IPSW File Format

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"IPSW" redirects here. For the component of XPwn, see ipsw.

IPSW (iPod[1] Software) files have the Magic Number 504B0304 (PK\003\004) and thus are ZIP archives. They can be modified with typical zip/unzip tools (i.e. change extension to .zip and double click). IPSWs are used to deliver the device's firmware to the end-user.

Archive Structure

Example

Here are the contents of the iPhone 3GS 3.0 (7A341) firmware IPSW:

Firmwares found in IPSW

Per http://newosxbook.com/bonus/vol1AppA.html

Filename Use
ICE17-1.xx.xx.Release.bbfw Intel modem / baseband
Mav17-1.xx.xx.Release.bbfw Maverick modem / baseband
AOP/aopfw-iphone##aop.im4p Always on processor
Savage/Savage.B[0/2]-[Dev/Prod].[vt.]fw FaceID
Yonkers/Yonkers.EA01_F###_[Dev/Prod]fw FaceID (A12+)
SE/Stockholm##.RELEASE.sefw Secure Element
Maggie/AppleMaggieFirmwareImage.im4p ?
cpu_Multitouch.im4p Multitouch controller
isp/adc-petra-d3x.im4p Image Signal Processor
ane/h11_ane_fw_quin.im4p Apple Neural Engine
WirelessPower/WirelessPower.iphone##.im4p Wireless charging controller
SmartIOFirmwareCHIP.im4p T8020 and later Smart I/O
board_CallanFirmware.im4p Haptics Firmware
ave/AppleAVE2FW.im4p Audio/Video Encoder
agx/armfw_g11p.im4p GPU Scheduler/Command Stream Processor
all_flash/sep-firmware.*.im4p Secure Enclave Processor
liquiddetect@2436~iphone-lightning.im4p Liquid Damage Detection
pmp/t8030pmp.im4p Power Management Processor
Rose/r1p0/ftab.bin U1 chip (Ultra Wideband)
vinyl_05.vnlfw eSIM
Veridian ? (Some form of signing/device integrity)

Notes

  1. IPSW files have been used since the very first iPod, though they have a different format than firmwares for iOS devices.