashlight button you have to wait several seconds for it to come on. iOS 10 was instant.
iOS 12 has weird quirks with airplay. I have to reboot my iPhone to get it working again. Also when someone gives a thumbs up in iMessage it shows a partial thumbs up at times. iOS 10 worked so much better.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
85 months ago
It should be illegal to not allow downgrading. Having your device always hassle you to upgrade is annoying enough, but having old devices become unusably slow after upgrading and having no way to return them to their factory installed OS is ********.
You don’t own the software though. If you don’t like it don’t agree to it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
HomePod mini and Apple TV Sage

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Remain 'Ready' to Launch

Sunday March 22, 2026 6:33 am PDT by
Apple has unveiled nine new products this month, but the wait continues for the next-generation Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini models. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new versions of the Apple TV and HomePod mini have been "ready" since last year, but he reiterated that Apple has held off on releasing them until the more personalized version of Siri and other...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...