The Electra jailbreak team today updated their jailbreak to add support for jailbreaking a beta build of iOS 11.4. Since Apple is still signing iOS 11.4 beta for certain devices, you can downgrade to the OS and then jailbreak your iPhone.
The key factor here is time since Apple can stop signing the beta release of iOS 11.4 anytime soon. Thus, it is recommended that you go ahead and downgrade your iPhone to iOS 11.4 beta 3 right away. You can then always jailbreak your iPhone when you have more time in hand.
Compatible Devices
Apple is currently signing iOS 11 beta 3 for the following devices:
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
If you own any other iOS device, you are out of luck as Apple has already stopped signing iOS 11.4 beta for them. This includes previous iPhones as well as all iPad and iPad Pro models.
Before Downgrading to iOS 11.4 beta 3
There are two different ways for you to downgrade your iPhone or iPad to iOS 11.4 beta 3 from iOS 11.4 or any beta release of iOS 12. One of them will retain your user data, while the other will wipe your device completely clean. Irrespective of which method you follow, remember that the downgrading window is only open until Apple is signing the beta firmware so be quick.
Method 1
You can downgrade your iPhone to iOS 11.4 beta 3 without wiping any data stored on it by following the steps below. While this is a much faster process, it is slightly risky as well.
How to Downgrade from iOS 11.4.1, iOS 11.4 to iOS 11.4 Beta Without Losing Data
- Turn off Find my iPhone via the Settings app (Settings > iCloud > Find my iPhone).
- Download the iOS 11.4 beta 3 firmware file for your iPhone from below:
- Connect the iOS device running iOS 11.4/iOS 11.4.1 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 11.4 beta IPSW firmware file you had downloaded earlier.
- iTunes will inform that it will update your iOS device to iOS 11.3.1 and will verify the update with Apple.
- Click Update.
- iTunes should now downgrade your iOS device to iOS 11.3.1.
Method 2
A far safer method but more time consuming as it ends up completely erasing your device of all data. You will have to restore all your data from one of your backups but that has to be from a lower version of the OS.
Notes:
- Please note that in case of method 2 involves wiping your device, and then restoring it from a backup, so it can take some time depending on how much data needs to be recovered and your internet connection (if you’re restoring from an iCloud backup).
- Please use this procedure if you have an iCloud or iTunes backup of your device as it involves wiping your device.
- Make sure to backup your device running iOS 11.4 before you start with the downgrading process.
How to Downgrade from iOS 11.4/iOS 11.4.1 to iOS 11.4 beta 3
- Download the iOS 11.4 beta 3 firmware file for your iPhone from below:
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 11.4, which is the latest version.
- Select the iOS 11.4 beta 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 11.4 beta 3 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 your iPhone is successfully restored to iOS 11.4 beta, you should see the initial setup ‘Hello’ screen. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your device, and restore it from the archived backup you had made to restore your personal data.
With your iPhone now successfully downgraded to iOS 11.4 beta 3, you can now easily jailbreak it using the latest version of Electra jailbreak.
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.
As mentioned above, make sure to downgrade your iPhone to iOS 11.4 beta 3 as soon as possible since Apple can stop signing the firmware anytime soon.
Update: Apple is no longer signing iOS 11.4 beta 3 so you cannot use the above steps to downgrade your iPhone to it and jailbreak it.
