iPhone Tips

What Is the Best IPSW Restore Tool for iPhone and iPad on iOS 17

by Sophie Green   Updated on 2023-10-25 / Update for  iPhone Tips

An IPSW restore tool is an app or utility that allows you to restore the IPSW files on your iOS-based devices. These tools let you easily roll back the official latest iOS updates on your devices by letting you install previous versions of the operating system. These tools have gained some good popularity lately, and if you are looking for a reliable IPSW restore tool free, this guide is for you.

There are actually multiple options for restoring IPSW files on your iPhone and iPad devices. You can either use the default iTunes app or you can use a third-party tool to restore your device. There are both advantages and disadvantages to using each of these methods and the following guide discusses them in detail.

Part 1. Why Use IPSW File to Restore iPhone?

An iPhone can be restored without an IPSW file using iTunes, however, certain occasions require you to use an IPSW file to restore your device.

An IPSW file is an Apple device software update file which is basically the iOS firmware for your iPhone and iPad devices. It consists of all the iOS operating system files and you can use an IPSW to reinstall a clean version of iOS on your devices.

Using an IPSW iPhone 14 file is pretty safe as long as the file is signed and comes from a trusted source.

There are many advantages to using an IPSW file to restore your iPhone. With this type of file, you can downgrade your iOS 17 and beta version. This file helps restore your iOS device when iTunes cannot download the iOS firmware for some reason.

Part 2. The Best IPSW Restore Tool – Tenorshare ReiBoot

While there may be many tools out there claiming to help you install IPSW files, nothing beats the efficiency and ease of use of the Tenorshare ReiBoot. It is a great piece of software that allows you to use IPSW files to restore your iOS-based devices. The tool helps fix many issues as well on your iPhone and iPad devices.

Advantages:

  • Automatically download the matching IPSW file for your device.
  • Offer all the available IPSW files for all the iOS devices.
  • Restore IPSW with 100% success rate.
  • Get rid of all iTunes errors and issues when using iTunes to restore.
  • Restore IPSW without any data loss.
  • Easy and safe to use.

Disadvantages:

  • No free to use.

The following shows how to use this tool to restore your iOS 17/13.6 device.

  • Install the latest version of the tool on your computer.
  • Plug your iOS device into your computer and launch the software.
  • Click on Start on the main screen.

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  • Click on select Standard Repair and click Standard Repair on the screen that follows.

    ipsw restore tool
  • Click on Download to download the IPSW file for your device.

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  • It will start restoring your device when the IPSW file is downloaded. It will let you know when the device is restored.

    iphone ipsw restore tool

That is how you use an IPSW restore tool without iTunes on your computer.

Part 3. The Official IPSW Restore Tool – iTunes

iTunes is the official iPhone IPSW restore tool and you can use it to restore the downloaded firmware files on your iOS devices. If you prefer iTunes over other tools, then it is worth using it to get your devices downgraded to earlier versions of iOS using the IPSW files.

Advantages:

  • Official and trusted tool
  • Built-in support for IPSW files
  • Quickly apply IPSW firmware to iOS devices

Disadvantages:

  • No automatic IPSW downloads
  • Many errors while restoring devices
  • Occasional crashes
  • All data will be erased after restore

If you are still inclined on using iTunes to restore your devices, the following should help you out.

  • Connect your iOS device to your computer and launch the iTunes app.
  • Click on your iOS device, press and hold down the Ctrl key, and click on the Update button.

    ipsw restore tool without itunes
  • Select your IPSW file and iTunes will start restoring your device with the selected file.

That is how you use an official and free IPSW restore tool on your computer.

Conclusion

By now, you should know what a good IPSW restore tool is and how you can use it to utilize your IPSW files and restore your iOS-based devices. It is highly recommended to use an error-free tool like Tenorshare ReiBoot so that your devices get restored without any issues.

FAQS on IPSW Restore on iPhone/iPad

People often have various questions about the IPSW files and how to use them with iOS devices. The following aims to answer those frequently asked questions for you.

Q1: Which IPSW is Apple still signing?

As of this writing, Apple does not seem to be signing any old IPSW files. Earlier, it used to sign IPSW files up to the iOS 10 version.

Q2: Can you restore unsigned IPSW?

It is possible to restore unsigned IPSW files but you need certain files beforehand to perform the procedure. Also, it is an extremely complex procedure and it can brick your device as well.

Q3: Where are IPSW files stored?

IPSW files are stored in the /Users/username/AppData/Roaming/Apple Computer/iTunes folder on Windows and ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates on Mac.