Apple has removed a restriction from the iOS 5 Gold Master released to developers yesterday, reports 9to5Mac, allowing anyone to install the Gold Master on their device, regardless of whether they have access to a developer account.
The Gold Master is the same build of iOS 5 that Apple will be installing on all new devices starting on October 12th. In many cases with past GM releases, it hasn’t even been necessary to update to the “final” release when iOS 5 ships to the public.
While developer releases like this are typically unfinished pre-release software intended for only developers, things are different this time, since this actually is nearly identical (or exactly identical) to the final version.
In order to install the iOS 5 GM on your device, you’ll need both the latest version of iTunes 10.5 beta, as well as the firmware file for the iOS 5 Gold Master.
We can’t provide either of these to you, but MacPost has posted direct download links for the iOS 5 GM release, although you’ll still need to get your hands on iTunes 10.5 beta 7 or later in order to install it on your device.
Installing the Gold Master is done at your own risk, and it’s possible that Apple could put a stop to this (although I’d think it unlikely with the official release just a week away). Let us know if you are successful!
