New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

iOS 5 to Finally Deliver Over-The-Air Updates?

Wednesday May 4, 2011 8:40 pm PDT by Arnold Kim

According to 9to5Mac, Apple is negotiating with Verizon about delivering over-the-air iOS updates starting with iOS 5.

Multiple sources say the new feature will debut in iOS 5, meaning iOS 5 will not come over-the-air but following point updates to it will. Just like tethering in iOS 3, Apple has the technology but cannot just unleash it everywhere. Apple and Verizon Wireless are said to have been in talks over these wireless software updates since early this year.

An over-the-air update system would allow users to download the iOS update directly to their phone over 3G or Wi-Fi and update their phone to the latest version without connecting to iTunes. Android devices already offer this feature.

Due to the high bandwidth requirement, it seems Apple needs to negotiate deals with individual carriers to allow such a system to take place. We should note that Apple's iOS is partially capable of this functionality already. The Apple TV which is based on iOS 4 offers "over the air" updates with no iTunes syncing required. The Apple TV, however, stores little customer data so backups are not as critical as with iPhone and iPad devices.

Related Roundup: iPad
Tag: 9to5mac.com
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Buy Now)
[ 192 comments ]

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
treyjustice
110 months ago
hope they aren't automatic then people will lose their jailbreaks!
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
wordoflife
110 months ago
Wouldn't be a bad idea. Even if they just made "patches" so we aren't downloading half a gb of updates every 2 weeks.
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
sciwizam
110 months ago
Blow through your data cap with 650MB downloads for every point update? Not happening until Apple can deliver smaller downloads for updates.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
gonnabuyamacbsh
110 months ago
Yes! I want to be as cord less as possible.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
themanfromvlad
110 months ago
This is complete bullcrap, people. Over the air updates will come, but over WiFi. Doing this over 3G makes no sense.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
haruhiko
110 months ago
If a >=20MB app install needs to be done through WiFi, why a 500-6XXMB system update can be done through 3G?

I don't think so. Most likely it will be WiFi-only.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
boss.king
110 months ago
Not interested in this. It's not really any more convenient to do this OTA. Just plug your phone in for 10 mins and install it in the evening. I could maybe see this working over Wi-Fi but for a lot of places this would destroy peoples data caps.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
canucksfan88
110 months ago
and waste data? i dont know...how useful is this...really?

how hard is it to update via itunes? i just think we as a society are trying to come up with "innovative" and convenient things that are rather pointless.

others may find it useful, but why would one need to update on the go?
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
Michael Scrip
110 months ago



how hard is it to update via itunes?


Plus... you can backup your iPhone when you plug it in.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
JAT
110 months ago

But backups and updates are critical for such a device. That is my whole point... Are you arguing that it does not need ota syncing or just arguing? Obviously its serviceable without tethering, but you do need to sync it to a computer for it to work. Thats like if I had to plug my scooter into my car just to get it going. It makes it a luxury and not a necessity.

OMG, stop with car analogies. Cars are not analogous to computers.

Your computer can't backup by itself, either. You need backup software and hardware to do so. Backing up to the same drive is possible, but stupid. And before you say that SL and Win7 include backup software, the last few years is the first time any PC ever did. I guess all those PCs from 1975 until Time Machine came out weren't actually computers, either.

My kids' graphing calculator is a computer. Get over your semantics.
Rating: 2 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]