Friday, October 17, 2014

Apple Device Updates

Apple has announced many new updates recently, both for mobile devices (iPads and iPhones) and Mac computers.

iOS 8 was released with the new iPhone 6 several weeks ago, and version 8.1 (which should be much more stable) will be released on Monday, October 20.  To read more, check out this post from MacWorld and this one from Engaget.

If you have not yet updated your iPad or iPhone to iOS 8 here are some tips:


  • You need 5.8 GB of free space if you are planning to upgrade directly from the cloud (the regular system update method on your device).  If you don't have that much space, it will probably be easier to connect your device to a computer and upgrade via iTunes.  You can get more information on how to update here.
  • If this is your school device and you don't have access to a computer with iTunes, you may not be able to update without clearing a lot of music, pictures and apps.  There is nothing wrong with sticking to iOS 7!  
  • Most of the school iPads are iPad 2 models with 16 GB of storage.  iOS 8 MAY make your iPad run slower.  I have talked to several students who have upgraded though, and they seem pretty satisfied.  For more information regarding the question of whether you should upgrade or not, check out this article.
  • If you haven't already updated your iPad, we recommend you wait until iOS 8.1 is released on Monday.
  • If you do update, you cannot easily go back!
  • Make sure you have a current backup of your device in iCloud before you upgrade!

If you have a mac computer, the new Yosemite OSX was released yesterday (October 16, 2014).  This is a free update available through the app store or your system update.  Early reviews are positive, but keep in mind it is EARLY!  You may want to wait a few weeks before you apply this update.

Here is an early review, and here is an article to help answer the question of if you want to upgrade right now.

As always, make sure you have your data saved in the cloud or backed up before you make any major system changes on any of your devices.

Have you updated your device(s) yet?  Do you have any advice or stories to share?  Feel free to comment below.