Can't update my iPhone 4s running iOS 9.2.2

Re: “What can I do at this point?”

Recycle that obsolete phone, or use it as a paperweight.

The iPhone 4s has a 32-bit processor and cannot run iOS 10 or higher. Even if you could update it, you could only go from iOS 9.2.2 to iOS 9.3.6. It has no support for 4G or 5G cellular bands, and so in many parts of the world, is now unusable as a phone.

I'd recommend recycling your extremely ancient iPhone at this point. iPhone 4s was released in 2011. As this is a phone from 14 years ago, it is beyond too old to be used as a phone in most parts of the world. It is not LTE capable at all. And most apps won't run on such an old iPhone either.

It is beyond time to say, it was a great phone when it was in its prime, but it's also time to acknowledge there is nothing you can do with such an old phone. There would no point in taking to an Apple Store. They won't touch such an old iPhone at this point.

That device isn't even usable as a phone in most of the world. Toss it in the recycle bin at your local electronics store.

I'm not quite sure what grand plan you have in mind, but updating iOS iOS 9.3.6 on an iPhone 4s is like trying to teach a goldfish to drive a Tesla—ambitious, charmingly naive, and almost certainly going nowhere.

Hello~ I recommend keeping it as a souvenir. It was a great iPhone and you have a little piece of history.

~Katana-San~