iOS 8 update download takes forever

Yup, it now shows it'll take 5 minutes. I just had to restart it like 10 times. Thanks for a real solution!!!!

Thank you! Your instructions were very, very helpful. I have download speeds of 57+ mbps with my ethernet cord connecting my MBP to my router, but the download of iOS 8 was still slated to be 30+ hours (better than 80+ over Wi-Fi).

I followed your instructions, only had to pause once, and reduced the download time to a whopping 7 minutes!

Thanks, wgogo, the "refreshing (pause and restart) the download" trick worked for me as well. By downloading via iTunes and pausing and restarting the download a few times I was able to "lock in" download speeds that were reasonable (20 minutes versus 30 hours). I assume it's a server/demand/delivery issue.

To clarify for the Starbucker... I had tried at home and at work since Friday afternoon with similar results. Lots of folks have reported the extremely slow downloads. I don't bring it up to bash Apple, but rather to point out a solution that worked for me that I read about on this forum. I tried a few times to let the slow downloads run their course but they always timed out. That's when I started searching for references to other people with this issue and found this thread.

Thanks again.

i keep trying this and am having no luck...seems like apple has installed a dial-up line to get to their servers.

i've got a wired connection to the internet and i've been trying this through iTunes since wednesday...no wonder

the adoption rate is so bad...you can't even download the update.

Thanks for the directions. I've been experiencing incredible download times at work, home, Starbucks and other locations all weekend long. Finally got the iPad hooked up to iTunes and forced restarted the download about 15 times. Finally got a server that brought the update down in less than 6 minutes. Until there is some other option, force restarting the download until you hit the right server works.

Thanks so much for the tip! I had to pause and restart about 15 times, but finally was able to bring the time down from 70 hours to 15 minutes.

I've tried pausing/restarting the download (on iTunes) at least 20 times and keep getting 100+hour estimates, my favorite being the 1800 hour download estimate… the download will not go at all on my iPod or iPhone OTA, and this is day 4 of the release! Never had this problem before… any ideas? The Starbucks solution seems to keep popping up, I might just wait until they open, but a coffee, and download there...

I wish I had known this Monday! I think the issue is exaggerated if you update without connecting through iTunes as I did, it took almost 5 hours from start to finish. Now I know for next time not to update directly from the iPad. Now if all the other issues we iPad 2 users have get fixed, I'll be a happy camper again.

Briansyddall wrote:

what speed is your Wifi it must be very slow

do you know someone with Fiber broard band

it should take 30mins

.bsydd uk

I have symmetrical 75 Mbps, I am getting the same crap results as the OP. It's not our internet connection, it's Apple's new CDN.

It may be caused by slow internet connection or Apple server response. It only takes me a few hours to download the update.

My initial attempts to update my iPad Air and iPad mini on Friday showed 29 hours each, however after attempting approximately 5 hours for each on two separate occasions, both failed to update. Finally, on Saturday, my iPad Air was able to update in a little under an hour. And I am extremely ecstatic I did NOT continue with my iPad mini. My iPad Air (wifi only) is currently useless.... Will not connect to our home wifi (since the update) for more than 15 minutes at a time when it does, it is sluggish and kicks the other wifi devices offline. Constantly resetting the router. Discussion for that issue is located here: https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscussions.apple.com%2Fmessage%2F266 61440%3Fac_cid%3Dtw123456%2326661440&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEc6hi_gGkq6a-rZhKpFvP rQfl0WA

I don't recommend updating iPad Airs... And I'm not keen on attempting any other iDevice are this point until the bugs are worked out 😟

DCIFRTHS wrote:

Briansyddall wrote:

what speed is your Wifi it must be very slow

do you know someone with Fiber broard band

it should take 30mins

.bsydd uk

I have symmetrical 75 Mbps, I am getting the same crap results as the OP. It's not our internet connection, it's Apple's new CDN.

50Mb/s here, 20 minutes to download, Apple's end is running fine for me.

i think it's their CDN as well...the old one (i think it was akamai) has a big network of servers and i bet apple's is small at

this point...if you happen to be geographically challenged (in relation to apple's servers) which i think i am and and bunch

of others are, then we're outta luck until the traffic slows down.

Apple Relied on Its Own Network for part of the iOS 8 Upgrade

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/09/18/apple-relied-on-its-own-network-for-part- of-the-ios-8-upgrade/

Just because it worked for you and a few other people doesn't mean you know exactly what to do for every situation. What you may think will fix this issue may not work for the next person. You are suggesting that he/she move to a different location to test out a faster wifi, i did that, multiple times. Each time it was a steady and consistent 100+ hours to download while it never reached above a single Mb download speed which is where it matters. There is something that is happening within the Apple servers, it is quite simple to see, if they have blatantly stated to someone they will place their ticket with the others who have the same issue.