Apple is no longer signing iOS 14.2 and iOS 14.2.1 leaving just iOS 14.3

By Oliver Haslam
last updated

iOS 12 automatic update settings
iOS 12 automatic update settings (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple is no longer signing iOS 14.2 and iOS 14.2.1.
  • iOS 14.3 is now the only version of the software available.

Apple has stopped signing iOS 14.2 and iOS 14.2.1, preventing users from downgrading from iOS 14.3. It also leaves iOS 14.3 as the only version of the software available to the public.

While iOS 14.4 is now available to developers as well as those who are on the public beta program, it's likely to be a matter of weeks before that release is made available to anyone who wants it. Until that happens, iOS 14.3 is the only version of iOS that can be installed on iPhones. Likewise, iPadOS 14.3 is the only version of the iPad's software on hand as well.

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iPhone 12 Pro review (Image credit: Daniel Bader / iMore)

Apple's release of iOS 14.3 brought with it support for its ProRAW photography format, allowing people to edit their images in more advanced ways while still taking advantage of the iPhone's computational photography features. ProRAW is only available to people using iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, however.

Apple tends to stop signing older versions of iOS when it wants to ensure users are running a specific version or newer, often due to bug or security fixes. I'd expect it to only be a matter of time before iOS 14.3 is no longer being signed once iOS 14.4 is released to the public.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

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.