Reset All iPhone 4S - does it go back to iOS 6.0?

[Wekiva]

I've got an iPhone 4S that is at iOS 6.1.3. Currently I'm not planning on upgrading to iOS 8 for battery reasons. If I use the phone (not iTunes) to Reset All will it set it back to 6.0 (seems logical)? My concern is if that happens then I'm assuming there is no way to get it back to 6.1.3 since updating it would take it to the current iOS (8).

What I'd like is to reset it factory fresh and have it at 6.1.3. Is there any way to do that (with or without jail breaking)?

Thanks

 

[JohnAn2112]

When you reset from the device, it just wipes your data off. If you're on 6.1.3, it will reset back to stock 6.1.3.

 

[mmntech]

First of all, for the love of god, do not let it update to iOS 8 unless you want an expensive paper weight. Apple burned me once when I tried to install iOS 4 on my 3G. Won't get fooled again.

When you restore, it wipes the phone and puts it back to the factory settings of what ever version of iOS happens to be on there. So if it's 6.1.3, it will stay at 6.1.3 unless you tell it to update.

Back in the old pre-A5 days, you could roll back the OS if you accidentally installed a version that ran like a dog's breakfast on your phone. Then Apple started signing the IPAs, and taking the old ones immediately out of service. Dick move IMO.

 

[Wekiva]

Thank you both. That's good to know. I wanted a fresh start...but definitely didn't want to go to 8.

 

[ChronoReverse]

If only it could go back to version 6 that way =(

 

[TuxDave]

First of all, for the love of god, do not let it update to iOS 8 unless you want an expensive paper weight. Apple burned me once when I tried to install iOS 4 on my 3G. Won't get fooled again.

When you restore, it wipes the phone and puts it back to the factory settings of what ever version of iOS happens to be on there. So if it's 6.1.3, it will stay at 6.1.3 unless you tell it to update.

Back in the old pre-A5 days, you could roll back the OS if you accidentally installed a version that ran like a dog's breakfast on your phone. Then Apple started signing the IPAs, and taking the old ones immediately out of service. Dick move IMO.

I took the plunge (iPhone 6+ is coming in a month, thought I could play with it before trading it in). iOS8 on iPhone 4S isn't that bad. I first thought it was a lag fest but it was only right after install when all the programs were opening again for the first time instead of from cache. Besides that, it's been fine.

My only word of warning is that for some reason, SwiftKey on iPhone 4S w/ a flaky internet connect reallllllly sucks. I'm not really sure how it's supposed to work but you can get stuck in situations where you can't close the keyboard because the keyboard hasn't loaded yet. The only workaround I had was to go to settings and uninstall the keyboard and then the default one would get restored.

 

[Eug]

What about 7.1.2? I think Apple may still be signing that version, and personally I think 7.1.2 is currently the sweet spot for the iPhone 4S.

As for speed of iOS 8 on the 4S, well, I have the iPad 2 which has the same CPU but which is 25% faster. I thought it was usable, but in the end reverted back down to 7.1.2 because of performance issues. Quite a bit of lag on the iPad 2 with iOS 8. IOW, I think 7.1.2 is the sweet spot for the iPad 2 as well, at least until Apple can correct the iOS 8 performance issues, assuming they can at all.

 

[Wekiva]

How do you go back down to a previous version?
- and -
Is it still possible to go to 7.1.2 and not get taken up to 8?

 

[Eug]

How do you go back down to a previous version?
- and -
Is it still possible to go to 7.1.2 and not get taken up to 8?

IF Apple is still signing 7.1.2, you can do a full restore to 7.1.2.

What you'd have to do is this:

1) Use iTunes to do a complete local backup of your iPhone. (For good measure I always backup my photos separately too as a secondary backup, just in case.)

2) Download the full 7.1.2 firmware from somewhere. Lots of places have the links provided.

3) Do a full iOS restore using that firmware file. To do this you OPTION-click the Restore button in iTunes.

4) Restore all your files from your iTunes backup. The option is there within iTunes.

However, this all depends on if Apple is still signing iOS 7.1.2. They were a little while ago, but I dunno about today.

 

[zokudu]

I took the plunge (iPhone 6+ is coming in a month, thought I could play with it before trading it in). iOS8 on iPhone 4S isn't that bad. I first thought it was a lag fest but it was only right after install when all the programs were opening again for the first time instead of from cache. Besides that, it's been fine.

My only word of warning is that for some reason, SwiftKey on iPhone 4S w/ a flaky internet connect reallllllly sucks. I'm not really sure how it's supposed to work but you can get stuck in situations where you can't close the keyboard because the keyboard hasn't loaded yet. The only workaround I had was to go to settings and uninstall the keyboard and then the default one would get restored.

I believe that is the new spotlight thing indexing all of your emails and such.