Apple Stops Signing iOS 16.4.1 to Prevent Downgrading

Following the launch of iOS 16.5 on May 18, Apple has stopped signing iOS 16.4.1, the previously available version of iOS. Now that iOS 16.4.1 is no longer being signed, iPhone users are prevented from downgrading to that software version.

iOS 16
Apple routinely stops signing older versions of iOS after new releases come out to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date, so the fact that iOS 16.4 is no longer being signed is not unusual.

Released on April 7, iOS 16.4.1 was a minor bug fix update that came just under two weeks after the launch of iOS 16.4, an update that introduced new Emoji, Safari Web Push notifications, Voice Isolation for phone calls, and more.

iOS 16.5, the current publicly available version of iOS, brought some important bug fixes and a couple of feature additions, including a dedicated Sports tab in Apple News and a Pride Collection wallpaper for Lock Screens. Apple is also testing iOS 16.6 with developers and public beta testers.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says These 7 U.S. States Plan to Offer iPhone Driver's Licenses

Monday February 9, 2026 6:24 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New MacBook Pros Could Now Arrive in March

Sunday February 8, 2026 6:02 am PST by
New MacBook Pro models with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips could arrive as soon as Monday, March 2, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that the release of new MacBook Pro models is tied to the release of macOS Tahoe 26.3. The launch is said to be slated for as early as the week of March 2. He added that the M4 Pro and M4 Max models on sale today...

Top Rated Comments

ratspg Avatar
36 months ago
We’re ready for WWDC iOS 17 Betas let’s gooooooo!!!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Yr Blues Avatar
36 months ago
I want to downgrade to 15 or 14. I hate how changing wallpaper is so difficult now. So many little things made worse for no reason.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
retta283 Avatar
35 months ago

I want to downgrade to 15 or 14. I hate how changing wallpaper is so difficult now. So many little things made worse for no reason.
Strongly agree. I find iOS 14 to be by far the best of the recent versions, wish I could've kept my iPhone on it. For now I'm on 15 which is still mostly fine. 16 is junk, plain and simple. Battery life is awful, the new lock screen customization makes it a pain to do the things that used to be easy for those of us who don't care to customize ours (and I still think none of the fonts/sizes for time are as good as the 15 default) and I will never understand the notifications being at the bottom of the screen. Complete nonsense.

I am extremely stubborn when it comes to UI changes though, and I bet that by the time I am used to all of this they will change it again the next year...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Fan 2008 Avatar
36 months ago

We’re ready for WWDC iOS 17 Betas let’s gooooooo!!!
My iPad is still on the iOS 16 beta ?, I barely use it
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fmillion Avatar
35 months ago

The iPad is a service, not a product. Use the Mac if you want a product on which you have the proper degree of control (although it's getting more services-like with the years, but it's still a product). And show your opposition to services by not paying for them, but for products that you can control instead. I think I'd love the iPad if it was a product: the iPad would be great if you could control it like a Mac (but Apple is going the other way around, and slowly turning the Mac into an iPad instead of what they should do).
Follow the money trail. Subscriptions and services make way more money than products. Even when I was in high school, I understood the idea of "you'll make more money if you can make something that lots of people pay a small amount of money for on a regular basis, than something that some people pay a big amount of money for one single time."

I despise locked down products and subscriptions with a passion, but I'm not sure how we stop it. Even if everyone were to stop buying locked down devices and only bought open devices right now, the overall profit would still be much lower in the long term (and the economists know it), thus the incentive to push people back to subscriptions in any way possible would never go away. Of course in reality a lot of people don't have a choice but to buy service-type devices - the fact that every major software vendor (Adobe, Microsoft, now Apple, etc.) have all moved to subscription software is part of it. Plus there are many kinds of things we do on our devices that depend on a service model - the simplest example is that we need a cellular network to connect our cell phones to, so there will always be a "service" component at play. Every example, even in the OSS world, of someone putting out a fully open device is consistently proven not to be financially viable in the long term, and/or users don't like that they can't use it with their favorite SERVICES (can't watch Netflix at HD quality on open-source Android versions is an example). It will likely not be long before you simply CANNOT buy a device that isn't a subscription-based locked-down service device. (Wasn't Apple talking about moving the iPhone itself to a lease model, where you never actually own the physical phone? That's where I fear we're ultimately heading.)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
reezekeys Avatar
35 months ago
So much for those needing to downgrade so they can use their USB3 CCK until Apple updates 16.5 (and who's to say the bug will be fixed then?)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)