
Here’s a question I’ve had asked often lately when I’m talking to people about their iPads or iPhones: how do I tell if my iPad / iPhone is running the latest operating system software?
It’s a good question, because generally speaking it’s a good idea to keep your iPad up-to-date and run the current version of iOS, the operating system for iPad and iPhone. And happily it’s very easy to check whether you are running the current version and to update your iOS version if needed.
Here’s how:
The quickest way to see which iOS version you are currently running:
Go to the Settings app and to General > About. On the About screen the 9th item down the page is Version. This will list the current version of iOS – at the time of writing this post that is 5.1.1.
Updating iOS If you’re running iOS 5 or later on your iPad:
iOS 5 was released in October of 2011. If you are running that version or later on your iPad then you can simply go to the Settings app and then tap on General on the left-hand sidebar – you’ll then see an item titled ‘Software Update’ in the right-hand window, just below the ‘About’ item. Tap on that and you’ll either get a verification that your software is up to date, or a box showing that an update is available. If there’s an update available, you can choose to install right from this same screen.
* The only exception to the above is when a full new version (for instance the next major update to iOS, iOS 6, which is due for release this fall) is released. These generally require a full restore via iTunes to apply rather than an over-the-air update on the iPad itself.
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