Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone Keep iOS 12 on iPhone 6S

gigatoaster

gigatoaster

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 22, 2018
1,679
3,382
France
Hello there

I currently own an iPhone 6S and I am planning to replace it with a new iPhone. I will give my 6S to my mom. I have the following questions:

1. Is there a way to avoid installing iOS 13 and keep iOS 12?

2. Will resetting the phone force me to install iOS 13?

3. Will changing Apple ID force me to install iOS 13?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
All you need to do is installing a tvOS beta profile. You just need to install a new one every year to keep iOS 13 from being downloaded. And no. Resetting your phone won’t force you to install iOS 13. Changing Apple ID won’t force you to install iOS 13.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MartyvH
gigatoaster said:
Hello there

I currently own an iPhone 6S and I am planning to replace it with a new iPhone. I will give my 6S to my mom. I have the following questions:

1. Is there a way to avoid installing iOS 13 and keep iOS 12?

2. Will resetting the phone force me to install iOS 13?

3. Will changing Apple ID force me to install iOS 13?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Click to expand...

The basic answer to these questions is:

1. Yes - be sure Settings > General > Updates > Automatic Updates is OFF, and resist invitations to upgrade
2. If by "reset" you mean Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings, no, you will not be required to update. If you mean "Restore iPhone" via iTunes, then yes, you'll be upgraded to the current operating system.
3. No.
 
Do you need a tvOS 13 at this point or tvOS 12 can do the job? I don't want to upgrade to iOS 13 as well for bugs that seriously impact my daily productivity.

Does a public beta program can bring me this profile or I have to search online to have one?
 
SoYoung said:
Do you need a tvOS 13 at this point or tvOS 12 can do the job? I don't want to upgrade to iOS 13 as well for bugs that seriously impact my daily productivity.

Does a public beta program can bring me this profile or I have to search online to have one?
Click to expand...
Either one should work as neither would check for iOS updates, which is basically what is desired to be avoided.
 
ApfelKuchen said:
The basic answer to these questions is:

1. Yes - be sure Settings > General > Updates > Automatic Updates is OFF, and resist invitations to upgrade
2. If by "reset" you mean Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings, no, you will not be required to update. If you mean "Restore iPhone" via iTunes, then yes, you'll be upgraded to the current operating system.
3. No.
Click to expand...
I was about to create a similar thread about my iPhone 8. I've got a sneaking feeling sticking with iOS 12 is the best choice for my iPhone 8 & iPad Pro 10.5.

If I decide to stay on iOS 12, I'll be doing so for several years, I just don't want to continually get upgrade notices. I have a very low tolerance for stutters and I've suffered with iOS 7 on the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 6 not being fast enough to get out of it's own way. I've previously owned and strongly dislike the XS because of the notch and AMOLED design compromises. I don't want any slowdowns to my 8 and I'm unsure if iOS 13 will do that or not. I've been lead astray with iOS 7 on my iPhone 5, so I'm very hesitant to even try iOS 13.

I've already turned off Automatic Updates, but it will still download iOS 13 by itself, right? I thought I read some way to go into Settings->General->iPhone Storage and delete out the new iOS download and that will stop the update notifications. Is that right?
 
Dreamliner330 said:
I was about to create a similar thread about my iPhone 8. I've got a sneaking feeling sticking with iOS 12 is the best choice for my iPhone 8 & iPad Pro 10.5.

If I decide to stay on iOS 12, I'll be doing so for several years, I just don't want to continually get upgrade notices. I have a very low tolerance for stutters and I've suffered with iOS 7 on the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 6 not being fast enough to get out of it's own way. I've previously owned and strongly dislike the XS because of the notch and AMOLED design compromises. I don't want any slowdowns to my 8 and I'm unsure if iOS 13 will do that or not. I've been lead astray with iOS 7 on my iPhone 5, so I'm very hesitant to even try iOS 13.

I've already turned off Automatic Updates, but it will still download iOS 13 by itself, right? I thought I read some way to go into Settings->General->iPhone Storage and delete out the new iOS download and that will stop the update notifications. Is that right?
Click to expand...
Best idea is to install a tvOS profile and that way no updates will be offered.
 
I have the same question where do you get this TVOS 12 or 13 download and how do you install it? Thank you.
 
Dreamliner330 said:
I was about to create a similar thread about my iPhone 8. I've got a sneaking feeling sticking with iOS 12 is the best choice for my iPhone 8 & iPad Pro 10.5.

If I decide to stay on iOS 12, I'll be doing so for several years, I just don't want to continually get upgrade notices. I have a very low tolerance for stutters and I've suffered with iOS 7 on the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 6 not being fast enough to get out of it's own way. I've previously owned and strongly dislike the XS because of the notch and AMOLED design compromises. I don't want any slowdowns to my 8 and I'm unsure if iOS 13 will do that or not. I've been lead astray with iOS 7 on my iPhone 5, so I'm very hesitant to even try iOS 13.

I've already turned off Automatic Updates, but it will still download iOS 13 by itself, right? I thought I read some way to go into Settings->General->iPhone Storage and delete out the new iOS download and that will stop the update notifications. Is that right?
Click to expand...

I used to do this but now when I go into storage the download isn’t there buy yet says its ready to download. I don’t want 13 on my 6s plus either
 
Dreamliner330 said:
I was about to create a similar thread about my iPhone 8. I've got a sneaking feeling sticking with iOS 12 is the best choice for my iPhone 8 & iPad Pro 10.5.

If I decide to stay on iOS 12, I'll be doing so for several years, I just don't want to continually get upgrade notices. I have a very low tolerance for stutters and I've suffered with iOS 7 on the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 6 not being fast enough to get out of it's own way. I've previously owned and strongly dislike the XS because of the notch and AMOLED design compromises. I don't want any slowdowns to my 8 and I'm unsure if iOS 13 will do that or not. I've been lead astray with iOS 7 on my iPhone 5, so I'm very hesitant to even try iOS 13.

I've already turned off Automatic Updates, but it will still download iOS 13 by itself, right? I thought I read some way to go into Settings->General->iPhone Storage and delete out the new iOS download and that will stop the update notifications. Is that right?
Click to expand...

If it does download, you're right - Settings > General > iPhone Storage. If there's an iOS download present you can delete it.

Personally, I don't get this fear-of-updates, but I've been beta testing software since 1994 - I'm one of those weird people who say, "Bugs come and find me!" I'd rather have new features, bug and security fixes, and potentially improved performance, and am willing to take risks to get them.

I don't subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Apple wants to cripple old gear so I'll buy new. Over the years I've kept some pretty old Apple hardware running by updating the OS. The best example is my old 2008 iMac, which is the Mac I "retired" due to declining performance when I bought the late 2013 iMac I'm using to write this post. Alas, that 2008's HDD is sick now (and I'm not motivated to replace it), but some of the performance problems it was having back in 2013 cleared up with subsequent OS X releases - my youngest still uses it for coding when he comes to visit. That iMac came with Leopard (10.5), and I've taken it to the top of El Capitan (10.11.6), which as far as Apple will let me go.

Certainly, there are times when putting new demands on old hardware will hurt performance, but my experience with Apple generally does not bear that up. The late 2013 iMac upon which I type this is working as well or better on the current Catalina beta (macOS 10.15) as it did, brand new, with Mavericks (OS X 10.9). My first-generation iPad Pro, which came with iOS 9.1, is running the iOS 13.1 beta without a hiccup.

Have I had some poor experiences over the years? Yeah, but when balanced against what I've gained by upgrading, I'm more than willing to keep taking the risk.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shirasaki
ApfelKuchen said:
If it does download, you're right - Settings > General > iPhone Storage. If there's an iOS download present you can delete it.

Personally, I don't get this fear-of-updates, but I've been beta testing software since 1994 - I'm one of those weird people who say, "Bugs come and find me!" I'd rather have new features, bug and security fixes, and potentially improved performance, and am willing to take risks to get them.

I don't subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Apple wants to cripple old gear so I'll buy new. Over the years I've kept some pretty old Apple hardware running by updating the OS. The best example is my old 2008 iMac, which is the Mac I "retired" due to declining performance when I bought the late 2013 iMac I'm using to write this post. Alas, that 2008's HDD is sick now (and I'm not motivated to replace it), but some of the performance problems it was having back in 2013 cleared up with subsequent OS X releases - my youngest still uses it for coding when he comes to visit. That iMac came with Leopard (10.5), and I've taken it to the top of El Capitan (10.11.6), which as far as Apple will let me go.

Certainly, there are times when putting new demands on old hardware will hurt performance, but my experience with Apple generally does not bear that up. The late 2013 iMac upon which I type this is working as well or better on the current Catalina beta (macOS 10.15) as it did, brand new, with Mavericks (OS X 10.9). My first-generation iPad Pro, which came with iOS 9.1, is running the iOS 13.1 beta without a hiccup.

Have I had some poor experiences over the years? Yeah, but when balanced against what I've gained by upgrading, I'm more than willing to keep taking the risk.
Click to expand...
It’s not a conspiracy theory if it’s true. Perhaps Apple isn’t purposely slowing down older models but they certainly do not optimize for them.

The worst case of this is when I installed iOS 7 on my iPhone 5 (because other users convinced me it was fine) and it couldn’t even rotate the keyboard to landscape without chunky animation. No excuse for that nonsense.

Or the (at the time) my brand new iPhone 6, out of the box would cause music or podcast playback to stutter when doing other tasks. That’s something I’ve never ever seen in an iPhone before.

iOS 7, 8 and 9 maybe (I forget) were very poorly optimized and it only got better when Apple released phones with more horsepower to overcome the poor optimization. This was quite disappointing as it’s the tactic Android employs: why make clean software when you can just throw more power at it?

The iPhone 8 is the 2nd best phone I’ve ever had (still prefer the smallness if the iPhone 5). I don’t like the non-uniform subpixels that leads to graininess or PWM power that leads to flickering with AMOLED panels. I also don’t like the notch.

I can live with the notch but those AMOLED design compromises are an absolute no go. I got rid of my XS because I couldn’t stand it (made a whole thread about it). If I had to buy a new phone it’d be the XR or 11 (beautiful LCD goodness) but I’d much rather keep my 8 with square corners, no notch and a design that matches my iPad.

Regarding blindly upgrading software on old hardware...I’d rather keep what I know works than upgrade for some perceived unnoticeable benefit. Also, iPhones are different than Macs.

Beta testing software is for people that don’t mind bugs, problems, instability and have time on their hands. That is the reason I left Android and I won’t be willingly doing that to myself.

Most people do not notice the things I’ve mentioned and it’s truly a case of ignorance is bliss. For me, I notice every little hiccup and flaw. It’s super frustrating.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shirasaki and entropi
C DM said:
Which does't make the conspiracy true.
Click to expand...
There isn’t a conspiracy. Apple simply doesn’t spend the time to make certain software is optimized for older devices, even if they are only a year or two old.

The proof of this is the one time Apple did try and the performance on older hardware actually improved. I forget what iOS that was but it was in the last few years.

I’ve moved from nerding out to just wanting my hardware to work. That’s why I don’t want to jump into iOS 13 and risk performance degradation.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: FeliApple and Isamilis
ApfelKuchen said:
If it does download, you're right - Settings > General > iPhone Storage. If there's an iOS download present you can delete it.

Personally, I don't get this fear-of-updates, but I've been beta testing software since 1994 - I'm one of those weird people who say, "Bugs come and find me!" I'd rather have new features, bug and security fixes, and potentially improved performance, and am willing to take risks to get them.

I don't subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Apple wants to cripple old gear so I'll buy new. Over the years I've kept some pretty old Apple hardware running by updating the OS. The best example is my old 2008 iMac, which is the Mac I "retired" due to declining performance when I bought the late 2013 iMac I'm using to write this post. Alas, that 2008's HDD is sick now (and I'm not motivated to replace it), but some of the performance problems it was having back in 2013 cleared up with subsequent OS X releases - my youngest still uses it for coding when he comes to visit. That iMac came with Leopard (10.5), and I've taken it to the top of El Capitan (10.11.6), which as far as Apple will let me go.

Certainly, there are times when putting new demands on old hardware will hurt performance, but my experience with Apple generally does not bear that up. The late 2013 iMac upon which I type this is working as well or better on the current Catalina beta (macOS 10.15) as it did, brand new, with Mavericks (OS X 10.9). My first-generation iPad Pro, which came with iOS 9.1, is running the iOS 13.1 beta without a hiccup.

Have I had some poor experiences over the years? Yeah, but when balanced against what I've gained by upgrading, I'm more than willing to keep taking the risk.
Click to expand...
I don't want to update simply because iOS 13 break some things that worked perfectly for me on iOS 12 that I use everyday. Simple as that. I don't have any "fear" with updates usually but I'm tired to constantly learn to accept buggy things again when everything worked perfectly before.
 
Dreamliner330 said:
There isn’t a conspiracy. Apple simply doesn’t spend the time to make certain software is optimized for older devices, even if they are only a year or two old.

The proof of this is the one time Apple did try and the performance on older hardware actually improved. I forget what iOS that was but it was in the last few years.

I’ve moved from nerding out to just wanting my hardware to work. That’s why I don’t want to jump into iOS 13 and risk performance degradation.
Click to expand...
I completely, absolutely agree with you, and I do the exact same thing as you. I’m using an iPhone Xʀ on iOS 12.3.1, but up until last month I was using an iPhone 6s on iOS 9.3.3, and I am still using a 9.7 iPad Pro on iOS 9.3.4.
Apple either does it on purpose - we’ll never know - or it doesn’t take the time and resources to optimise it. iOS 12 is the version you refer to when you talk about the one time Apple tried to improve performance.
Which it did, but battery life kept falling apart. iOS 13’s jury is still out, but every single version before it crippled battery life, performance, or both.
This Xʀ is staying on 12.3.1 for good.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Dreamliner330
The last version of iOS 12 will be a good one. Since there's tens of millions of iPhone 6 phones still out in the wild that can't upgrade to iOS 13 ever, iOS 12 will be it until all those phones die. So that's going to be a very long time.

Anyway- iOS 13 later on may not turn out to be a dog. Preliminary tests with the betas now show its not slow at all on the SE. But even still, waiting until 13.3 is always a wise choice.
 
I used the tvOS profile for a few years, it lasted from iOS9 to iOS12 so another thumbs up from me for that method.
 
Dreamliner330 said:
I was about to create a similar thread about my iPhone 8. I've got a sneaking feeling sticking with iOS 12 is the best choice for my iPhone 8 & iPad Pro 10.5.

If I decide to stay on iOS 12, I'll be doing so for several years, I just don't want to continually get upgrade notices. I have a very low tolerance for stutters and I've suffered with iOS 7 on the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 6 not being fast enough to get out of it's own way. I've previously owned and strongly dislike the XS because of the notch and AMOLED design compromises. I don't want any slowdowns to my 8 and I'm unsure if iOS 13 will do that or not. I've been lead astray with iOS 7 on my iPhone 5, so I'm very hesitant to even try iOS 13.

I've already turned off Automatic Updates, but it will still download iOS 13 by itself, right? I thought I read some way to go into Settings->General->iPhone Storage and delete out the new iOS download and that will stop the update notifications. Is that right?
Click to expand...
if you dont like stutters etc. you can still upgrade to ios 13 , it works 100% the same like the ios 12 for me on my 8, some apps even launch noticeably faster ( im using beta of ios 13, public release and ios 13.1 will run even better )
 
  • Like
Reactions: MartyvH
tranceking26 said:
I used the tvOS profile for a few years, it lasted from iOS9 to iOS12 so another thumbs up from me for that method.
Click to expand...
I am excited to read iOS 13 may not slow down older devices (I have an iPhone 8 & iPad Pro 10.5)...but how do I load the tvOS profile? I haven't seen any instructions yet. Thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back