How to resume downloading iOS update without starting all over again?

Hi, I have downloaded (via my Mac) 3/4 of the huge iOS 14.3 update for my iPhone, which used up more than 3GB of my monthly data, before my Mac idiotically went to sleep and the internet connection was interrupted as a result. The only way for me to complete the download seems to be to start from scratch, and I don't have another 4.3GB left for this month!! Is there a way for me to find the partially downloaded update and resume from there, without downloading the whole update from the start? I have already signed in to 'check for available downloads' but there was nothing there. Grateful for any advice, thanks!


I remember that, when downloading a MacOS update, the download would simply resume from where it was last interrupted and not download the whole update from the start. But this doesn't seem to occur with the iOS update.


(By the way, I still can't believe the Mac could possibly go to sleep when it is actively downloading an update from the internet. What an idiotic design! I suppose I could turn off the sleep function before I download anything big next time, but it is unbelievable that such a basic thing is not already built into the sleep function by default. Especially given that the Mac has a heap of other creepy features that make it 'smart' enough to do things that I don't need and have not asked it to do.)

Posted on Jan 7, 2021 7:53 PM

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Posted on Jan 9, 2021 4:32 PM

Thankfully I found a solution. It appeared that the partially downloaded iOS update was not stored on my Mac but was sitting somewhere on the iPhone itself. That means I could resume downloading directly on my iPhone without starting afresh. This involved disconnecting my iPhone from my Mac and using the mobile data on my iPhone. Since the iPhone normally only permits updates to be downloaded via wifi or iTunes (eg when connected to a Mac) and not by the phone itself using mobile data, you would first need to temporarily set the ‘Date and Time’ on the iPhone to, say, 6 months ahead (eg July instead of January), and then reset the ‘Date and Time’ back to ‘Set Automatically’ once downloading started.


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 9, 2021 4:32 PM in response to RGUtena

Thankfully I found a solution. It appeared that the partially downloaded iOS update was not stored on my Mac but was sitting somewhere on the iPhone itself. That means I could resume downloading directly on my iPhone without starting afresh. This involved disconnecting my iPhone from my Mac and using the mobile data on my iPhone. Since the iPhone normally only permits updates to be downloaded via wifi or iTunes (eg when connected to a Mac) and not by the phone itself using mobile data, you would first need to temporarily set the ‘Date and Time’ on the iPhone to, say, 6 months ahead (eg July instead of January), and then reset the ‘Date and Time’ back to ‘Set Automatically’ once downloading started.


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How to resume downloading iOS update without starting all over again?

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