All posts

How To Upgrade to iOS 17 + What to do BEFORE Upgrading!

6:01 video

iOS 17 is out with a lot of great new features. This guide is for anyone who hasn’t done an upgrade in a while, is new to iPhone, or feels a little anxious about it, so you can see how it goes and what to expect.

Which iPhones can upgrade

iOS 17 supports quite a few: from the iPhone XR and XS up, and from the iPhone SE (2nd generation) up. So that includes the XR, 11, 11 Pro, 12, 12 Pro, 13, 13 Pro, 14, 14 Pro and newer.

Before you upgrade

The upgrade process has been pretty solid for years, but things can go wrong, so do two things first.

1. Back up. Go to Settings → your name → iCloud → iCloud Backup, and tap Back Up Now so you have the latest backup in case you need to restore your iPhone as it is now. If you’ve done one today, you’re probably fine.

2. Check free space. Go to Settings → General → iPhone Storage. I have plenty on this iPhone 12 Pro, but a 64 GB iPhone may be nearly full. You can offload a big app: it removes the app but keeps its settings and data, so you can reinstall it later. I freed a couple of gigabytes that way. You want about 5 GB available for the download, the expansion of the package, and the installation.

Update

  1. Settings → General → Software Update. If you’re on iOS 16 before 16.6.1 (as of September 19th), you may see an iOS 16 update too, and you can stay on iOS 16 for now. Below it, tap Upgrade to iOS 17. It mentions features like StandBy and AirDrop NameDrop, and I have a separate video on my top five favorite iOS 17 features.
  2. Tap Download and Install, enter your passcode, and agree to the terms.
  3. Then wait. It can take a long time, and you don’t know how long, so take a break, stretch your legs, go for a walk or do laundry, and come back in 20–30 minutes. The time varies with internet speed, network congestion, the age of your device and how much stuff is on it, which is another reason free space helps. I started a stopwatch on my Apple Watch, guessing about 30 minutes, and it finished in about 28–29 minutes.

A few quick questions finish setup: enter your passcode, tap Continue, set up Face ID (I chose Set Up Later on this phone), and note that Siri has been upgraded, so you can say just “Siri,” without “Hey.” Then Welcome to iPhone.

Some apps may not be updated for iOS 17 yet; my WeatherBug widget wasn’t updating correctly, so we’ll wait for app updates. To verify, go to Settings → General → About, where you’ll see iOS version 17.

As you can see, it’s a pretty simple process. Just back up first, in case something goes wrong, and make sure you have enough free space. iOS 17 brings updates to Siri, CarPlay, StandBy, shared passwords, offline maps and more.

Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. See my ethics statement.

Watch on YouTube

Keep reading

Related posts