Restoring an iPhone leaves a 7 GB firmware file on your Mac
IPSW files are downloaded for every restore and update and never removed. Where they hide and why they are safe to delete.
Restoring or updating an iPhone or iPad from a Mac downloads a complete firmware image first. It is around 7 GB for a recent device, it is stored in a folder nobody visits, and nothing deletes it afterwards.
Where they are
du -sh ~/Library/iTunes/*\ Software\ Updates 2>/dev/null
ls -lh ~/Library/iTunes/*\ Software\ Updates/*.ipsw 2>/dev/nullThe folder is named for the device family, such as iPhone Software Updates, and on a Mac used to restore several devices there is one per family, each holding one or more images.
Why they are safe to delete
- They are downloads, not backups. Your device data is in a separate backup folder entirely.
- They expire in practice. Apple stops signing older versions, so an old image cannot be used to restore anyway.
- They redownload. If you restore again, the Mac fetches the current firmware.
That second point is the one worth understanding: keeping an old IPSW file in the hope of restoring to an older iOS does not work, because the restore has to be authorised against Apple's servers.
Not to be confused with backups
Device backups are the other large iOS related folder on a Mac and they are the opposite: they hold your data and should not be deleted casually. Where iPhone backups live and how to remove old ones covers those, and they are usually much larger than the firmware files.
du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup/* 2>/dev/null | sort -hA quick sweep for both
On a Mac that has been the sync machine for a family's devices, these two folders together are frequently the largest thing on the disk after the Photos library, and neither appears anywhere in the storage screen as itself. Checking them takes one command each.
Common questions
What are IPSW files on a Mac?
Firmware images downloaded when you restore or update an iPhone or iPad from the Mac. They are around 7 GB each and are stored under ~/Library/iTunes in a folder named for the device family.
Is it safe to delete iPhone Software Updates?
Yes. They are downloads rather than backups, and an old image cannot be used to restore an older iOS anyway because Apple stops signing it. A future restore downloads what it needs.
Where are iPhone firmware files stored on a Mac?
In ~/Library/iTunes, in folders such as iPhone Software Updates or iPad Software Updates. The folder persists even on Macs that have long since moved on from iTunes itself.
What is the difference between an IPSW file and a backup?
An IPSW is Apple's firmware image, identical for every device of that model. A backup contains your own data and settings and lives in a different folder, which should not be deleted casually.