IOS 18 Offers a New Way to Recover a Locked IPhone 16
With every new release of iOS, there are many new features that get everyone’s attention, but there are also more modest ones that are still useful. One of the features of iOS 18 is the new wireless recovery feature. Basically, this feature allows you to restore and restore the firmware on your device wirelessly in case it gets bricked or put into recovery mode. Over-the-air repair was previously available for Apple Watch or Apple TV repairs, but iOS 18 allows you to repair your iPhone.
The team at 9to5Mac was able to simulate how the new feature works: When your iPhone 16 is put into recovery mode, nearby iPhones or iPads running iOS 18/iPadOS 18 will display a pop-up that says “Restore Nearby iPhone.” To begin the firmware recovery process, all you have to do is click “Continue” and the process will begin.
The firmware will be downloaded to the other device and transferred wirelessly to the locked device. This new recovery method means you won’t need a Mac or PC to fix firmware issues.
It’s worth noting that any device running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 can be used to recover a locked device, but for now, the iPhone 16 line is the only iPhone that can be restored wirelessly. This is because all iPhone 16 models have a dedicated recovery partition. It’s unclear whether Apple will provide an over-the-air restore feature on older iPhones.
iOS 18 is now available on iPhone Xs and later, and iPadOS 18 is available on iPad Pro (M4), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad Air (M2), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (7th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation and later).
The iPhone 16 lineup is available for pre-order and will go on sale on Friday, September 20.