Apple Reminds iPhone 5 Owners to Update to iOS 10.3.4 by November 3

Apple has started advising iPhone 5 owners to update to iOS 10.3.4 before November 3, otherwise several key functions like iCloud and the App Store will no longer work on their device because of a time rollover issue.

Back in July, Apple released updated versions of iOS for older iPhones and iPads models, including the iPhone 5, to address an issue that could impact GPS location performance and lead to the system date and time being incorrect. The GPS time rollover issue began affecting GPS-enabled products from other manufacturers on April 6, 2019, but Apple's affected devices aren't impacted by the problem until just before midnight UTC on November 3, 2019.

For iPhone 5 and the fourth-generation iPad with Wi-Fi and Cellular, the 10.3.4 update is required to maintain accurate GPS location and to continue to use functions that rely on correct date and time including ‌App Store‌, ‌iCloud‌, email, and web browsing. An iOS 9.3.6 update is available for the also-affected iPhone 4s and cellular models of the original ‌iPad‌ mini, the ‌iPad‌ 2, and the ‌iPad‌ 3.

From Apple's support document:

Starting just before 12:00 a.m. UTC on November 3, 2019, iPhone 5 will require an iOS update to maintain accurate GPS location and to continue to use functions that rely on correct date and time including ‌App Store‌, ‌iCloud‌, email, and web browsing. This is due to the GPS time rollover issue that began affecting GPS-enabled products from other manufacturers on April 6, 2019. Affected Apple devices are not impacted until just before 12:00 a.m. UTC on November 3, 2019.

If iPhone 5 models in particular are not updated by November 3, 2019, Apple says users will have to back up and restore using a Mac or PC in order to update, because over-the-air software updates and ‌iCloud‌ Backup will not work.

If you have an iPhone 5, check to make sure your device has updated successfully by following these steps.

Launch the Settings app on your iPhone 5.
Tap General -> About.
Look for the number next to Software Version.

The updated software version should be 10.3.4.

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

MacFather

4 weeks ago

A very sad and depressing news for Scott Forstall who still using an iPhone 5 with iOS 6 on it.

Rating: 14 Votes

NufSaid

4 weeks ago

To support hardware like this that is so old is very generous when you think about it.

Rating: 11 Votes

RadioHedgeFund

4 weeks ago

You’ve got to hand it to Apple: providing a software update to the iPhone 4S in 2019 is beyond helpful.

Do you see Samsung offering an update to the Galaxy S1? Or Google to the Nexus S? They wouldn’t even bother.

Rating: 10 Votes

PickUrPoison

4 weeks ago

It depends. If apple bricks it, that not “generous”. If they are simply removing iCloud access that’s another matter.

Apple’s not bricking anything, and they’re not removing iCloud access.

Apple released 10.3.4 a few months ago to deal with a well-known problem (GPS rollover issue). If iPhone 5 users don’t update, they’re going to have problems.
[automerge]1572201709[/automerge]

How? It’s not supported anymore. It’s not like the iPhone 5 is getting iOS 13.

Not getting the latest version of iOS is not the same as unsupported.

Apple released a new version (10.3.4) a few months ago specifically to support customers still using iPhone 5. They need to update or they’ll have problems.

Rating: 9 Votes

acblue94

4 weeks ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/27/apple-reminds-iphone-5-owners-update-ios-10-3-4/')

Apple has started advising ('https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210712#925') iPhone 5 owners to update to iOS 10.3.4 before November 3, otherwise several key functions like iCloud and the App Store will no longer work on their device because of a time rollover issue.

Back in July, Apple released updated versions of iOS ('https://www.macrumors.com/2019/07/22/apple-releases-gps-bug-fix-older-iphones-ipads/') for older iPhones and iPads models, including the iPhone 5, to address an issue that could impact GPS location performance and lead to the system date and time being incorrect. The GPS time rollover issue began affecting GPS-enabled products from other manufacturers on April 6, 2019, but Apple's affected devices aren't impacted by the problem until just before midnight UTC on November 3, 2019.

For iPhone 5 and the fourth-generation iPad with Wi-Fi and Cellular, the 10.3.4 update is required to maintain accurate GPS location and to continue to use functions that rely on correct date and time including App Store, iCloud, email, and web browsing. An iOS 9.3.6 update is available for the also-affected iPhone 4s and cellular models of the original iPad mini, the iPad 2, and the iPad 3.

From Apple's support document ('https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210712#925'):
If iPhone 5 models in particular are not updated by November 3, 2019, Apple says users will have to back up and restore using a Mac or PC in order to update, because over-the-air software updates and iCloud Backup will not work.

If you have an iPhone 5, check to make sure your device has updated successfully by following these steps.
[LIST=1]
* Launch the Settings app on your iPhone 5.
* Tap General -> About.
* Look for the number next to Software Version.

The updated software version should be 10.3.4.

Article Link: Apple Reminds iPhone 5 Owners to Update to iOS 10.3.4 by November 3 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/27/apple-reminds-iphone-5-owners-update-ios-10-3-4/')

They should also remind iPhone 5 users that it’s 2019. And welcome them.

Rating: 7 Votes

Kabeyun

4 weeks ago

Macrumors had an article about this on July 22, 2019.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.macrumors.com/2019/07/22/apple-releases-gps-bug-fix-older-iphones-ipads/[/URL]

Thanks for that, but notification isn’t my point. iOS 13.1.4 isn’t out yet, at least not for me, and we have only a week to install it before there are adverse consequences. Time to deploy, Apple.

Edit: Holy crap, I’ve been thinking of 13.1.4, while this is all about 10.1.4. I’ll just face palm myself and move on. And I’m leaving my posts up to show that I’ll own a dumb error.

Rating: 6 Votes

TheSkywalker77

4 weeks ago

Is this just for the original iPhone 5?

I have a couple of iPhone 5c models that won't upgrade past 10.3.3.

There's probably an older piece of hardware in the iPhone 5 that's not going to be supported without a software update. The iPhone 5c and 5s were released at the same time so they most likely have the same modem / GPS unit that'll stay supported. Just a theory.

Rating: 6 Votes

TheSkywalker77

4 weeks ago

That's strange.

I have iPhone SE models that all upgraded to 13.1.3 successfully and without any issues.

No, my friend refuses to update, not the phone. They dislike the change to the Control Center in iOS 11 and don't want to deal with the bugs of iOS 13.

Rating: 5 Votes