How to Update to iOS 8 Beta Right Now on Your Apple iPhone (Video)

UPDATE 06.18.14: Apparently, some people are having luck doing this without having to register their UDID (and pay the $8). Feel free to actually do this and skip Section II altogether and see if it will let you continue without doing so first, then if it ever tells you to connect to iTunes etc. You can go back and register the UDID after the fact (and pay then). Good luck!

The iOS 8 Beta was released last week to developers, but it isn’t scheduled for public release until September. But what if you aren’t a developer? What if you are also impatient and curious? Well, besides the “becoming a registered developer for $99/year” option, there is another way. You can pay $8 to another site and have them register your device under their account and install iOS 8 right now. Interested? Well, before you get too excited, a disclaimer.

It’s a beta. And, by definition, that means it is not ready for the public (aka you). Expect bugs, glitches, and just things to randomly not work (including WhatsApp according to some readers) and do not complain to Apple about them. If they turn out to be too much for you to handle you can either wait for the next beta to be released (usually happens every two weeks), update, and pray that it fixed whatever bugs you hate most, or you can simply revert back to iOS 7 using our video for that.

With that out of the way, if you are still curious and have $8 to spare, here’s how to install the iOS 8 Beta on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch right now.

I. Before You Begin

1. If you are jailbroken or unlocked, this will make you lose that so if you want to keep that, please wait until there is a jailbreak and unlock for iOS 8. If you don’t care, you can unjailbreak your iPhone using our video and then continue with this procedure.

2. You will NOT BRICK your iPhone. The worst that happens is if you hit Restore it won’t let you activate the phone (will be stuck on the connect to iTunes situation). All you have to do it then follow these steps to get back to iOS 7, no biggie 🙂 HERE (yes it says it’s for unjailbreaking but it works to downgrade as well). You can also use that procedure to downgrade back to iOS 7 if you just don’t want to use iOS 7 anymore, too.

3. Some people may be concerned by the message in iTunes that says it will verify the install with Apple. Don’t be scared, it does that with every iOS version to check if it’s a legit version of iOS (and this is the version directly from Apple). It goes through the verification without any issue (so long as you hit update and not restore).

4. You must have the latest version of iTunes installed. Download it here if you don’t.

5. Perform a backup. Plug the iPhone into iTunes, click on the phone in iTunes, click Backup Now. Wait for it to finish the backup.

II. Register Your iPhone as a Developer Device

There are two ways to register as a developer: the official way and the not-so-official way. Either way works, but the official way requires you to register your device with Apple and pay $99 to do so, where as the other way costs $8 to have another company use their developer account to register you as a new device on their account (essentially). The official way can be done here (simply click on Continue on that page and go through the steps until you are registered and have paid, afterwards, skipt down to Section III below to continue), the other way is as follows:

1. Plug your iPhone in to the computer via the USB cable.

2. Open iTunes.

3. Click on your device in the left sidebar of iTunes (if it doesn’t show up there, click command S to show the sidebar).

4. Then click on the serial number displayed next to the image of the iPhone in the right panel. It’ll turn into a UDID.

5. Hit Cmd C to copy it.

6. Head to a site that registers your UDID (your iPhone’s serial number) for you, I used this one in the video.

7. Paste in your UDID by hitting Cmd V (make sure it is exactly correct as they will not refund you for a mistyped UDID).

8. Choose the UDID Registration option.

9. Click Next Step.

10. Enter your payment information and click Continue.

11. Wait for the email saying your device was registered.

III. Download the Latest iOS 8 Firmware.

1. Select the iOS 7 firmware for your specific device from the list below and save the IPSW file to your desktop.

Beta 1 Downloads –

iPhone 5S (Model A1453, A1533)
iPhone 5S (Model A1457, A1518, A1528, A1530)
iPhone 5c (Model A1456, A1532)
iPhone 5c (Model A1507, A1516, A1526, A1529)
iPhone 5 (Model A1428)
iPhone 5 (Model A1429)
iPhone 4S

*If you aren’t sure what version to download use this as a reference – iPhone Versions (look for the model number on that chart and use the corresponding file with that model number in the filename.

IV. Install the New iOS 8 Firmware

1. Open iTunes.

2. Plug in your iOS device via USB cable.

3. Click on your iOS device in iTunes on the left side.

4. Click Backup and wait for it to backup your device.

5. Hold Option and click Check for Update (if using Windows, hold down Shift and click Check for Update).

6. When the selector comes up, choose the IPSW file you downloaded earlier and click OK.

IV. Restore Your Backup (Optional)

1. If you’re data was erased for some reason, select Restore Backup and choose your backup file you just created to get back all your apps, contacts, etc.

Enjoy!