iPhone Can I still upgrade iPhone 4 to iOS 5?

dandelioncottage · 10-07-2012, 11:22 AM

I have an iPhone 4 and never upgraded to iOS 5 (or I guess it's 5.1.1.).

After hearing about problems with iOS 6, I'm wondering if there is an easy way to get the 5 upgrade I missed (without jailbreaking or doing anything else too drastic).

Assuming it's even possible, where would I find it, and how would I install it? Thanks!

JoeD · 10-07-2012, 02:22 PM

Unless Apple are still signing the ios5 blobs, it's unlikely you can. Easiest way to find out though is give it a go.

http://osxdaily.com/2011/10/12/ios-5...oad-available/

Has a link to each of the ios5 firmwares for various devices. The downloads are actually hosted by apple, I wouldn't recommended obtaining firmware from any other source.

To install, you'll probably have to google it, but if memory serves, load itunes, select your device, hold down the option key and select restore. You can then pick the firmware. It'll only be installable if apple are still signing that firmware though.

kyteflyer · 10-08-2012, 08:49 AM

No, not possible. Its going to be iOS6 or stay put on 4. Apple stopped signng 5 soon after the release of 6.

dandelioncottage · 10-08-2012, 09:52 AM

Thanks for all the help--guess I'll stick with iOS 4 for now.

Has anyone else upgraded to iOS 6 on an iPhone 4? Any comments, pro or con?

hrosvit · 10-09-2012, 08:26 AM

I upgraded to 6 on my iPhone 4 when it was released. The actual upgrade experience was bad - the wifi download crapped out several times, and when I upgraded via iTunes, it told me the download was corrupted, and my phone was stuck in restore mode for about two hours. I was convinced it had bricked, but on the fourth go-round it worked.

In terms of the iOS6 experience...meh. Obviously, with the iPhone 4, you still don't have Siri, and you don't get the Panorama feature on the camera. Google maps disappears, and is replaced with Apple's Maps, which is (IMHO) an inferior product (yes, you can still use Google Maps via a web shortcut). I, personally have zero use for Passbook. Also, for the first week after upgrading, my battery life was terrible. With my usual phone usage, my battery would be at about 15-20% when I went to bed at night (I leave wifi and GPS on at all times, bluetooth always off). With no change in usage, my battery would be down to 10% by the time I came home from work at 4pm. I solved this by going into notifications and turning off a bunch of stuff and restricting which apps use location services (I think Passbook might have been a culprit).

So, my iOS6 experience has been mediocre. I really liked the move from iOS4 to iOS5, however. So, to sum it up, knowing what I know now, if I were at iOS5, I would probably stay there, but if I were at iOS4, I would probably go ahead and jump to iOS6.

Obviously, this is merely my own personal experience, and I'm sure others here love iOS6.

rlowe · 10-09-2012, 09:40 AM

Well using iOS 6 in iPhone 4 is not that bad. You still have the option to jailbreak it though, because they've already jailbreaked the iPhone 4 with iOS 6. My iPad 2 is running faster with iOS 6, and I'm pretty sure your iPhone 4 would perform the same.

Synamon · 10-09-2012, 12:22 PM

As hrosvit mentioned, there isn't much for the iPhone 4 in the iOS 6 upgrade, so going from 4 to 6 will mostly get you what was in the iOS 5 update.

FlorenceArt · 10-10-2012, 05:40 AM

Unless you make intensive use of the maps app and don't want to get the new one, I think you can probably upgrade to 6. There were a lot of small bugs introduced in apps by the upgrade, but I think most of them have been corrected now. I'm not crazy about OS6 either, I don't see any progress personally but now, after many update of my apps, there is no regression either. Except maybe for maps, I don't really have an opinion on that because I use it very little.

10-07-2012, 11:22 AM	#1
dandelioncottage Abibliophobe Posts: 421 Karma: 4333638 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPad Mini 2 64 gb, Nook Glowlight, iPad 4 (128 gb)	Can I still upgrade iPhone 4 to iOS 5? I have an iPhone 4 and never upgraded to iOS 5 (or I guess it's 5.1.1.). After hearing about problems with iOS 6, I'm wondering if there is an easy way to get the 5 upgrade I missed (without jailbreaking or doing anything else too drastic). Assuming it's even possible, where would I find it, and how would I install it? Thanks!

10-07-2012, 02:22 PM	#2
JoeD Guru Posts: 895 Karma: 4383958 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: na	Unless Apple are still signing the ios5 blobs, it's unlikely you can. Easiest way to find out though is give it a go. http://osxdaily.com/2011/10/12/ios-5...oad-available/ Has a link to each of the ios5 firmwares for various devices. The downloads are actually hosted by apple, I wouldn't recommended obtaining firmware from any other source. To install, you'll probably have to google it, but if memory serves, load itunes, select your device, hold down the option key and select restore. You can then pick the firmware. It'll only be installable if apple are still signing that firmware though. Last edited by JoeD; 10-07-2012 at 02:27 PM.

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10-08-2012, 08:49 AM	#3
kyteflyer Wizard Posts: 1,841 Karma: 9547754 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Newcastle, Australia Device: iPhone SE2020	No, not possible. Its going to be iOS6 or stay put on 4. Apple stopped signng 5 soon after the release of 6.

10-08-2012, 09:52 AM	#4
dandelioncottage Abibliophobe Posts: 421 Karma: 4333638 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: iPad Mini 2 64 gb, Nook Glowlight, iPad 4 (128 gb)	Thanks for all the help--guess I'll stick with iOS 4 for now. Has anyone else upgraded to iOS 6 on an iPhone 4? Any comments, pro or con?

10-09-2012, 08:26 AM	#5
hrosvit Moron Posts: 333 Karma: 3113890 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Southwest PA Device: iPad 3, Galaxy Note 2, Nook ST	I upgraded to 6 on my iPhone 4 when it was released. The actual upgrade experience was bad - the wifi download crapped out several times, and when I upgraded via iTunes, it told me the download was corrupted, and my phone was stuck in restore mode for about two hours. I was convinced it had bricked, but on the fourth go-round it worked. In terms of the iOS6 experience...meh. Obviously, with the iPhone 4, you still don't have Siri, and you don't get the Panorama feature on the camera. Google maps disappears, and is replaced with Apple's Maps, which is (IMHO) an inferior product (yes, you can still use Google Maps via a web shortcut). I, personally have zero use for Passbook. Also, for the first week after upgrading, my battery life was terrible. With my usual phone usage, my battery would be at about 15-20% when I went to bed at night (I leave wifi and GPS on at all times, bluetooth always off). With no change in usage, my battery would be down to 10% by the time I came home from work at 4pm. I solved this by going into notifications and turning off a bunch of stuff and restricting which apps use location services (I think Passbook might have been a culprit). So, my iOS6 experience has been mediocre. I really liked the move from iOS4 to iOS5, however. So, to sum it up, knowing what I know now, if I were at iOS5, I would probably stay there, but if I were at iOS4, I would probably go ahead and jump to iOS6. Obviously, this is merely my own personal experience, and I'm sure others here love iOS6.

10-09-2012, 09:40 AM	#6
rlowe Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 522576 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Vietnam Device: iPad 3; Kindle DX	Well using iOS 6 in iPhone 4 is not that bad. You still have the option to jailbreak it though, because they've already jailbreaked the iPhone 4 with iOS 6. My iPad 2 is running faster with iOS 6, and I'm pretty sure your iPhone 4 would perform the same.

10-09-2012, 12:22 PM	#7
Synamon Lunatic Posts: 1,691 Karma: 4386372 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Land of the Loonie Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch	As hrosvit mentioned, there isn't much for the iPhone 4 in the iOS 6 upgrade, so going from 4 to 6 will mostly get you what was in the iOS 5 update.

10-10-2012, 05:40 AM	#8
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	Unless you make intensive use of the maps app and don't want to get the new one, I think you can probably upgrade to 6. There were a lot of small bugs introduced in apps by the upgrade, but I think most of them have been corrected now. I'm not crazy about OS6 either, I don't see any progress personally but now, after many update of my apps, there is no regression either. Except maybe for maps, I don't really have an opinion on that because I use it very little.

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