How to downgrade from the iOS 11 Beta 2

If you just want the answer to the title jump to the How to solve the problem section below. If you want to know about my nightmare, keep reading.

My iOS 11 nightmare

The funniest thing happened to me today. I decided I wanted to try the new iOS 11 public beta, and followed Apple’s official steps to install it. I tested it during the morning and realized it ate too much battery so at lunch time I decided it was time to downgrade.

I had followed this process before so I knew I just had to download the iOS 10.3.2 IPSW and manually restore from that firmware by putting the iPhone in DFU mode and pressing the “ALT” key while clicking on “Restore”.

After a few minutes the process was complete, but what a surprise when the iPhone was stuck in DFU mode and I couldn’t get out of it because “there was a problem with the iPhone and had to be either updated or restored”. I tried both options, but both got me to a point where the same error appeared.

It was almost time to go back to work while I was still trying to figure out what to do. I was now left with not phone (calls and whatsapp mainly, but crucial for me), and had to leave the house, so I took an old iPhone 4 from a drawer and thought I maybe could get a nano to sim adapter somewhere.

After work, I rushed to the Apple Store without an appointment, so I was really lucky to get someone to try to solve my problem, but not lucky enough to get him to actually solve it. Apparently it was not something he could fix at that time, so I asked them for a nano to sim adapter while getting my iPhone 4 out of my pocket and realizing it had a code I didn’t remember. I told them to let me use their computer to restore the iPhone 4, and guess what, it also got the iPhone 4 stuck at DFU and iOSless, but this is for another story.

Now I had two iPhones in permanent DFU and I was starting to get nervous by the fact that I had been without virtually communicating with anyone for about 6 hours.

I couldn’t think clear, so the next thing I did was buying a cheap Huawei to at least tell someone I was alive, listen to my voicemail and answer WhatsApp messages. I got through the rest of the day trying to figure out Android and hating its keyboard, but discovering some things I really liked about it (customization, builtin radio…)

Once I got home, I decided I wouldn’t go to bed without solving my problem so the first logical thing I did was getting an appointment at the Apple Store for the next week, just in case. Luckily I managed to get to the bottom of it and solved the problem exactly 12 hours after screwing it.

How to solve the problem

I’m assuming you are stuck in DFU mode. If you are still using the Beta 2 skip step 2. The solution ended up being pretty straightforward.

1. Put your iPhone in DFU mode.
2. Restore your iPhone to Beta2 (only if you are stuck in DFU mode)
3. Restore your iPhone to Beta 1
4. Restore your iPhone to 10.3.2

My problem was I was skipping step 3.

I started writing this post while restoring my latest backup and now it’s done, so I think it’s time for me to go to bed.

Thanks for reading!