IPhone Safari Updates

Any Safari update on the iPhone is included with an iPhone firmware update - an update to Safari on the iPhone is not provided separately, and having Safari available on your computer is not required in order to install an iPhone firmware update.

A pop-up advising you that an update for Safari is available for your iPhone came from where?

Assuming the update is coming from the Apple Software Update, you can decline it (or add it to the Ignore list to avoid future Safari reminders). You don't need Safari on your PC for anything iPhone-related, all you need to do is keep iTunes current.

Been a few weeks since last Safari update appeared in update box, but believe the reference was for Safari on the computer.

Sorry, but I based my response on the following copied from your original post.

Does Safari need to be installed on the Toshiba laptop in order for the IPhone Safari to be updated when updates become available?

The updater pop-up is an Apple check for Apple software updates for your computer - iTunes, Quicktime, and Safari only for a Windows PC. If you've never installed Safari on your Windows PC, not sure why you are getting a pop-up that an update for Safari on your computer is available.

Installing and/or updating Safari on your computer is not done with or thru iTunes.

Allan Sampson wrote:
If you've never installed Safari on your Windows PC, not sure why you are getting a pop-up that an update for Safari on your computer is available.

Actually, that's the way it works with Software Update on Windows. When you install iTunes, SU also installs. When SU checks for new software updates, it always offers Safari even is Safari is not installed on the machine. Apple's attempt to drive market share, presumably. Moreover, initially the default was that Safari was selected for installation (yes, in Software Update, even if it was not installed on the PC at that time). After complaints (and a hue and cry in the blogosphere), Apple changed the default behavior so that Safari was not checked automatically, and thereafter added an "ignore list" to SU - 'updates' added to that list (including Safari on machines where it's not installed) still show up in SU, but in a different part of the window.