Apple has introduced wireless firmware recovery for the iPhone 16 lineup. This feature allows users to restore their iPhone’s firmware without needing to use a Mac or PC.
What’s a firmware? It is a bridge between the hardware and higher-level software applications and delivers low-level control and essential functions such as booting up the device, managing power consumption, and handling input/output operations.
Think of firmware as the “base programming” for a device. It remains intact even when the device is powered off and is usually created by the device manufacturer.
Like in a computer, it controls how the computer starts up before the operating system loads. In a smartphone, it manages basic hardware functions like the touchscreen or cellular modem.
This new wireless system, first spotted by 9to5Mac, uses the RecoveryOS that was previously introduced for Apple Watch and Apple TV. When an iPhone 16 enters Recovery Mode, users can initiate the restoration process by placing it next to another iOS 18 device. The assisting device then downloads the necessary firmware and transfers it wirelessly to the affected iPhone.
This process is made possible by a recovery partition included in iPhone 16 models, which can manage the restoration independently of the main iOS partition.
While any device running iOS 18 can assist in the recovery, it appears that only iPhone 16 models can be wirelessly restored at this time.