Update without WiFi?

You would have to use your computer if you don’t have Wi-Fi, unless you have an iPhone 12 or 13 with a 5G connection.

See→Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Why are you telling me? You should be expressing your insight to the cellular carriers who have demanded this limitation, except over 5G networks, not Apple, who did not make the decision. Once you explain it to your carrier I’m sure they will see the error of their ways. Did you totally ignore my statement that it is the carriers that forced Apple to impose this limitation, or is that just an inconvenient fact that you would rather ignore?

Although you are missing one messy fact: Cellular networks have a limited number of channels on each tower; one channel per connected phone, and also one channel per antenna. Count the antennas on a tower to get an idea of the number of phones that can be connected to that tower simultaneously. That’s why they bring temporary mobile “towers” to sporting events and concerts that have large crowds. Now the problem: Your suggestion to limit speeds has complications:

• If you limit the speed each phone will have to be connected longer, occupying the channel longer and excluding other users. And if the connection is lost the whole download will have to start over.
• How much speed reduction? Most networks limit the speed on accounts that go over their limit to dial-up speeds, typically 100kbps. A 6 GB download at 100 kbps (~10K bytes/sec) would take 600,000 seconds or about 170 hours. Suppose they limit it to 1 mbps instead; that would take only 17 hours, assuming no restarts
• While carriers can prioritize services, they do this by interrupting communications with lower power devices when all channels are in use, meaning more restarts

For those of us that do not have WiFi, and no intention of getting it, nor have a computer, Apple is alienating us.

I recently went back to an iPhone after leaving because they didn’t offer a storage expansion option like the Galaxy line from Samsung. Now I discover that I am being forced to use a connectivity protocol that I don’t subscribe to.

I attempted to update in a Starbucks, public library, and a Panera. According to Apple, “the signal must have been too weak.” I ask if I can go to an Apple store to have it updated and am told, “this situation wouldn’t warrant an appointment.”

So tell me Apple, what is the logic behind not allowing iOS updates over cellular? Is this your way of up-selling to a MacBook Pro?

I will be posting my 13 Pro Max for sale this weekend after I purchase the newest Galaxy Note. No need to be on WiFi to update and the use of a stylus WITHOUT having to purchase a iPad Pro and pencil is a plus. You have lost me as a customer again.

Juuji wrote:

So tell me Apple, what is the logic behind not allowing iOS updates over cellular? Is this your way of up-selling to a MacBook Pro?

The logic is transparently clear. An update downloads up to a 6 GB installer. And with every update there are typically 500 million devices; many of those users want to update immediately. So that is 3 trillion Gigabytes being downloaded over cellular networks that typically operate close to their bandwidth limitation; this added load can actually crash cellular networks. But it isn’t Apple that has imposed the restriction; it is the cellular carriers that that do not permit updates over cellular data, on iPhones, Samsungs, or any other smartphone except for devices (INCLUDING iPhones) that have a 5G connection, because 5G has much greater bandwidth than LTE or older network technologies.

And how does this constitute an upsell to a MacBook Pro? You can update using any Windows 7 or later computer (including a Surface), or even a MacBook Air (not pro), or any Mac made in the past 12 years.

Thank you for the cellular lesson but as we both know, the carriers do have the ability to limit speeds (throttling) and do so often with priority being given to those device purchased through them. Purchase your device directly from Apple and you are not given the same priority. The new Galaxy Note and Tab I purchased last week have no problem whatsoever updating over WiFi. And, yes, these were sizable updates, not some bug fix collection.

Again, not everyone has a computer at their disposal (for those of us taking the next six months to backpack) and for Apple to not offer support in those situations goes well beyond poor business practices.

Your aggressive responses are beginning to concern me, and I think it best to not further this conversation.

Peace on you