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Finding an iPhone 6S with iOS 9.3 or lower on it

Finding an iPhone 6S with iOS 9.3 or lower on it

Old May 23, 2017, 3:13 pm
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From a security perspective, this is a HUGELY bad idea.
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Old May 23, 2017, 6:41 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by reft
I'd agree, a native 9.3 in-the-box phone is best bet if you can find one.

I only upgraded from 9.3.5. 9 days ago on a 6S+. An older version (can't recall) of iTunes didn't recognize the 10.3.1 release, so iTunes had to be upgraded first (to 12.6.0), and this may have been due to the signing issue.

If you can't find a "9.3" iPhone in the box, an older version of the firmware and iTunes may be an option, no guarantees, to get around the signing issue.

A possible direct link to iTunes 11: http://appldnld.apple.com/iTunes11/0...nes64Setup.exe

There are Apple serial number decoders. If you find a non-refurbished 6S, running the serial number through a decoder may give you an idea of the Date of Manufacture, and from there, you'd know if it was boxed before IOS 10 was released, which seems to be reported as September 13, 2016. I've used everymac in the past: http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/

If you seek a 6S, also check the serial number here: https://www.apple.com/support/iphone...ectedshutdown/ to ensure it's not one with a battery issue. If it was sent back, even if free service, I doubt it would come back with less than the current version of iOS.
HUGELY helpful. Thank you!
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Old May 24, 2017, 8:51 am
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Originally Posted by chrisrozon
From a security perspective, this is a HUGELY bad idea.
Can you elaborate?

At the root of this, we're dealing with a user who is already taking personal responsibility for going over the wall of of the walled garden.

Advice in this thread isn't intended for joe-average-iphone user. That advice would be run 10.3.2 or higher for the very latest security patches, don't jail break your phone, only use Apple approved apps and wear clean underwear in case of a car crash.
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Old May 24, 2017, 4:49 pm
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Originally Posted by reft
Can you elaborate?

At the root of this, we're dealing with a user who is already taking personal responsibility for going over the wall of of the walled garden.

Advice in this thread isn't intended for joe-average-iphone user. That advice would be run 10.3.2 or higher for the very latest security patches, don't jail break your phone, only use Apple approved apps and wear clean underwear in case of a car crash.
Count the number of iOS security updates since 9.x
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201222

Usually people who like to jailbreak and run non-approved apps tend to focus more on the functionality they're getting and forget about the huge number of zero-day and other exploits that Apple patches almost constantly.
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Old May 25, 2017, 7:27 am
  #20  
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woot.com has scratch & dent refurbished iPhone 6s today - maybe they have an older version of iOS.
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Old May 25, 2017, 5:54 pm
  #21  
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Thank you. Only 16GB ones available.
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Old May 26, 2017, 8:36 am
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Originally Posted by chrisrozon
Usually people who like to jailbreak and run non-approved apps tend to focus more on the functionality they're getting ...
Which I think is the case in this thread for the particular need requested.

Like this FT Thread: "does anyone carry their smartphone without a lock screen?" everyone has different security needs.
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Old Jun 24, 2017, 10:33 am
  #23  
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Originally Posted by murtaza12
You can find one on eBay probably. My cousin wanted a jailbreakable iPhone 5S and he found one that was on iOS 8.4 and already jailbroken, it was a bit more expensive than the ordinary 5S's available on eBay but obviously because it was on a lower OS version.... 10.2.1 or higher) would do fine as well.
Yes, there are some on eBay, but the prices there seem to be higher than is warranted. I've got a Craigslist alert set up and I get one or two hits a day. I always inquire what the exact iOS on the phone is. Most folks say that it's whatever the autoupdate has supplied them.

I'm astonished that anyone lets iOS (or Windows for that matter) auto-update the OS without carefully checking the updates first. Likewise with software; if there is a "notify but don't update" option I'll always take it (in part because I've discovered that some newer versions of software just aren't as good as older ones -- FoxIt Reader, Copernicus Desktop, MS Word).
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Old Jun 24, 2017, 4:30 pm
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Originally Posted by cblaisd
I'm astonished that anyone lets iOS (or Windows for that matter) auto-update the OS without carefully checking the updates first.
Auto-update is becoming more and more the default setting. Usually left unchanged until one is burned.

"At work" enterprises push changes automatically to all. The blind update methodology has become ingrained.

Some software publishers push out versions as soon as a new iOS or Android OS comes out and add] support for the new OS. Others also remove support for the older ones at the same time. More pressure to change to the newer OS, which is not always an upgrade.

In Windows besides windows update settings, you need to dig around in the Task Scheduler to remove/disable vendor-installed update cron jobs created when you first install the software. For some, you need to stay on it, as the 'update' might restart the update task. It's whack-a-mole.
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Old Jun 24, 2017, 4:34 pm
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Originally Posted by reft
...which is not always an upgrade....
Truth of the day. ^
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Old Jun 25, 2017, 4:53 pm
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Originally Posted by cblaisd
...I've got a Craigslist alert set up and I get one or two hits a day....
I'm now also astonished at the responses from folks who have an iPhone 6S to offer for only $100, but no box, cord, or charger.

Ya think they might be stolen? And if iCloud-locked, useless?

Are folks really that gullible?
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Old Jun 26, 2017, 7:18 am
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Originally Posted by reft
Auto-update is becoming more and more the default setting. Usually left unchanged until one is burned.
Originally Posted by cblaisd
I'm astonished that anyone lets iOS (or Windows for that matter) auto-update the OS without carefully checking the updates first. Likewise with software; if there is a "notify but don't update" option I'll always take it (in part because I've discovered that some newer versions of software just aren't as good as older ones -- FoxIt Reader, Copernicus Desktop, MS Word).
Of course, the reason for this is bug fixes that fill in security holes. Couple that with the fact that 95% of users won't update software of their own volition, and auto-updates become an important way to fix security problems.
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Old Jun 26, 2017, 9:08 am
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Originally Posted by cblaisd
I'm now also astonished at the responses from folks who have an iPhone 6S to offer for only $100, but no box, cord, or charger.
Not everyone keeps them or fails to not misplace them, but a deal doesn't smell as good as "with original box"

The Apple Trade in is currently just over $200.

I wouldn't buy one for $100. If not encumbered with carrier or 'ownership' problems, if it's an honest price, it's probably beat up.

Ya think they might be stolen? And if iCloud-locked, useless?
There used to be a link on apple's icloud web site to check.

There are a number of 3rd party web sites that claim to check for _carrier_ lock, I don't think those help with stolen, but could provide other useful information, YMMV.

If you ask the seller for the IMEI so you can do a 'stolen' scan, and the seller provides it, it suggests something different than if you never hear from them again.

Are folks really that gullible?
You have to ask that?
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Old Jun 26, 2017, 9:43 am
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Originally Posted by gfunkdave
Of course, the reason for this is bug fixes that fill in security holes. Couple that with the fact that 95% of users won't update software of their own volition, and auto-updates become an important way to fix security problems.
[Auto-]updates are not a security solution and cause critical issues too often.

Updates are what introduced the security hole. Maybe the update wasn't a bug fix, but a feature enhancement that introduced the problem. Rarely the problem was there from the beginning and only just discovered, but it happens.

Updates, auto or manual, solve known problems and create new problems. For this thread, 9.3.2 has features valuable to a user that 10.x.x makes impossible.

The purpose of security is to keep a system usable. There are notable past events where the 'security' solutions degraded or disabled systems, and not enough has changed to prevent this. That last ransomware event was bad for a number of people, but it's just as bad when $antivirusprogram false positives $bootprogram as virus and deletes it.

Updates need to be managed.

Up in the air, you don't want to start a Gogo or other for-pay, limited session, then find out that some piece of software as woken up and decided now is a good time to go get a large update.

On the ground, the last thing you want is to try to start that presentation or try to leave for the day to catch a flight and find out that Windows has decided "I am updating. Don't turn your computer off. Estimated time to complete: Let me get back to you on that"

Updates and patches have value, but it's a balance and auto-update doesn't strike that balance.
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Old Jun 28, 2017, 12:41 pm
  #30  
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Instead, you could be hit by the current wave of ransomware cyberattacks, rather than being protected by a patch that was released in an update 3 months ago.
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