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Please help me update 3GS

A

anto101

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 3, 2013
5
0
OK!!! I REALLY REALLY need your help!! I have an iphone 3gs and need to update the technology so that I can use facebook etc- I believe I need ios 5 is this true????? .... If so please tell me how to do this? FOR FREE??? - I am not a tecky at all so please speak in press the blue circle kind of language!! lol thank you so much in advance of help!! x:)
 
You cannot restore to iOS 5.x. You have to restore to iOS 6.1.2.

Actually...have you ever jail broken your device?
 
You have to connect your iPhone 3GS to either your computer and update thru iTunes or set up an appointment at the Apple store and they can do it for you.
 
I am currently connected to itunes

so what should I do now? x
 
Download the latest version of iTunes and install it
Connect your 3GS and open iTunes
Go to your phone tab
Click back up now. Click file and then devices and then transfer purchases from "iPhone"
Click sync

Now click restore or update
After the restoring is done, choose to restore from the backup you just made

Let it do its magic and voila, you now have iOS 6.1.2

This may take a long process especially since you need to download approximately 1GB for the iOS 6.1.2 firmware

The installation and restoring from backup primarily depends on how fast your desktop is so time can vary but it should be 15 minutes top once you finish downloading unless your computer is that old

Best of luck! Don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it
 
Seeing how he knows nothing about this iOS thing, I'm certain his is an authorized carrier. He's probably still on iOS 3 or 4
 
lol it says I need ios 5 to download the itunes app to my phone???? Sorry for being such a numpty but SOOOO frustrating!!! x
 
anto101 said:
lol it says I need ios 5 to download the itunes app to my phone???? Sorry for being such a numpty but SOOOO frustrating!!! x
Click to expand...

oh! this process has to be done through a computer
do you have access to a computer?

if you go to settings -> general -> about

what does it say your version is?
 
You have to download this:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

to your Personal Computer, not your phone.

Then proceed:

Connect your 3GS and open iTunes
Go to your phone tab
Click back up now. Click file and then devices and then transfer purchases from "iPhone"
Click sync

Now click restore or update
After the restoring is done, choose to restore from the backup you just made

Let it do its magic and voila, you now have iOS 6.1.2
Click to expand...
 
version : 4.0 (8A293) is this what you mean?I have the phone plugged into laptop and am signed into itunes online it seems if I want books, university courses or music there are lots to choose from but nowhere does it say upgrade your lame phone here!! lol GRRRRrrrrr Y do they make it so hard? x
 
anto101 said:
version : 4.0 (8A293) is this what you mean?I have the phone plugged into laptop and am signed into itunes online it seems if I want books, university courses or music there are lots to choose from but nowhere does it say upgrade your lame phone here!! lol GRRRRrrrrr Y do they make it so hard? x
Click to expand...

Does your phone show up on the left hand side, if it does then click on your phone and you should see the option to upgrade the software show in the main window.
 
i am on my desktop now so i will type a more detailed reply than i did earlier from my phone

1. Download iTunes from this link: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
2. Install iTunes
3. Connect your 3GS to your computer and open iTunes
4. If it tells you to update, click cancel or ignore for now
5. On the upper right, you should see that iTunes has detected your iPhone, click on that tab
6. Under the "Backups" section, click "Back up Now"
7. After that process is done, on the top, click "File", then go to "Devices", and click "Transfer purchases from "iPhone"
8. After that is done, at the bottom right, click sync
9. Now, click restore or update
10. You will see that it's downloading the iOS 6.1.2 firmware
11. After that is done, it will install iOS 6.1.2 onto your phone (keep your 3GS connected at all times when you are installing it or else you might mess up your phone!)
12. After it is done restoring, iTunes will ask you if you want to start as new or restore from backup, choose restore from backup (the one you just made)
13. After it is done restoring from the backup, click sync at the bottom right again
14. Now, you should be good to go. Your text messages, pictures, contacts, notes, and various other settings should be on your phone
15. Download whatever apps you want to from the appstore

Depending on your internet connection, downloading iOS 6.1.2 may take one hour to a few hours.
The package itself is around 785 MB. If you have a 1 Mbps internet speed or 128 KB/s download speed, it'll take you around 1 hour 45 minutes (1.75 hours) to download.

You can choose that as a base for whatever speed you have. So say you have a download speed of 150 KB/s

Just do the calculations below:
128/150 x 1.75 hours = 1.49 hours or approximately 1 hour 30 minutes
basically it's 128/(your download speed) x 1.75 hours = time needed to download the iOS 6.1.2 package (785 MB)

The installation and restoring from backup time can vary but that should take approximately 15 minutes max? But again, it highly depends on the speed of your computer

Hope this explanation helps you much more

Best of luck! Don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it

I have to go now so I won't be responding right away. Good luck though

----------
From A Buick 8 said:
It's iOS 5 or higher
Click to expand...

he was trying to download the app "iTunes" from the appstore, i think

----------
From A Buick 8 said:
Does your phone show up on the left hand side, if it does then click on your phone and you should see the option to upgrade the software show in the main window.
Click to expand...

I don't think the version he has supports iOS 6. It looks like the iTunes he has would be for iOS 4 seeing his iPhone is at iOS 4

----------
anto101 said:
version : 4.0 (8A293) is this what you mean?I have the phone plugged into laptop and am signed into itunes online it seems if I want books, university courses or music there are lots to choose from but nowhere does it say upgrade your lame phone here!! lol GRRRRrrrrr Y do they make it so hard? x
Click to expand...

yes, that is what i mean. Just follow my steps listed here and you should be good. It's not hard to update, it's actually fairly easy

Actually, for people like you, starting with iOS 5, you can update the firmware from the device itself! You would just go into settings -> general -> software update

And just click download and install.

But for the 3GS, it seems like iOS 6 will be the last firmware you will be able to get so you probably wouldn't have to worry about anymore updating because if you have to, everyone would tell you that you need to buy a new phone :p
 
Nice instructions but it don't have to be that complicated. When plug into iTunes it should tell you there is an update. Select it.The update should take care of backing up for you. To the original poster, they made is easy so don't try and make it hard. Open iTunes (on the computer) , plug in your phone and follow the prompts to update. It should automatically tell you if you need to update. Allow it to backup, update and restore the backup when asked.
 
sbailey4 said:
Nice instructions but it don't have to be that complicated. When plug into iTunes it should tell you there is an update. Select it.The update should take care of backing up for you. To the original poster, they made is easy so don't try and make it hard. Open iTunes (on the computer) , plug in your phone and follow the prompts to update. It should automatically tell you if you need to update. Allow it to backup, update and restore the backup when asked.
Click to expand...

Just afraid that iTunes won't backup his stuff for him so I tell him to manually do it for precautions sake
 
One if the the things that you constantly read around here is how it "just works" and how easy it is for the "average" iPhone user to use the phone. This is a perfect example of the average user not knowing what or how to do. OP I'm not knocking you whatsoever so please don't take it that way.

So when I read comments about how parents should know about parental controls or that it's "always" the users responsibility to know about [insert whatever] these are the users that I think about. That's is why when it comes to privacy or App Store it should by default be opt-in and in general the phone should be set up with user's best interests in mind.

I would love to see auto updates in iOS 7 for both the apps and iOS.

/rant over
 
rocknblogger said:
One if the the things that you constantly read around here is how it "just works" and how easy it is for the "average" iPhone user to use the phone. This is a perfect example of the average user not knowing what or how to do. OP I'm not knocking you whatsoever so please don't take it that way.

So when I read comments about how parents should know about parental controls or that it's "always" the users responsibility to know about [insert whatever] these are the users that I think about. That's is why when it comes to privacy or App Store it should by default be opt-in and in general the phone should be set up with user's best interests in mind.

I would love to see auto updates in iOS 7 for both the apps and iOS.

/rant over
Click to expand...

Although I agree with you that the average user can have trouble with many things revolving technology, I don't think auto updates is the best thing out there.

For example, iOS 5.1.1 is a completely stable version but let's say it auto updated you to iOS 6. A majority would probably dislike that; especially if they loved the googles maps or stock youtube app. Or maybe there'll even be wifi issues or battery draining issues.

The settings -> general -> software update seems to be good
 
darricksailo said:
Although I agree with you that the average user can have trouble with many things revolving technology, I don't think auto updates is the best thing out there.

For example, iOS 5.1.1 is a completely stable version but let's say it auto updated you to iOS 6. A majority would probably dislike that; especially if they loved the googles maps or stock youtube app. Or maybe there'll even be wifi issues or battery draining issues.

The settings -> general -> software update seems to be good
Click to expand...

I would do incremental auto updates but for full version updates then I agree. Allow the user to choose. In the case of apps I would like to see the option for auto-updates. That's one of the better features of Android. I can set auto-update on a app by app basis. When there's a change to ToS or something major that I should know about, Android gives me a message that there is an update available for x app. Then I have the option of what I want to do.

With iOS if I don't check to see if I have updates for a few days I can end up with 40 or 50 updates tat can take a significant amount of time. It's a real sticking point for me. You'd be surprised how many people over the years have asked me to look at there iPhone because something wasn't working the way they expected. I check to see if they have any updates. More often than not they'll have tons of updates they didn't know about.
 
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