It’s that time of year again when Apple traditionally release their latest phone.
Around the world those who queued for hours are prising apart beautifully designed boxes to gaze upon their new purchase.
The biggest difference today is the size of the phone in that box.
For the first time, Apple have decided to launch two sizes of iPhone.
So now when you stand in front of the shiny white counter you have to choose not just which colour you want, but also whether you want the bigger iPhone, or the absolutely huge one.
Questions of usability will have to wait till we get a hands on, and for some of us, that day can't come soon enough.
As in the past, a new round of iPhone, also come with a new operating system, this time called iOS 8.
Visually this is not a huge update, but once you start digging new features become more apparent and will probably delight and annoy you in equal measures. There are also a lot of changes under the hood so we were keen to get testing as early as possible.
At Indulge we’ve been testing the developer preview of the software to ensure that all of our clients apps perform as expect. So far all have passed with flying colours without the need to update any code.
iOS is available to all iPhones and iPads that meet the minimum requirement which are:
- iPhone 4s, 5, 5c, 5s, 6, 6 plus
- iPad 2,3,4 and Air
- iPad Mini, iPad Mini Retina
- iPod Touch 5G
Whether you should upgrade is another matter.
Many people are reporting performance issues on older hardware (iPhone 4s and iPad 2 in particular) and for these users it’s probably best holding off for a while. With past releases, later updates have been kinder to older devices so a wait and see approach is recommended.
These older devices also miss out on some of the fancier features so for many people it may be time to bite the bullet and get a newer device.
Tips for the Upgrade process:
- Always take a full backup of your device before upgrading software. There have been very few reported issues, but why take the risk.
- The upgrade can take over an hour not including the software download. Don't press go if you're expecting an important phone call.
- Although the update is about 1GB in size it needs a lot more space if you are installing it over the air. If you find you don't have space to upgrade, try running the update through iTunes on your computer.
- Don't upgrade to iCloud Drive when asked. iCloud drive is Apple's new online storage solution that suncs your data across devices. Although it has great new features, they are not compatible with the current version of Apple's desktop operating system. If you currently use photosync or any of the Apple office suite (pages, numbers, keynote) on an Apple desktop or laptop then upgrading will stop you from syncing data. The upgrade to iCloud drive can be run at anytime but cannot be undone.
- If you use your iDevice for anything business critical think carefully before updating. If you have an in house IT team, check with them that everything will work post upgrade. If you are your own IT support, spend some time researching the apps you use before pressing/tapping upgrade.
Image courtesy of Pasu Au Yeung
