We’ve added bootloader-level low-level extraction support for the second-generation Apple TV 4K. While the older 4K model was compatible with the checkm8 exploit, the second-generation is based on a newer SoC that required a newer exploit, usbliter8. The exploit requires a custom adapter that uses a microcontroller board with our custom firmware.

Seven years after checkm8, iOS Forensic Toolkit 10.11 adds bootloader-level extraction for the Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5, as well as the second-generation Apple TV 4K. In each case the result is the full file system image and the decrypted keychain. This is the first time that the low-level extraction boundary has moved past the A11 generation, and the reason is a SecureROM exploit called usbliter8, published in June 2026.

Big news is coming – and this time, it’s from the living room. Our team has successfully extracted a complete file system image from an Apple TV 4K running tvOS 26. This marks the first-ever low-level extraction of Apple’s 26th-generation operating systems, including iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and tvOS 26. No one – not even the major forensic players! – has been able to achieve this before.

Our customers often ask us which exact iOS versions are supported by iOS Forensic Toolkit. There’s always a temptation to answer “all of them,” and while that answer is technically correct, there are a lot of caveats. The devil is in the details, and the real answer depends on what you mean by “support”.

The latest update to iOS Forensic Toolkit brought bootloader-level extraction to a bunch of old iPads, Apple TVs, and even the first-gen HomePod running OS versions 17 and 18. This enabled full file system and keychain extraction on a those older Apple devices that can still run these versions of the OS.

Several generations of Apple TV devices have a bootloader vulnerability that can be exploited with checkm8 to extract information from the device. The vulnerability exists in the Apple TV 3 (2012 and 2013), Apple TV HD (formerly Apple TV 4) 2015 and 2021, and Apple TV 4K (2017). Newer generations of Apple TV do not have the vulnerability. This guide lists the tools and steps required to fully extract a compatible Apple TV device.

The title says it all. In this article we’ll explain the steps required to put the listed Apple TV models into DFU mode. These Apple TV models are based on the A5, A8, and A10X chips that are susceptible to the checkm8 exploit and checkm8-based extraction with iOS Forensic Toolkit 8, and DFU mode is the required initial step of the process.

Mobile forensics is not limited to phones and tablets. Many types of other gadgets, including IoT devices, contain tons of valuable data. Such devices include smart watches, media players, routers, smart home devices, and so on. In this article, we will cover the extraction of an Apple TV 4K, one of the most popular digital media players.

Do you have to know which SoC a certain Apple device is based on? If you are working in mobile forensics, the answer is positive. Along with the version of iOS/watchOS/iPadOS, the SoC is one of the deciding factors that affects the data extraction paths available in each case. Read this article to better understand your options for each generation of Apple platforms.

Is jailbreaking an Apple TV worth it? If you are working in the forensics, it definitely is. When connected to the user’s Apple account with full iCloud access, the Apple TV synchronizes a lot of data. That data may contain important evidence, and sometimes may even help access other iCloud data. I have some great news for the forensic crowd: the Apple TV does not have a passcode. And some bad news: jailbreaking is not as easy and straightforward as we’d like it to be. Let’s have a look at what can be done.