Avast, ye mateys! Heave your Software Update to port and prepare to board; for today isn’t just International Talk Like a Pirate Day, it also be the day that Apple unleashes iOS 6 upon us all.
Now fetch me some grog ye scurvy bilge rats lest I keel-haul ye then send yer carcass to Davy Jones’s locker. Arrrrrr!
*cough cough*
Excuse me. Don’t know what came over me there…
In case you missed the news from last week, iOS 6 is supposed to be dropped today, with all the new features that we’ve been hearing about since it was announced at the WWDC in June: a new Maps app with Yelp integration and 3D buildings, better integration with iCloud and social apps, FaceTime chat over cellular networks (for carriers who support it), enhanced Siri functions, shared photo streams, Passbook, enhanced browsing and Mail, and even new Camera functions.
As with any software update from Apple, once it’s released, expect their servers to be swamped and/or slow for a while. Those with slower connections may be best served by just waiting a few days until the fervor dies down.
Of course, before you update your iDevice to iOS 6, it’s probably a good idea to make sure you have a backup first. While iTunes can make an automatic backup, it probably wouldn’t hurt to make a manual backup right before you update, just in case.
Fortunately, this is fairly simple to do:
- Connect your iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone to your computer. Theoretically, you can do this wirelessly, but connecting via the USB cable will probably be a little quicker.
- When you see the device listed along the left column in iTunes, right-click/control-click on the device name and select “Back Up”.
- iTunes will make the backup.
Once the process is complete, you can go ahead and update to the new iOS 6 goodness. (Note: You adventurous souls who have jailbroken your iDevices will probably want to wait until a compatible break for iOS 6 is available, lest all your customization get removed/disabled.)
Late Addition!
iOS users aren’t the only ones feeling the update love from Apple today. Both Mountain Lion users and Lion users get also get a System Update to 10.8.2 and 10.7.5, respectively. 10.6.x users weren’t completely left out, picking up a Security Update along the way, so a visit to Software Update is probably in order for you along the way, too. As usual, make sure you have a backup before updating, and be prepared to restart after installing.
