Apple Introduces Wireless Firmware Recovery for the iPhone 16 Series, Allowing Firmware Transfers from Another Device in Case of Malfunction

According to 9to5mac, Apple is bringing its wireless firmware recovery technology, developed since 2020, to the iPhone 16 series. This feature enables firmware to be transferred from another device during recovery.

Initially introduced in iOS 15.4 and watchOS 8.5, wireless firmware recovery later expanded to iOS 17 and tvOS 17, primarily supporting Apple Watch and Apple TV.

Now, Apple has finally introduced this functionality to the iPhone, allowing users to wirelessly recover firmware using another iPhone or iPad without the need to connect to a computer and use iTunes.

In essence, when an iPhone 16 series model encounters an issue that requires entering recovery mode, users can simply place it next to another iPhone or iPad. The functioning device will handle the download of the latest version of iOS and transfer it to the device in need of recovery.

Bringing this technology to the iPhone is crucial for Apple, as many users rarely use computers or do not own one, making recovery through iTunes a hassle.

In theory, any model running iOS 18 should support this feature; however, through testing, it's been found that only the iPhone 16 series, equipped with a special recovery partition, supports this functionality. This partition can manage the entire iOS recovery process, regardless of whether the iOS partition is able to boot normally.

Whether Apple will extend support for this feature to the iPhone 15 series and other models remains to be seen. This function is quite practical for most users, and Apple is likely to expand support to more models.