Yes Anyone Can Install iOS 9 Right Now, But You Should Wait

Sep 10, 2015 - 50 Comments

iOS 9

Update: iOS 9 has been released, you can download it here or install from the Settings app. This applies to all users, no need to wait anymore!

Now that iOS 9 has reached the GM build, it can technically be installed on any compatible iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch right now, assuming you have the proper iOS 9 IPSW file. Because it’s the final version of iOS 9, installation no longer requires a Public Beta profile or Developer UDID registration, but even so, you shouldn’t update right now.

While updating to iOS 9 before the official release date may be tempting for some users that are outside of the beta programs, it’s really a good idea to be patient and wait for September 16 to roll around instead.

The three primary reasons to wait are fairly straight forward:

  • iOS 9 won’t be officially supported by Apple until it’s public release
  • Downloading IPSW from random untrusted sources is a bad idea, just like downloading any other software from any other untrusted source is a bad idea
  • Installing iOS 9 right now is more technically challenging than when it arrives through the OTA updates and iTunes

The second reason is arguably the most important, as downloading and using an untrusted IPSW file from an untrusted source could lead to a myriad of issues ranging from a failure to update, a bricked iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, to malicious software arriving with the download. These are not worthwhile risks just to get a few days head start on running iOS 9, so just wait.

Are there exceptions? Sure maybe with adequate discretion. For example, if you have a trusted friend in the iOS Developer program who can provide with an iOS 9 IPSW file for your specific device that you can also verify the md5 or shasum for, and you’re comfortable with the other risk associated, go for it, just backup first. Installing iOS 9 this way is just a matter of using any other IPSW file with iTunes, by Option+Clicking on the “Update” button and selecting the IPSW file for the device. That whole process is easy enough for advanced users, but not appropriate for the average iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch owner.

IPSW file

For the average user? Don’t bother with any of this, just wait until iOS 9 arrives in it’s final easy to install form on September 16.

iOS 9 release date

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPad, iPhone, News

50 Comments

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  1. mifras says:

    Bro how install ios in android phone

  2. Rosa says:

    There is no recents or favorites in ios 9 !!!!!! It was the most practical thing ever i wish i hadnt upgraded it

  3. Yuvaraj says:

    Hi, I had installed the IOS 9 version in my iPhone 6s but the “Airplay” option seems to be not enabled with “Mirror” option with “AirServer” or “Reflector 2”.

    Please find the screenshot mentioned below for further reference.

    Screenshot: http://www.screencast.com/t/pmdEufftIr

    Please provide me a Video cast to solve this issue

  4. Trent says:

    I have 9.1 on my iPod and have no complaints thus far. I don’t really see the big difference between iOS 8 and 9. I’m guessing other people could offer up the big differences.

    I’m not using iTunes radio and I don’t have an iPhone, so maybe thats where I’m missing out.

    Cheers

  5. arob says:

    Installed 9.1 Beta on iPhone6+ and iPad3. Sluggishness of iOS8 is gone on iPad, iPhone is every bit as responsive as with past versions.

  6. Marcus says:

    For me also fine since the first beta. My 5s is quit faster than with 8. Actually got 9.1 beta on it, no crash and bugs.

  7. UglyStuff says:

    I too have updated my iPhone 6 to iOS 9.1 beta, and I must say it works even better than it did with iOS 9.0.

    However, and starting with the keynote this week, Apple has elevated its hardware (and software, in this case) requirements for syncing iPhone 6 on the Mac: you now have to have a machine running OS X 10.7.5 or higher and iTunes 12.2.x to be able to back up and/or restore your device on a Mac (says here: http://www.apple.com/iphone-6/specs/).

    Users like me, who are stuck with older hardware (and can’t or won’t shell the money to buy newer one) are now in a vise, because I’d backed up my iPhone 6 prior to the keynote, and now that backup is useless and inaccessible…

    Luckily for me, I also have a PC running Windows 10, so I managed to back up my phone with it, but I’m now fairly certain this iPhone 6 will be my last Apple mobile device.

  8. C. Schmidt says:

    I’m running iOS 9.1 on an iPhone 5 and didn’t notice any sluggishness, it’s as fast and responsive as the previous version. But there are other annoying things that made me consider going back to 8.4.1, such as Airplay malfunctioning. It has stopped working properly since the first beta version, and so far it keeps streaming sound only to my Apple TVs, no image whatsoever. In my opinion, the only improvement I’ve seen on iOS 9 is the way it handles the upper letters on the keyboard. Everything else seems better on iOS 8 and I have no plans to update my wife’s iPhone 6. By the way, I’ve tested some beta versions on an iPad Mini and it was rubbish, to say the least. Already restored to 8.4.1.

  9. Dog Breath says:

    I don’t know what you complainers are doing wrong, but iOS 9 is lightning quick on my 4S. Stable as can be too.

  10. Tim says:

    Interesting & good advice – but remembering that osxdaily used to post links to .ipsw files?

    • Gary says:

      Hmmm, I just checked & found this:

      Where to Download iPhone IPSW Firmware Files
      The following links are directly to the IPSW files as found on Apple servers. Note the file must save with a “.ipsw” file extension to be usable by iTunes, for best …
      osxdaily.com/iphone-ipsw-firmware-downloads/

  11. Judith K. Bogdanove says:

    Please be careful of grammar and punctuation on your postings. (iOS 9 won’t be officially supported by Apple until it’s public release)
    It should read…until its public release—without the apostrophe I’m not saying this to be snarky, as I’m very pleased with this website overall. But these little word demons have a way of catching the eye and diluting the message, which would be a shame. Every writer needs an editor.

  12. Phred says:

    I have spotlight turned off, so can I assume the reported lag will not happen?

  13. John Lange says:

    Wow all the complaints about slow IOS9, I’ve been running the beta on an iPhone 6 and iPad Mini (first gen) since the start with no noticeable performance issues. There have been a few issues with some apps but no “bugs” maybe one or two random reboots but IOS8 has done that as well.

    When the official upgrade drops go for it.

    • Ama says:

      Same here, everything is just fine! Love it!

      • DMc says:

        Everything fine here, iOS 9 on my 6, & iPad mini 2, both run great…

      • Run Buh says:

        128GB iPhone 6s on GM 9 and 128GB iPad Air 2 on 9.1 beta. No lag, no slowness. I installed the iOS, did a “clear everything” reset, and did not do a restore. I rebuilt from scratch.

    • yash jariwala says:

      I agree I am running iOS 9 betas since the time they have been out on my iPhone 6+ and even my ipad air runs flawless there were some glitches but they have been already sorted and its completely fine to install the new update! I don’t even have any battery life issues with my device! Its completely fine to install iOS 9 when its out!

  14. Jazz Bass says:

    I have never installed the first iteration of software. It usually isn’t solid until you’re up to .5 or more.

    Also, I saw a photo of a Iphone screen notice that said once 9 is installed you will not be able to downgrade.

  15. KURT HANSON says:

    I’m in a rush to catch the bus, but what is a few seconds to load an app with iOS 9? No big deal.

    I remember how snap-of-the-fingers fast applications and tasks happened with my Indigo Clamshell, running at 366 MHz, and as soon as I installed the first OS X what a wicked drop in speed. But stability did improve, … somewhat, sometimes.

    Just sayin’, and thunkin’ out loud now. 🖖

  16. kaps says:

    Would installing the GM this way allow future updates to come as OTA

  17. Todd says:

    Sorry, but only fools install iOS 9. If you have not learned your lesson in the past 5 years, that each iOS release has a slew of problems along with possible slowdowns and lag, your are a fool.

    • Josh says:

      I agree with Todd.

      Don’t update your iPhone/iPad beyond what comes with it pre-installed the very first moment you get it. That is what has been optimized for the hardware, anything else will slow it down.

      The subsequent updates slow it down, Apple has done it for years with ‘new’ software releases slowing down the prior hardware.

      Don’t fall into the trap, you spent a fortune on that iPhone or iPad, make it last by NOT updating iOS!

      Unfortunately that even applies to the Mac now, as we all found out with the horrible mess of OS X Yosemite and even OS X El Capitan is no better! Don’t update people, you’ve been warned! Don’t be the fool! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!

      • Jason says:

        This is kind of foolish thinking. Instead of ranting for paragraphs, why not wait and let others try it out and post their results.

        As a matter of fact, beta testers of El Capitan and IO 9 have stated their devices were more responsive, nearly universally, than the current OS.

        • Fred_M says:

          Jason, thank you! I was on the beta programs for Yosemite, El Capitan, iOS 8, and iOS 9. None of them were a “horrible mess.” They were all significant improvements over the older operating systems.

          I’m pretty sure that Josh is lying. He probably does not own an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. He likely hates Apple and is trolling these forums.

      • Daniel says:

        I totally agree with you, I got to that point as well. I installed Yosemite on my Macbook Pro and I ended up reinstalling Mavericks just because battery life got so, so bad. Yosemite looks better but I don’t really care I am way more into battery life. As for the iphones if you aske me the same rules applies. Josh is totally right on that.
        I became a Mac OSx and iOS beta tester and almost every update cripples the battery regardless of what we do to squeeze so more power. Most of my devices features are disabled because I am all about saving battery and because I DO NOT use them.
        This is just my own experience.

    • Fred_M says:

      Todd, you are the fool. I’ve been on the beta program and iOS 9 is rock-solid and more responsive than iOS 8.

      But you probably have an Android phone and you came here to stir up shoot.

      But if you want to call people fools, do it to their faces, in meatspace, you cowardly POS.

  18. David Anders says:

    iOS 9 is incredibly buggy and *slow* for a ‘GM’, did I mention slow? It turned my 5 month old iPhone into something that feels slower than the iPhone 5 I have in a drawer running iOS 7! This is final?? Unbelievable, skip it!

    My advice, stick with iOS 8! I’m going to downgrade and stay there.

    • Fred_M says:

      You are wrong. I’ve run every beta, the GM, and 9.1 beta. I’ve also seen the independent benchmarks that prove that it is faster than iOS 8, not slower.

      Claims like yours occur every time that Apple releases any new version of iOS or OS X. And almost every time, the claims are shown to be without merit.

      • Billy says:

        iOS 9 is slower on my iPhone 6 than iOS 8.4 was, I am downgrading right now to get the speed back.

      • Alexander says:

        Look.
        David Anders USED the system. It is slow. He experienced it firsthand, and you tell him about some independent benchmarks. I don’t understand people like you – you disregard people who experienced iOS 9 firsthand, and then praise the buggy system as it’s Second Coming.

      • makemineamac says:

        Agreed 100%. My 6 Plus is running as fast or faster than it ever has.

  19. Mick says:

    Installed GM on the 6+ super laggy. Hate it. Installed the 9.1 public one…same, laggy, hate it even more.
    With DFU and clean install. Went back to 8.4.1 which is way smoother; I’ll wait for the 6S+ though, which I hope it’ll run fine with iOS 9.

    Just my opinion.

    • humans says:

      Totally agree with you Mick, just installed iOS 9 GM on an iPhone 6 Plus and it’s slower than molasses, total junker, crashes frequently.

      Apple is bricking the iPhone 6 already with iOS 9, wow usually they wait at least a version or two before junking out the old generation devices!

      • Adam says:

        iPhone 6? Ha, what kind of peon phone is that? You from the 19th century? Your iPhone 6 is ancient hardware now. Why don’t you sell your iPhone 6 to an archeological society as some relic of the distant past, you dusty old iPhone 6 user!

        Besides, Apple just released the all new iPhone 6S! The ‘S’ stands for “Same”, and te iPhone 6Same is the exact same as the iPhone 6 except it will run iOS 9 without the slow chunky interactions. That’s why they put a new CPU in there, so it can handle iOS 9, which has so many new features you can’t even think of a single one of them.

        The iPhone 6Same, you want to pay $749 for one, don’t you?

        • Chad says:

          Weird, since it’s not the same. I can think of quite a few of the new features, but then again I’m smart.

        • Rags says:

          Man! Marketing has totally consumed your sense of judge men, If what you said was put in practice by thinking people, You would be put out to pasture the moment a younger nut such as yourself showed up.

      • Jason says:

        A common problem with newly installed OS’s is that the spotlight search engine is indexing all of the content of your phone (email, contacts, apps, music, etc) so it can quickly find things when you look for them – since its a low priority task it runs on spare cycles – this can take a few hours up to a day or so depending on how much you use your phone.

      • Fred_M says:

        You should have installed it on an iPhone 5S like I did. My phone was fast and rock-solid with iOS 9 and it still is with iOS 9.1 beta.

        There have already been multiple benchmarks run and they show that iOS 9 is slightly faster than iOS 8.x (except in the “low power” mode reserved for when battery power falls to something like 10%. As to your claim that iOS 9 “crashes frequently,” how do you explain it having gone through beta testing without this serious supposed defect being uncovered?

  20. Chuggers MacSquid says:

    Apple already has direct download links available to the public for iOS 9 GM builds. Here’s direct download link for iOS 9 IPSW for iPhone 6 Plus on Apple server for example:

    http://appldnld.apple.com/ios9/031-07325-20150916-3FA7741C-525E-11E5-A01B-138C6CA99CB1/iPhone7,1_9.0_13A340_Restore.ipsw

    Other IPSW files are out there too from Apple

    – Open iTunes connect the iPhone to USB

    – Option click “Check for updates” on Mac, Shift+click same button on Windows

    – Choose the IPSW file

    – Update to iOS 9

    I agree though, do not download from a link that is not apple.com CDN.

  21. SecOps says:

    Take it from someone in security…

    #2 is the ONLY reason that actually matters to not install iOS (any version) UNLESS you can get it directly from Apple. It’s so easy to modify an IPSW file that if you can’t verify the source, don’t install it! Period!

    Only install updates that you downloaded from Apple. DO NOT TRUST the third party download sites, you have been warned!

    • Arturo says:

      if you modify the IPSW in any way, apple won’t sign it and it won’t be installed on the device, only legit ipsw files can be installed and signed, so you should not worry about installing something malicious on the device

  22. Cludgerson says:

    I’m in the Public Beta and I was offered iOS 9.1 Beta 1 today, so I installed that. It seems to be fine so far.

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