Make iOS upgrades work for you

3 Parts:

iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad iOS Compatibility Chart

Tips if you have iOS lower than 5.0

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This tutorial will teach you what upgrades can work for you, if you own any of the following: iPhone 1 or 3G, iPod Touch 1 or 2, or iPad 1 or 2. When you first bought your device, years ago, you probably loved it dearly and always took good care of it, as if it was fine and fragile porcelain China. You were proud to say, during that time, that inside your device, you had the latest iOS software.

But as the years have gone by, Apple has done a lot of research, and has upgraded its iOS versions several times. So now, you probably realize that your old version of iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad cannot download the latest Apple applications because most of them require an iOS which your device does not have.

Look at the chart below to see if you can upgrade your device, and to see what iOS you can upgrade to. It usually means that you are trying to upgrade to iOS 5 or higher if a software update option is not available on your Apple device. Just open iTunes on your computer and connect your device to it in order to upgrade. (source: discussions.apple.com)

Select the method that best suits your situation.

• If you have an iPad 1, the maximum iOS is 5.1.1. For newer iPads, the current iOS is 6.1.3. If you go to Settings > General > Software Update, the update will appear on your screen if you have iOS 5.0 or higher presently installed.
• If you are presently running on an iOS lower than 5.0, connect the iPad to the computer, then open iTunes. Thereafter, select the iPad under the "Devices" heading on the left, click on the "Summary" tab, and then click on "Check for Update."
• If connected to your computer, disable your firewall and anit-virus software for the moment. Be sure to backup your iPad before the iOS update. Then download and install the iOS update. After you update an iPad (except iPad 1) to iOS 6.x, the next update can be installed via WiFi, which means the device is not physically connected to your computer.
• Unlike on iPad 2 and newer versions, you must update to version 5 with your iPad connected to your PC. The problem is that you will lose all your data (music, photos, apps etc.). So you should back them up to your PC first, then install version 5 operating software. Thereafter, reinstall all your data from your backup.
• If you are updating through WiFi, locate your iPad near your router so as to avoid getting a corrupted download.
• iPad 1 is loaded with Apple operating software version 4. Updating it to version 5 makes it run much more quickly.
• Officially, updating iOS should be done through iTunes. Thus, iTunes will not back up items which you did not buy from Apple, like legally downloaded e-books and music.
• There is a much better free software program called Syncios. It is easy to use and it works. The appearance on your PC screen is similar to iTunes, but is much simpler to use.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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