Error downloading iOS 14.8.1

You may need to free up more space, 4 gigs of free space may not be enough.

Can you post a screenshot of the whole screen, it could reveal why you aren't able to update.

Make sure you:

• Are using a WiFi connection (not a hotspot).

• Have an active cell service

• Have your battery charged at least 50%. Better yet, keep it plugged in during the update.

• Are not using a VPN connection.

• Do not have power save mode turned on.

• Do not have a beta version installed.

• You have at least 6 gigs of storage available.

You can also check out this article for help -

If your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch won’t update

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201435

Wish I could but I've also literally deleted all apps possible but guess what that still isn't enough because ''system'' and ''other'' is taking up literally all the storage, I've got 16 gb and they both are more than 6 gb and I don't know how to remove them from my device, perfect.

I had this error several times, deleted several files and apps, tried mult connections then finally this worked…

Did all the above (specifically deleting items and ensuring they were removed from trash, temp files or deleted from “Deleted” folders…then on the link you provided https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201435, the last item seemed to finally work. Under Remove and download the update again

You have to go to your Settings in General, then <iPhone> storage (or other device). Scroll down till you find the downloaded update that keeps failing to install and delete it. The instructions are in the link above that Kurtosis12 kindly provided, last section under Remove and download the update again, after making sure all the other conditions listed in his suggestion are ruled out.

Apparently after you download it and it fails, that file remains there and poses some issue until you remove it and start the process over. I must have attempted 20+ times before this finally worked and I can feel content that I am back resuming my evolutionary journey. Thank you.🦕🦖🦤🐒🦍🦧🐿

I’m experiencing the same thing on iPhone 8 and it doesn’t say anything about insufficient space like it normally does. It’s not acceptable to expect the customer to assume whether or not there is sufficient space, imo.

I just completed the update on my child’s iphone and the update requested that I agree to the terms and conditions before the phone started downloading the update. This step doesn’t occur when I try to update my own iphone so I suspect that’s why I’m getting the error message - my iphone goes straight to attempting the update and then shows the error message. Please fix ASAP Apple!!

It takes both a WiFi signal and a cell signal to download and install the update. You do have a cell signal but it looks pretty weak, that might be causing the problem. Is there an area of your house that can get a stronger cell signal such as by a window?

If so, give that a try.

Hi there , I am sorry I was stressed and till can’t sink my iwatch with my phone . I had the full bar for both and got the same result. I now downloaded the 15. 1 version , and still getting the error :( Sorry again I didn’t meant to be offensive, and it was someone else that posted about the full signal on the forum not you. Cheers

Sorry to hear you're still having issues with syncing your watch. At this point I would suggest reaching out to Apple and see if they can help getting you set up. Click on the link below.

Get Support.

Hey everyone, I had the same issue for IOS 14.8.1. I did a combination of things. First i went into Settings-General-Iphone storage and DELETED the downloaded IOS 14.8.1 update. Once that is deleted exit / close out of the Settings app to refresh it. This will prompt IOS 15 to show up in the System updates tab. Download this one instead as its the newest version of IOS. After that I had no issues downloading and updating to IOS 15. Im guessing it wont allow the download for IOS 14 due to a newer version being available and allowing a skip. Hope this helps!

Thank you FlavaFrave!

Although I couldn’t find 14.8.1 to delete, once I closed out of everything and went back into settings, iOS 15 was at the bottom of the page. I had to scroll down past the 14.8.1 update and it was there. Perhaps it was there all this time and I didn’t scroll down because it showed the previous update to do.

Anyway, I’m all set now….thank you!!

No problem! It prompted me at first that I could skip the 14.8.1 update so that was the only way I knew about it… but after downloading the 14 update it wouldn’t show the 15 update anymore until I deleted it from my iPhone storage. Super weird!

Go into your Settings and in General scroll down to iPhone Storage. You should see the download there if that is what you want to delete (scroll to find 14.8.1. Download then delete and try again)

I had to delete the previous 14.8.1 download attempt as well, to retry the 14.8.1 update again. But you also can delete it to have the 15 update option come up again and choose iOS 15 and skip 14.8.1. It’s probably a branch off point where 14.8.1 came after 15 was released and some iPhones can’t support 15 so they released 14.8.1 after for anyone still on 14.8 but needed the security update. I am sure they will release some alternate way to update to 15 later on but this works.

I’m trying to download 14.8.1 and I freeze up all the storage I can and I also have “Low Battery Power” turned off and I still cannot get the update on my iPhone 12 my WiFi signal is good too!! So Apple what do I do now????

I gave up trying to download 14.8.1 and 15.01 directly to my iphone as I kept getting the “not enough storage” message even though there was enough and I offloaded all apps.

I connected my iphone to my laptop and downloaded it that way - worked first time no problem and was reasonably fast too.

The following errors occur while trying to update iOS 14.8.

Unable to Check for Update

An error occurred while checking for a software update.

Software Update Failed

An error occurred downloading iOS 14.8.1.

Unable to Install Update

An error occurred installing (null).

Updates always worked fine before, what did Apple do? Also, I want to stay on iOS 14 and can't use a PC to update as there is no way to install 14.8.1 via a computer.