A few days back, we showed you how to downgrade your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch from iOS 11.2 to iOS 11.1.2 to get ready for the iOS 11 jailbreak which seems imminent.
Unfortunately, some readers faced a problem as the iTunes backup wasn’t compatible with iOS 11.1.2, and users who were using the iCloud option were forced to upgrade to iOS 11.2 during the setup process. The only option in such cases is to set it up as a new device, which isn’t ideal as you end up losing all the data.
If you’re still looking to downgrade to iOS 11.1.2 then you can try the following method so that you don’t lose any data:
Check Real-time Signing Status
You can downgrade to iOS 11.1.2 only if Apple is still signing the iOS 11.1.2 file. To find out if Apple is still signing the firmware file, check this website. Green rows with a tick mean that Apple is still signing the firmware file, and you can downgrade from iOS 11.2 to iOS 11.1.2. It is widely speculated that Apple may stop signing iOS 11.1.1 and iOS 11.1.2 firmware files today.
Downgrade iOS 11.2 to iOS 11.1.2 [No Longer Possible, Check Update]
- Turn off Find my iPhone via the Settings app (Settings > iCloud > Find my iPhone).
- Download the iOS 11.1.2 firmware file for your device from our iOS firmware file download page for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
Note: If you’re downloading the firmware file using Safari then ensure that auto unzip feature is disabled or use Chrome or Firefox. Alternatively, renaming the .zip file as .ipsw file should also work.
- Connect the iOS device running iOS 11.2 to your computer.
- Launch iTunes and select the iOS device from the top left corner.
- Then click on Summary in the left-hand sidebar.
- Hold the Alt/Option key on the Mac or Shift Key in Windows on your keyboard and click on the Check for Update option, instead of restoring.
- Select the iOS 11.1.2 ipsw firmware file you had downloaded earlier.
- iTunes will inform that it will update your iOS device to iOS 11.1.2 and will verify the update with Apple.
- Click Update.
- iTunes should now downgrade your iOS device to iOS 11.1.2.
This is a riskier method especially if it is not a minor update like iOS 11.2, however, several readers and users on reddit have reported that the above method works.
Interestingly, several users have also reported that Apple Pay Cash works even after downgrading iPhone from iOS 11.2 to iOS 11.2. It is probably because the property file doesn’t get reverted back during the downgrade process.
If you had problems with the DFU method, then you can upgrade back to iOS 11.2, restore the backup from iCloud and then follow the above instructions to downgrade from iOS 11.2 to iOS 11.1.2 without losing data.
Let us know how it goes in the comments.
Update:
Apple has stopped signing iOS 11.1.2 and iOS 11.1.1 firmware files. So you can no longer downgrade your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to iOS 11.1.2.
