Apple Blocks iOS 26.5.1 Downgrades After iOS 26.5.2 Security Fixes for AI Hacking Risks
Updated
Updated · 9to5Mac · Jul 7
Apple Blocks iOS 26.5.1 Downgrades After iOS 26.5.2 Security Fixes for AI Hacking Risks
1 articles · Updated · 9to5Mac · Jul 7
Summary
Apple has stopped signing iOS 26.5 and 26.5.1, so iPhone users can no longer downgrade from newer software to those versions.
iOS 26.5.2, released June 29, carried critical security fixes that Apple said were important enough to accelerate from the planned iOS 26.6 timeline because of AI-powered hacking risks.
The company typically ends signing for older iPhone software only after a newer release has spent time in the wild without major issues; this time it waited about a week before closing iOS 26.5.1.
iOS 26.5.2 is now the latest public iPhone release, while iOS 26.6 beta 4 and iOS 27 beta 3 are already in testing ahead of a likely iOS 26.6 launch later this month.