A Chinese security researcher recently detailed Chaos exploit for iOS 12.1.1 and lower that will work on all non-A12 devices like the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 7. While he did not release the exploit code, it has given hopes to the jailbreak community of a possible iOS 12 – iOS 12.1.2 jailbreak tool being on the horizon. So, if you have already updated to iOS 12.1.3, it is strongly recommended that you downgrade back to iOS 12.1.1 – iOS 12.1.2 if you want to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad.
Right now, it is unclear if the Chaos exploit works with iOS 12.1.2 or not. Thus, it is recommended that you downgrade back to iOS 12.1.1 to be on the safe side. Apple is still signing iOS 12.1.1 and iOS 12.1.2 but with iOS 12.1.3 released, I expect the iOS 12.1.1 signing window to close within the next 24-48 hours.
Update (Jan 31, 2019):
Security researcher Brandon Azad has released an iOS 12 – iOS 12.1.2 kernel exploit for iPhones and iPads, so it looks like there is a possibility of the much awaited iOS 12 jailbreak tool that supports iOS 12.1.2.
Pwn20wnd, developer of the popular Unc0ver jailbreak has also recommended jailbreakers to downgrade to iOS 12.1.2 or iOS 12.1.1. Apple is still signing iOS 12.1.2 and iOS 12.1.1 at the time of writing this update.
Restore/downgrade to iOS 12.1.1/12.1.2 right now if you are on a higher version. It may get unsigned at any time!
— @Pwn20wnd (@Pwn20wnd) January 31, 2019
Pre-requisites
There are two different ways for you to downgrade your iPhone or iPad to iOS 12.1.1/iOS 12.1.2 from iOS 12.1.3. One of them will retain your user data, while the other will wipe your device completely clean. Irrespective of which method you follow, make sure to first check that Apple is signing the firmware file. Open this page and ensure that there are green rows with a tick which means that Apple is still signing that particular firmware. In this case, you need to ensure there is a green tick for the iOS 12.1.2 firmware file.
Method 1
The riskier method of the two but you can downgrade back to iOS 12.1.2 or iOS 12.1.1 with this process without wiping your device clean. This makes it notably faster than the second method which involves wiping clean your iPhone or iPad.
How to Downgrade iOS 12.1.3 to iOS 12.1.2/iOS 12.1.1 Without Losing Data
- Turn off Find my iPhone via the Settings app (Settings > iCloud > Find my iPhone).
- Download the iOS 12.1.1 firmware file for your device from our iOS firmware file download page for your iPhone or iPad.
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 12.1.3 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 12.1.1 IPSW firmware file you had downloaded earlier.
- iTunes will inform that it will update your iOS device to iOS 12.1.2 or iOS 12.1.1 and will verify the update with Apple.
- Click Update.
- iTunes should now downgrade your iOS device to iOS 12.1.2 or iOS 12.1.1.
Method 2
A safer method but it takes more time since you will have to erase your iPhone completely. You will also have to ensure that you already have an iOS 12.1 backup since you cannot restore your iOS 12.1.1 backup on your iPhone or iPad after the downgrade. If you don’t have an older backup, you won’t be able to restore your iPhone after downgrading it back to iOS 12.1.2 or iOS 12.1.1.
How to Downgrade iOS 12.1.3 to iOS 12.1.2 or iOS 12.1.1
- Download the iOS 12.1.1 firmware file for your device from our download page.
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.
- You now need to put your device in DFU mode (if you want to find out what it means check this post for more details):
- Plug your device into your computer.
- Turn off the device by holding the Sleep/Wake or Power button and swiping it off.
- Hold the power button for 3 seconds.
- Begin holding the Home button without releasing the Sleep/Power button for 10 seconds.
- Release the power button and continue holding the home button until you get a popup from iTunes that it has detected that your device is in Recovery mode.
- Click on the Ok button.
- Hold the Alt/Option key on the Mac or Shift key in Windows on your keyboard and click on the Restore iPhone… (iPad/iPod touch…) button. Note: If you directly click on the Restore iPhone button without holding the Alt/Option key on the Mac or Shift key in Windows will result in restoring your device back to iOS 12.1.3, which is the latest version.
- Select the iOS 12.1.1 IPSW file you had downloaded earlier.
- Then click on the Restore and Update button to continue.
- In the next screen, it will give you information about the iOS 12.1 update. Click on the Next button, followed by the Agree button to continue.
- iTunes will now verify the software and install it on your device. It should take around 10 minutes.
- After it is successfully restored to iOS 12.1.2 or iOS 12.1.1, you should see the white ‘Hello’ screen. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your device, and restore your device from the archived backup you had made to restore your personal data.
That’s it. Your iPhone or iPad should have been successfully downgraded from iOS 12.1.3 to iOS 12.1.2 or iOS 12.1.1.
Troubleshooting Tips
If you get the error message “This device isn’t eligible for the requested build” then it is probably because you’ve downloaded the wrong firmware file for your device.
Please don’t forget to let us know how it goes in the comments and drop us a line if you any questions or need any help.
