Apple is no longer signing iOS 13.5, stopping jailbreakers from downgrading

iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.5.
That means that people can't downgrade or upgrade to that release.
The move prevents people from installing iOS 13.5 to jailbreak.

Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.5 after releasing iOS 13.5.1 to the public last week. That update did little more than patch a hole that allowed the unc0ver jailbreak to do its thing. And now the other shoe has dropped – nobody can install iOS 13.5 anymore.

Anyone who was already running iOS 13.5 is fine and can continue to jailbreak, but anyone who updated to iOS 13.5.1 can no longer downgrade in the hope of jailbreaking. The same goes for anyone running any previous release – upgraders will have to install iOS 13.5.1, complete with its jailbreak patch.

Apple routinely stops signing older releases of iOS but the move this time around is particularly notable because of the jailbreak component. Apple always tries to make sure its users are using the latest and greatest release, but that's doubly the case when jailbreaking is involved in the conversation.

Anyone who doesn't plan to jailbreak should update to iOS 13.5.1 as soon as possible via the usual update methods. The only reason to stick to iOS 13.5 is if you intend to go down the jailbreak path.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.