So you’ve gotten your hands on a copy of the iOS 7 beta. Now what? If you’re ready to bite the bullet and begin to explore the flattened design overhaul and all its new features, installing the latest version of Apple’s mobile platform to your device is a fairly straight forward process.

Before we jump into the nitty gritty, just a few words of caution. iOS 7 is indeed beta material, even if Apple has a track record of releasing fairly polished products (even software previews). It isn’t recommended for your daily device as it can be quite buggy and battery hungry. While Apple warns that once upgraded to iOS 7 there is no turning back, it’s not impossible to restore your phone to iOS 6 should you decide the latest build just isn’t for you.
So taking all of that into consideration, if you want to take iOS 7 for a spin, here’s how:
You will need:
- iOS developer account (or access to one)
- iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, or iPod touch (5th gen.)
- Your device’s model number and UDID (Unique Device Identifier — if you need help finding this one check out this forum thread)
- Computer with latest version of iTunes
- iOS 7 beta IPSW file
- iOS 6 IPSW file (useful in case you need to restore to a stable version)
Installing iOS 7 beta
Log into your Apple iOS developer account to download the necessary install files. Be sure to grab the ones intended for your specific device and model number (for instance, Verizon’s iPhone 5 is model number A1429). The iOS 7 beta will come packaged as a .dmg. It is also helpful to download the latest stable build of iOS 6 at this time.
You will also need to register your device’s UDID to your account. If you do not register your device with your developer account you will not be able to install iOS 7.

Open the iOS 7 beta .dmg you just downloaded. It should mount to the desktop automatically for Mac users. For Windows users, you may need additional software to extract the file. Inside the .dmg should be one file ending with .ipsw.
Connect your device to your computer and navigate to the iPhone dialog in iTunes if it doesn’t launch automatically.

At this time, perform a manual backup by clicking “Back Up Now.” When iOS 7 is installed, it will wipe your device’s storage. Creating a backup will allow you to restore your iPhone’s data after updating.

Now it’s time to install iOS 7. On a Mac, hold down the Option key and click “Restore iPhone…” For Windows users, hold Shift while clicking.

Navigate to the iOS 7 .ipsw file you extracted earlier and open it. You will be asked to confirm that you want to restore your device and install iOS 7. Click “Restore.” Be patient, this could take several minutes.

After iOS 7 has installed and your phone has restarted, you will be prompted to set up the device via a dialog on the iPhone. You will be given the option to start anew or restore a backup from an existing iPhone. If you want to do so, remain connected to iTunes and restore from the backup of your choosing (likely the one we made before installing iOS 7).

And that’s that. Enjoy Jony Ive’s vision and check out cool new features like Control Center, enhanced multitasking, parallax home screens, and more. If you decide iOS 7 just isn’t for you quite yet, watch out for our tutorial on restoring to iOS 6, which we will be posting in the coming days.
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