Mac IPSW Firmware Restore File Downloads
Modern Mac computers with Apple Silicon chips can be restored and updated using IPSW firmware files.
An IPSW file is a file format that contains system software for applying or restoring to an Apple device, and in the case covered here, the IPSW files are for MacOS computers with Apple Silicon chip architecture, like the M1, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Pro Max, M3, M4, etc.
Mac IPSW firmware files can be used to restore that is in Mac in DFU mode, and can also be used to easily create virtual machines in apps like UTM, Parallels, Viable, and other similar virtualization apps.
While Mac IPSW files can be used to install macOS, they differ from full installers in that they can not be used to create bootable installer drives, nor can they be used to upgrade MacOS from a prior version and still retain data on the drive.
Mac IPSW File Download Links
The links below point directly to macOS IPSW firmware files hosted on Apple’s Content Delivery Network servers, and are coming directly from Apple:
MacOS Sequoia 15 IPSW Firmware File Downloads
MacOS Sequoia is currently in beta development and therefore not intended for most users. Nonetheless, the installer and IPSW can be downloaded from here:
- MacOS Sequoia 15.2 IPSW firmware
- MacOS Sequoia 15.1.1 (build 24B91) IPSW
- MacOS Sequoia 15.1.1 IPSW (build 24B2091) – M4 Macs only
- MacOS Sequoia 15.1 (build 24B83) IPSW
- MacOS Sequoia 15.0.1 (build 24A348) IPSW
- MacOS Sequoia 15.0 (build 24A335) IPSW
- Sequoia dev beta 5 IPSW
- MacOS Sequoia developer beta 4 IPSW
- Sequoia developer beta 2 IPSW
- Sequoia developer beta 1 IPSW
macOS Sonoma 14 IPSW Firmware File Downloads
MacOS Sonoma 14 system software is available as IPSW directly from Apple:
- macOS Sonoma 14.7.2 InstallAssistant.pkg
- MacOS Sonoma 14.7 InstallAssistant.pkg
- Sonoma 14.6 IPSW
- Sonoma 14.5 IPSW
- MacOS Sonoma 14.4.1 IPSW
- Sonoma 14.4 IPSW
- Sonoma 14.3 IPSW)
- Sonoma 14.2.1 IPSW
- Sonoma 14.2 IPSW
- 14.1.2 IPSW
- Sonoma 14.1.1 IPSW
- MacOS Sonoma 14.1 IPSW
- MacOS Sonoma 14.0 Final IPSW for Sonoma Final
- MacOS Sonoma RC 2 23A344 IPSW
- MacOS Sonoma RC 23A339 IPSW
- MacOS Sonoma Beta 6 IPSW
- MacOS Sonoma developer beta 5 IPSW
MacOS Ventura IPSW File Download Links
- MacOS Ventura 13.6 IPSW
- MacOS Ventura 13.5.1 IPSW
- macOS Ventura 13.5 IPSW (has the location services bug fixed in 13.5.1, avoid unless needed for a specific reason)
- macOS Ventura 13.4.1 IPSW
macOS Monterey IPSW File Download Links
macOS Big Sur IPSW Download Links
We often cover useful virtualization tips that require the usage of IPSW files, for example if you’re interested in running MacOS Sonoma beta in a virtual machine with UTM, or running macOS Ventura in a virtual machine with Viable, both of those require Mac IPSW files.
Similarly, there are IPSW files for iPhone, and iPad, and those are used differently but in a similar way to restore a device, or to apply a software update.
One thing that is unique about Mac IPSW files compared to iPhone and iPad IPSW files, is that the Mac IPSW files are universal, meaning they work for any compatible Apple Silicon Mac that can run that particular version of system software, whereas the IPSW files for iPhone or iPad are specific to each model that can run that particular version of system software.