Downgrade is possible. Follow this tutorial and downgrade your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad 2 to any previous version of the firmware. Be careful – you should know what you are doing! You will need a computer and an iTunes backup for each device you want to downgrade.
Warning, this can brick your device if not done correctly! While the process hasn’t changed much over the years, there are many new models that are excluded from downgrades. You should always have a recent backup of your iPhone available in case anything goes wrong during the downgrade process. This tutorial is for technical users only.
how to downgrade ios 9.2.1 to 9.1
1. Download the iOS firmware file for your device from [wiki mirror] (https://goo.gl/CQe6x) and save it to a folder on your computer. NOTE: You will need to select your model before downloading the proper version of the firmware.
2. Connect your device to the computer and open iTunes (if it doesn’t open automatically).
3. Restore your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad 2 in iTunes (“Summary” –> “Check for Update”.) Select the file that you downloaded earlier and click “Open”. While restoring, keep the “Shift” key (Windows) or “Option” key (Mac) pressed.
4. When the installation is complete, your iPhone will be running the desired firmware version. To find this version go to Settings -> General -> About and check the “Version” value. You can also see it in iTunes while connecting your device to the computer.
Downgrade iOS without losing your data!
Downgrade iOS 9.2.1 to 8.4.1 following this tutorial and you will downgrade without losing your data! If you are already on the latest firmware (iOS 9.3) follow this guide to get back down safely: How To Downgrade iOS 9 / 9.0.2 To iOS 8.4
How to downgrade iOS on an iPhone or iPad
Jay Geater is the President and CEO of Solvusoft Corporation, a global software company focused on providing innovative utility software. He is a lifelong computer geek and loves everything related to computers, software, and new technology.
Solvusoft’s close relationship with Microsoft as a Gold Certified Partner enables us to provide best-in-class software solutions that are optimized for performance on Windows operating systems.
Reasons why you might want to downgrade iOS 9 to iOS 8.4:
Downgrade iOS 9 to iOS 8 is not possible if you update using OTA (over-the-air), but if your iPhone or iPad is still in the 30 days period after a major upgrade, and it failed to update, you can download the IPSW for your device model from Apple servers and downgrade iOS 9 to iOS 8.4 firmware.
iPhone 5 users facing “0xE” error message while updating the device to iOS 9 should try downgrading to previous version of iOS as a workaround. The SMS bug present in iOS 9 has been fixed in iOS 8.4 and you can once again send messages with multiple languages without exiting the Messages app. Apple has ended the signing window for iOS 8.4.1, thus making your device ineligible to downgrade from iOS 9 directly to iOS 8.4.1, you will have to jump from iOS 9 to iOS 8.4 first and then downgrade from there to version 8.4.1 in order to achieve a smooth OTA (over-the-air) update.
Reasons why you might want to downgrade iOS 10 to iOS 10.3.3:
– Broken update : If your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch won’t update properly using iTunes after updating it with the OTA (over-the-air) update, you can downgrade iOS 10 to iOS 10.3.3 while still having the OTA update available in Settings > General > Software Update, and it will fix your broken update.
– Recovery mode loop : If your device is stuck on the Apple logo / Recovery Mode loop after updating over iTunes or downloading over cellular network (3G/4G), and it won’t go past the Recovery Mode screen, while iTunes detects it in recovery mode, you can fix this issue by downgrading iOS 10 to iOS 10.3.3 and see if the problem is resolved.
Conclusion
As you can see from the list above, there are plenty of reasons why someone might want to downgrade their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch back to iOS 8.4.1 firmware. As long as your device is running a previous version of iOS and it still has the OTA update available in Settings > General > Software Update section.