Trying to update my iPad Air 5th generation from its current 17.3.1 to latest iPadOS Developer Beta

[Rafagon]

I'm trying to update my iPad Air 5th generation from its current 17.3.1 to 18.0 Developer Beta 7 and I can't. I don't have home Wi-Fi. I'm trying to use my iPhone 15 Pro Max's Hotspot. The iPhone is using the latest Developer Beta of iOS 18.0.

I was able to update my MacBook Pro with the M1 chip to the latest (or perhaps the one before the latest; I can't recall at this moment) Beta of Sequoia.

What I'm gathering from the screenshot below if that I'm not allowed to update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot, and instead I have to use a "real" Wi-Fi source (as in from a router or McDonald's or what-have-you).

Considering a macOS software update is [presumably] a larger file than an iPadOS's software updates file, what could possibly be Apple's rationale for not letting me update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot, but letting me update macOS using that very same iPhone's Hotspot?

Could it possibly be because this is a Beta version of iPadOS that I'm trying to update to? Will it let me update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot when the final public release of iPadOS 18.0 is available?

 

[jchap]

What I'm gathering from the screenshot below if that I'm not allowed to update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot, and instead I have to use a "real" Wi-Fi source (as in from a router or McDonald's or what-have-you).

Considering a macOS software update is [presumably] a larger file than an iPadOS's software updates file, what could possibly be Apple's rationale for not letting me update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot, but letting me update macOS using that very same iPhone's Hotspot?

Could it possibly be because this is a Beta version of iPadOS that I'm trying to update to? Will it let me update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot when the final public release of iPadOS 18.0 is available?

All of these are good questions to ask. I might have encountered a similar issue before—this seems vaguely familiar.

Using your iPhone as a Wi-Fi hotspot means that you're adding another hop on the route to the network server that ultimately serves up the update. Since I don't think that the number of hops is the problem, it could be more of an artificial cap placed by the update software on your iPad (or by your Internet service provider), which assumes that data speeds may be limited in this hotspot network configuration. You might find this explanation on the Apple Platform Development website helpful (relevant text emphasized in red):

iPhone and iPad can download and prepare software updates when connected using Wi-Fi and when connected using mobile data:

• When connected wirelessly using Wi-Fi:
  • Initial availability: Manually by the user from Software Update Settings.
  • General availability: Manually by the user or using automatic software update downloads.
• When connected wirelessly using mobile data:
  • Initial availability: Manually by the user when their device is connected to a 5G mobile network and has Allow More Data on 5G turned on.
  • General availability: Manually by the user unless it’s deferred by the service provider on the specific mobile network. In this case, users are informed that a Wi-Fi connection is required to download the update.

Based on the above info, you might also want to try the "Allow More Data" setting in iOS for 5G, as shown below.

As for update file size, although I'm not 100% sure on this, iOS/iPadOS updates and macOS updates may actually be incremental or partial updates to the OS rather than the full package. For instance, the full package for macOS Sonoma is 12.1 GB, but once all the base files are installed, the updates should be considerably smaller (although I don't have any data on that to back up my claim, sorry). That might be why you are able to update macOS via your iPhone's cellular connection (an incremental update?), but can't download the full beta version of iPadOS—it could simply be a data size problem.

 

[Rafagon]

Tried your suggestions, thank you very much, although they didn't work.

I tried disabling Beta updates, which would've meant an iPadOS update from iPadOS 17.3.1 to iPadOS 17.6.1, but that didn't work either.

It appears as if Apple is really going to make me go to an establishment that offers free Wi-Fi to do this update. And then, I'll have to hope said establishment provides a Wi-Fi signal with a decent speed and reliability.

Hey, can't I update iPadOS by hooking it up to my MacBook Pro and connecting to iTunes? And then use my iPhone's Hotspot to give my MacBook Pro internet access.

It seems unnecessarily complicated, but apparently it should be possible.

I'll try this in the morning.

I'll report back, just in case anyone is interested.

 

[FireFish]

I'm trying to update my iPad Air 5th generation from its current 17.3.1 to 18.0 Developer Beta 7 and I can't. I don't have home Wi-Fi. I'm trying to use my iPhone 15 Pro Max's Hotspot. The iPhone is using the latest Developer Beta of iOS 18.0.

I was able to update my MacBook Pro with the M1 chip to the latest (or perhaps the one before the latest; I can't recall at this moment) Beta of Sequoia.

What I'm gathering from the screenshot below if that I'm not allowed to update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot, and instead I have to use a "real" Wi-Fi source (as in from a router or McDonald's or what-have-you).

Considering a macOS software update is [presumably] a larger file than an iPadOS's software updates file, what could possibly be Apple's rationale for not letting me update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot, but letting me update macOS using that very same iPhone's Hotspot?

Could it possibly be because this is a Beta version of iPadOS that I'm trying to update to? Will it let me update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot when the final public release of iPadOS 18.0 is available?

View attachment 2408809

Make sure you back up that iPad before you do anything
I could see that error on the left side showing you haven’t backed up in a while

 

[Rafagon]

Make sure you back up that iPad before you do anything
I could see that error on the left side showing you haven’t backed up in a while

Thank you very much!

Yes, that has been corrected since that screenshot was taken.

 

[jchap]

Tried your suggestions, thank you very much, although they didn't work.

<snip>

Hey, can't I update iPadOS by hooking it up to my MacBook Pro and connecting to iTunes? And then use my iPhone's Hotspot to give my MacBook Pro internet access.

It seems unnecessarily complicated, but apparently it should be possible.

Argh. Good idea, though, on updating via wired connection. That would seem possible. Let us know how that turns out.

 

[Rafagon]

Argh. Good idea, though, on updating via wired connection. That would seem possible. Let us know how that turns out.

I'm happy to report that my theory was correct. I was able to update to the latest, albeit non-Beta, version of iPadOS, 17.6.1.

When updating one's iPadOS via a Mac, however, there is no way to tell Finder that you want to update to a Beta version.

It baffles me that I had to update iPadOS this way (my iPhone's Hotspot providing internet to my MacBook Pro, then plugging my iPad into my MacBook Pro), instead of the much more straightforward way of using my iPhone's Hotspot to provide internet access to my iPad.

It further baffles me that I'm limited to only updating my iPad's OS to a released version of iPadOS and there's no way to install a Beta version.

I thought Apple was supposed to be about simplicity and ease of use, yet this experience has proven to be quite the opposite.

The only good thing about this experience was that the update process was much speedier than I was expecting.

 

[rui no onna]

Could it possibly be because this is a Beta version of iPadOS that I'm trying to update to? Will it let me update iPadOS using my iPhone's Hotspot when the final public release of iPadOS 18.0 is available?

This might be a (not-so) new limitation on iOS. I used to be able to update via hotspot on older iOS versions (iirc, either 12 or 13 was the last time I used it).

Also, how is the iPhone 15 hotspot classified on the iPad wifi settings? Those can default to Low Data Mode which will limit certain tasks.

 

[rui no onna]

P.S.
I just tried to do an OTA update (17.5.1 -> 17.6.1) on the iPad mini 6 via hotspot from iPhone SE3. It worked fine. iPhone carrier is Tello (T-Mobile MVNO).

I just updated to the latest 18 public beta on the Air 5 last night so I can't test right now if the 18 beta will do OTA updates over hotspot.

This might very well be a carrier limitation instead of a solely Apple limitation.

 

[Rafagon]

It seems there are others with this issue.

Apple Support Community thread, same issue described, and it has 92 "Me Too"s at the moment.

Incidentally, I use T-Mobile and I'm on Carrier version 59.0, and no pending updates to the carrier settings.