
Welcome to The Apple Wiki
The Apple Wiki is an unofficial wiki dedicated to collecting, storing and providing information on the internals of Apple's amazing devices and software. We hope to pass this information on to the next generation of hackers so that they can go forth into their forebears' footsteps and break the ridiculous bonds Apple has put on their amazing mobile devices.
This is a conglomerate work of everything done by everyone on Apple's amazing devices and software. Anyone can contribute here, just create an account. Currently there are 1,066 users, with 4,694 articles (and 15,114 key pages).
How to Get Started
- Check out the most recent article changes.
- Get up to speed in the community (and learn about how jailbreaks work).
- Read (and edit) the constitution to understand what purpose this wiki serves.
- Read the timeline to see where we are.
- Read the community portal to find out what people request to be added/changed.
- Read the ground rules to know what you should and should not post in this wiki.
- If you have notes on something you did, post them here, no matter how ugly.
- If you see something ugly, work to make it pretty.
- If you have a fix for a problem people are having, post it here.
Firmware Status
iOS
Product Line | Apple TV | HomePod | Apple Watch | iPad | iPad Air | iPad Pro | iPad mini | iPhone |
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Supported | Apple TV HD and newer |
All models |
Series 4 and newer |
5th generation and newer |
3rd generation and newer |
All models |
5th generation and newer |
iPhone 8 and newer |
Latest Public Firmwares |
16.2 (20K362) |
9.2 (20S361) |
16.2 (20C65) | |||||
Latest Beta Firmwares | ||||||||
16.3 beta 2 (20K5637g) |
9.3 beta 2 (20S5637h) |
16.3 beta 2 (20D5035i) |
See Jailbreak for a complete list of devices and firmware versions and tools used to jailbreak those versions.
macOS
Product Line | iMac | iMac Pro | MacBook | MacBook Air | MacBook Pro | Mac Pro | Mac Studio | Mac mini |
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Supported | 2017 and later | 2017 | 2017 and later | 2018 and later | 2017 and later | 2019 and later | 2022 | 2018 and later |
Latest Public Release |
Ventura 13.1 (22C65) | |||||||
Latest Beta Release |
Ventura 13.2 beta 2 (22D5038i) |
Articles
Apple Software | |
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General | |
Firmware | |
iTunes | |
Keys | AES Keys • Apple Certificate • RSA Keys • TEA Keys • Firmware Keys • Decrypting Firmwares • GID Key • NCK |
OTA Updates | |
Protocols |
Jailbreak Software | |
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Jailbreaks | Absinthe • backr00m • blackra1n • checkra1n • Chimera • Corona • doubleH3lix • Electra • EtasonATV • EtasonJB • evasi0n • evasi0n7 • Fugu • Fugu14 • greenpois0n • h3lix • Home Depot • ipwndfu • JailbreakMe • kok3shi • limera1n • Meridian • n1ghtshade • Odyssey • p0sixspwn • palera1n • Pangu • Pangu8 • Pangu9 • Phœnix • p0laris • PPJailbreak • purplera1n • PwnageTool • redsn0w • redTool • Rocky Racoon • Seas0nPass • sn0wbreeze • Spirit • TaiG • Taurine • unc0ver • unc0verTV • unthredera1n • yalu |
Various Software | CoolBooter • Cydia • Cydia Impactor • EDA • Futurerestore • iBoot32Patcher • iFaith • libimobiledevice • SemiRestore • Sileo • Sund0wn • TinyUmbrella • tsschecker |
Hardware | |
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Portable Devices | Apple TV (accessories) • Apple Watch • AirPods • Beats headphones • HomePods • iPads (accessories • iPad Airs • iPad Pros • iPad minis) • iPhones • iPod touches |
Mac (Apple Silicon) | |
Apple OSes | |
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Alternative OSes |
Processors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Application Processors | Apple has made use of numerous unique processors, predominantly ARM-based, in their products.
Apple silicon is a brand name for Apple's in-house ARM-based system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs. A typical SoC in an Apple product will include general-purpose application processors, including the CPU and GPU, unified random access memory shared between the two, and various purpose-specific coprocessors, such as the Secure Enclave Processor. The SoC bears a unique identifier, named the Exclusive Chip ID (ECID), and a "burned", read-only bootrom, the first code executed when the device turns on. HistoryApple's use of ARM technology begins shortly after the inception of ARM itself, when Acorn Computers, Apple, and VLSI Technology formed the ARM Ltd. joint venture on 27 November 1990. Apple's motive to invest in ARM was to enable them to develop a processor that could power the Newton, Apple's first low-power portable device. Apple cancelled the Newton project after Steve Jobs's 1997 return to the company. ARM Ltd. continued operations, and Apple investigated other use cases for ARM-based product designs. This led to the inception of the iPad as a successor to Newton, the iPhone as a spin-off of the iPad concept, and the iPod, which Apple recognised as simpler than either concept to bring to market. On 23 October 2001, Apple announced the iPod, a portable music player device making use of PortalPlayer ARM SoCs. The iPod is credited as being a key part of Apple's return to profitability, selling 100 million units in six years. On 12 September 2006, Apple announced the iPod nano (2nd generation), their first device to make use of the Samsung Electronics S5L87xx series of ARM processors. On 9 January 2007, Apple announced the iPhone, making use of the closely-related Samsung S5L90xx series ARM processors. On 23 April 2008, recognising the demand for the first iPhone to do more than any SoC on the market was capable of, Apple acquired Santa Clara-based semiconductor design company P.A. Semi for $278 million.[1] P.A. Semi already had history working with the ARM platform, having developed the early DEC StrongARM processor used by the Newton MessagePad 2000 series, among other RISC designs. On 27 April 2010, Apple confirmed the acquisition of Austin-based semiconductor design company Intrinsity for an estimated $121 million.[2] Intrinsity created products to simplify semiconductor logic design, particularly in ARM core designs, reducing transistor count and power consumption. On 10 September 2012, Apple announced the iPhone 5. While still manufactured by Samsung, the CPU core is the first to be designed by Apple's in-house team. On 9 September 2014, Apple announced the iPhone 6. Its A8 SoC was the first to be manufactured by TSMC. On 12 September 2017, Apple announced the iPhone X and iPhone 8. Its A11 Bionic SoC was the first to use an in-house designed GPU, rather than a licensed Imagination Technologies PowerVR design. The A11 series additionally introduced the Apple Neural Engine, an AI accelerator coprocessor. On 22 June 2020, Apple announced plans to transition its Mac product line from Intel processors to its in-house designed Apple M-series processors. List of ARM SoCsEarly ARM ProcessorsThe Newton project saw Apple's earliest use of ARM processors. These are just the processor alone, not a system-on-a-chip.
PortalPlayer 50xxPortalPlayer SoCs were used in early iPods. This list additionally includes the SigmaTel STMP 3550, an unrelated SoC used in the same timeframe.
Samsung S5L84xx and S5L87xxIn 2007, Apple switched the iPod product line from the PortalPlayer PP50xx series to S5L87xx SoCs, designed in cooperation with Samsung. The iPod touch (2nd generation) also makes use of the S5L8720 SoC.
Samsung S5L89xxThe Samsung S5L89xx series was designed and manufactured by Samsung for use by Apple. While Apple began branding the chips as "A"-series starting with A4, they continued to use generic ARM cores until A6, when the Apple-designed Swift ARMv7 core was used.
A-Series ChipsStarting with A8, Apple began switching from Samsung to TSMC as their chip fabrication partner. A9 was dual-sourced from both Samsung and TSMC. Apple has continued to work closely with TSMC to take advantage of their latest process node improvements. Starting with A10 Fusion, Apple introduced the big.LITTLE architecture, referring to the big cores as "Performance" (P) and little cores as "Efficiency" (E). Performance cores provide the maximum processing power of the device, while efficiency cores optimise for lower power operation. The operating system dynamically manages scheduling tasks on either kind of core as it sees fit to complete an operation, balancing performance against battery life. Enabling "Low Power Mode" on the device disables work from being scheduled on performance cores. Notably, A10 Fusion has a limitation that only the performance or efficiency cores can be active at a time - not both. This was resolved in A11 Bionic, which can activate both kinds of cores simultaneously. A10 Fusion additionally can only execute 32-bit code on performance cores, while A11 Bionic lacks support for executing 32-bit code, as this compatibility was removed in iOS 11. Starting with A11 Bionic, Apple introduced the Apple Neural Engine, a set of coprocessor cores that optimise the machine learning tasks increasingly being taken advantage of by operating system features. Apple additionally introduced their own GPU core designs for the first time, replacing the PowerVR designs used to this point.
M-Series ChipsMacs and iPad Pros with Apple silicon use a chip from the M-series. Major chip designs (which tend to receive a marketing name) are made available in various configurations, which are listed together below. These configurations are presumably the result of binning chips based on the yield of working cores. M1 Series
M2 Series
S and T-Series ChipsApple introduced the S series to provide an highly integrated, low-power system-in-a-package (SiP) for the Apple Watch. These chips have also found use in the iBridge (Mac coprocessor) and HomePod series. The T-series was merged to become integrated in the M-series SoCs.
W and H-SeriesThe W-series, later renamed to H-series, features in Apple's wireless headphone products. W-series chips following the W1 are integrated as part of the S-series SiPs.
Assorted coprocessorsFrom time to time, purpose-built embedded silicon has been produced for Apple. Motion coprocessors in the M-series were briefly part of this family. With the A9, the coprocessor became integrated in the main system-on-a-chip. The U-series coprocessors provide ultra-wideband functionality.
OtherList of PowerPC CPUsPowerPC 600 SeriesPowerPC G3 (PowerPC 750 Series)PowerPC G4 (PowerPC 7400 Series)PowerPC G5 (PowerPC 970 Series)List of Intel Processors
See AlsoReferences
Notes
The Apple Wiki would like to thank Henriok, who produced the majority of Apple and Motorola/Freescale SoC renders used in this article, releasing them into the public domain.
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Baseband Devices | PMB8876 S-Gold 2PMB8878 X-Gold 608XMM6180 X-Gold 618
MDM6600
MDM6610MDM9600MDM9615MDM9625
MDM9635MDM9645PMB9943 X-Gold 736MDM9655PMB9948 X-Gold 748PMB9955 X-Gold 756
PMB9960 X-Gold 766
SDX55M
SDX57MSDX60M
SDX65M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other Processors |
Development | |
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These pages are mostly outdated. We would appreciate help bringing more recent documentation to the wiki! | |
Application Development | |
Copy Protection | |
iPhone Hackers | axi0mX • chpwn • comex • geohot • iH8sn0w • MuscleNerd • pimskeks • planetbeing • pod2g • posixninja • qwertyoruiop • saurik • Siguza • tihmstar • winocm |
iPhone Hacker Teams |
Help | |
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Guides | |
Definitions | Activation and Hacktivation • ASLR • Baseband • Bootloader • Bootchain • Bootrom and VROM • Bricked • CHIPID • DFU Mode • Failbreak • iBoot • IMG3 and IMG4 tags (BORD • CERT • CHIP • ECID • KBAG • PROD • SDOM • SEPO • SHSH • TYPE • VERS) • Jailbreak (Tethered • Untethered) • Firmware downgrading (Tethered) • Kernel • launchd • LLB • NAND • Unlock • Userland • DSID |
System on a chip, an integrated set of processors that provide the majority of an iOS device's core hardware functionality
Exclusive Chip Identification, the serial number of an Apple Silicon system-on-a-chip
Apple Watch fall detection
A6 CPU core design
A7 CPU core design
A8 CPU core design
A9 CPU core design
A10 performance core design
A11 performance core design
A12 performance core design
A13 performance core design
A16 performance core design
A10 low-power efficiency core design
A11 low-power efficiency core design
A12 low-power efficiency core design
A13 low-power efficiency core design
A16 low-power efficiency core design