How to flash an iPhone

The firmware of modern smartphones is difficult to “kill” completely. The operating system is specially created in such a way that in the worst case, you could lose all the data, and the device itself continued to work. However, sometimes situations arise when it is still necessary to intervene in the smartphone OS. In our material, we will look at how you can reflash an iPhone at home and without special equipment. It will help us to understand this issue. equipment repair engineer Artur Tuliganov.

When and why you need an iPhone flashing

Flashing iPhone is needed only in critical situations. For example, in case of failures in the operation of iOS or its individual parts. If the phone just “slows down” or you need to delete all the data before selling, just reset the settings to the factory settings. From a technical point of view, this is not firmware.

What is the difference between flashing and recovery?

The term “firmware” itself implies the installation of a different version of the smartphone software. When iOS is automatically updated, the firmware also occurs. When manually flashing the iPhone, the system is reinstalled from a pre-downloaded special file. 

Sometimes it is possible to install an older version of the firmware – this is called a downgrade. They do this to exploit system vulnerabilities, for example, to install free programs. In general, developers always strive to ensure that users update their smartphone software on time and do not try to flash the iPhone on their own.

When restoring an iPhone, you are updated to the latest iOS, and the smartphone settings are reset to factory settings – this is done in case of problems with the smartphone. Files and system settings can be restored from a backup.

Flashing an iPhone using iTunes and a computer

When buying an iPhone, it is understood that all actions in the “computer-smartphone” bundle will occur only through iTunes. This is the official utility for flashing an iPhone using a computer.

1. Install iTunes and connect the iPhone to be flashed to the PC. 
2. Open iTunes and find iPhone in it. 
3. Click on the “Check for Updates” button. 
4. If they are, the program will download the necessary files and automatically update the phone’s firmware. 
5. If any errors occur, try restarting your computer and doing it all over again.

Firmware iPhone using other programs

There are several other programs that use iTunes as an alternative to flashing an iPhone. We recommend installing them only in case of serious problems with the official iTunes. Consider the most popular third-party program – 3uTools.

1. After installing it, connect your iPhone to your computer and follow the program’s instructions.
2. Then go to Flash & JB and select the latest firmware. 
3. Press the Flash button – the program will offer to save a backup version of the files (select BackUP if necessary). 
4. The firmware will continue automatically.

Restore iPhone without Computer and iTunes

A PC is not always at hand, so Apple has provided an iPhone recovery function without a computer and iTunes. 

1. Open your smartphone settings, select “General” and find the “Reset” item. 
2. Inside, click on the “Reset content and settings” button. 
3. To confirm, you will need to enter your Apple account password.

Flashing a locked iPhone

Via iTunes

Sometimes it happens that the iPhone lock password is forgotten, but the smartphone itself is still needed. In this case, you can restore your phone to factory settings via iTunes. This method does not work if the owner of the phone indicated in iCloud that his iPhone was lost.

1. Turn off your smartphone and disconnect it from the PC. 
2. Put your iPhone into recovery mode. Depending on the model, it is turned on by pressing different buttons (iPhone 8, X and later – side button, iPhone 7 – volume down button, iPhone 6s, SE and older – home button).
3. Keeping the buttons pressed, connect your smartphone to the PC. 
4. Do not release the buttons until a message appears on the smartphone screen to enter recovery mode. 
5. Release after that. 
6. iTunes should detect your iPhone and offer to restore it – agree. 
7. All further operations will take place automatically. 
8. After rebooting, the smartphone will be restored to factory settings.

Through DFU mode and iTunes

There is also a more radical way to reflash an iPhone through DFU mode and iTunes. It is a complete update of iOS with the removal of all data. 

DFU mode is also enabled in various ways. Before that, you need to connect the phone to the PC.

For iPhone X and later

1. Press the volume up and down buttons, and then hold the power button. 
2. After turning off the screen, hold down the volume down button and hold the power button for 5 seconds. 
3. Release the power button and hold the volume down button for another 15 seconds. 

For iPhone 7 and later

1. We turn off the phone. 
2. Press the power button for 3 seconds. 
3. Press the volume down button and hold the power button.
4. Release the power button after 10 seconds. 
5. Hold the volume down button for another 5 seconds.

For iPhone 6S, SE and older

1. We turn off the phone. 
2. Press the power button for 3 seconds. 
3. Press the power button and do not release the power button for another 10 seconds. 
4. Continue holding the Home button for another 5 seconds.

iTunes will detect your phone in DFU mode and offer to reflash iPhone to the latest up-to-date version of the system. After successful installation, DFU mode will turn off by itself.

Popular questions and answers

Frequent questions from readers are answered by a service engineer for the repair of equipment Artur Tuliganov.