iPhone 16 firmware can now be restored wirelessly from another iPhone

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Sep 17 2024

It’s been a long time since Apple has been working on a system to let users wirelessly recover and restore the firmware of their devices. This was first introduced for Apple Watch with iOS 15.4 and watchOS 8.5, and then expanded to Apple TV with iOS 17 and tvOS 17. Now with iOS 18, Apple is finally bringing this system to the iPhone 16 lineup.

iPhone 16 can have its firmware restored wirelessly

As seen by 9to5Mac, the iOS 18 firmware for iPhone 16 models includes the same RecoveryOS that lets users restore Apple Watch and Apple TV firmware from an iPhone. We were able to simulate the new system in action to see how it works.

Essentially, when the iPhone 16 enters Recovery Mode for some reason, users can simply place it next to another iPhone or iPad to start the firmware recovery. The other device will download a new iOS firmware and transfer it to the bricked device. This means that a Mac or PC will no longer be needed to fix firmware issues on iOS devices.

Although any device running iOS 18 can be used to restore a bricked device, it seems that only iPhone 16 models can be wirelessly restored for now. The new phones are shipped with a special recovery partition that can manage the entire process regardless of whether the main iOS partition is booted.

It’s unclear whether Apple plans to add this system to previous iPhone models in the future or whether this actually requires new hardware. Still, this is great news and a big step forward in making it easier for users to fix firmware issues without having to take their devices to Apple or a repair center.

Faster USB 3 remains exclusive to Pro models in the iPhone 16 lineup

Interestingly, 9to5Mac first reported that Apple was working on this tool internally back in 2020.

Source:iPhone 16 firmware can be restored wirelessly from another iPhone (9to5mac.com)