iBoot is the stage 2

bootloader A bootloader, also spelled as boot loader or called boot manager and bootstrap loader, is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer. When a computer is turned off, its softwareincluding operating systems, application code, a ...

for all Apple products. It replaces the old bootloader, BootX. Compared with its predecessor, iBoot improves authentication performed in the boot chain. For

x86 x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lap ...

, the boot process starts by running code stored in secured

UEFI UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a set of specifications written by the UEFI Forum. They define the architecture of the platform firmware used for booting and its interface for interaction with the operating system. Examples of f ...

Boot ROM (first stage). Boot ROM has two primary responsibilities: to initialize system hardware and to select an operating system to run (the

POST Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service ** Iraqi Post, Ir ...

and UEFI component). For

ARM In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...

macOS, the Boot ROM is not UEFI component. For

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

, the boot process starts by running the device's Boot ROM code. In systems with S1 processors or A9 or earlier A-series processors, the Boot ROM loads the Low-Level Bootloader (LLB), which loads iBoot. In systems with newer processors, the Boot ROM loads iBoot itself. If all goes well, iBoot will then proceed to load the iOS kernel as well as the rest of the operating system. If the LLB or iBoot fails to load iOS, or fails to verify iOS, the bootloader jumps to DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode; otherwise it loads the remaining

kernel Kernel may refer to: Computing * Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems * Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution * Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming * Kernel method, in machine learni ...

modules. On x86 macOS, iBoot is located in /System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi. Once the kernel and all drivers necessary for booting are loaded, the boot loader starts the kernel’s initialization procedure. At this point, enough drivers are loaded for the kernel to find the root device.

References

External links

Mac OS X
at osxbook.com {{Firmware and booting MacOS Boot loaders