How to Well prepare your iPhone for iOS 18 update (5 effective tips)

The Latest iOS 18 is officially out now for compatible iPhone and iPad touch models. This time the software update brings plenty of new features, from improved autocorrect to advanced privacy protections. AirDrop gets a boost with NameDrop, while StandBy Mode offers a clean charging display. Enjoy streamlined sharing, enhanced well-being tools, and expanded Siri functionality.and much more. And most importantly with iOS 18, everything is going faster, from unlocking with Face ID (30 percent faster) and app downloads will be 50 percent smaller and updates 60 percent smaller. Apps will launch twice as fast in iOS 18, and much more. So are you excited to install iOS 18 on your iPhone or iPad? We too. Well if you intend on updating right away you might want to take a few moments ahead of time to prepare for the iOS 18 software update. Here in this post, we have steps to help you Prepare Your iPhone for successful iOS 18 updates.

How to Prepare for iOS 18 Update on iPhone & iPad

Here We’ll walk through a few helpful tips “From confirming device compatibility to performing some basic cleanup and maintenance,” to get your iOS device ready for installing the latest iOS 18 updates from Apple.

Check iOS 18 Compatibility

The very first thing you have to check the iOS 18 compatible devices list to make sure your particular iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch supports the new operating system. Well, the good news is that there is a long list of devices (Include the newly launched iPhone 16) compatible with iOS 18.

• iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max.
• iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max.
• iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 11, 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone XR, XS and XS Max
• iPhone SE (2nd generation and later)

✅ Make sure your iPhone is compatible
✅ Back up your data to iCloud
🥳 You’re ready to upgrade to #iOS18 on September 16!

Learn more and see if your device is compatible: https://t.co/08ztFvPemV pic.twitter.com/XQmjodYrHJ

— Apple Support (@AppleSupport) September 9, 2024

Note the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max will come with iOS 18 preinstalled, so there is no need to update those devices unless a smaller point release is available for them (like iOS 18 etc).

Well, iPhone 5S (and older), iPhone 6/6 Plus, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 3, iPad Air (2013)  won’t be compatible with the new iOS update. That means these devices not receive the latest iOS 18 update.

iOS 18 Supported devices

The good news is that iOS 18 aims to boost performance of older iPhone and iPad hardware, so if you have a device currently running iOS 14 or iOS 13 that feels sluggish, updating to iOS 18 may improve the performance on that device.

Backup Everything Using iCloud or iTunes

So your iOS device on the iOS 18 compatible device list, is great. Let’s back up your iOS device before new software (iOS 18) takes place. This is the most important step as Having fresh backups allows you to recover quickly if something goes wrong. You can use the iCloud or iTunes backup solution provided by apple only to backup your iOS devices. (Use iCloud or iTunes, it’s totally up to you.)

Back up your iPhone or iPad using iCloud 

• Connect to a WiFi network first.
• Open the Settings app on your iOS device, and tap on the Apple ID section at the very top.
• Now tap on the ‘iCloud’ section, scroll down a little and tap on ‘iCloud Backup.
• finally, you want to select “Back Up Now”.

Make and complete the iCloud backup right before installing iOS 18, so that your data is freshly saved and backed up. This includes all your contacts, photos, notes, movies, apps, all personal data, and customizations to the device.

Back up iPhone or iPad using iTunes

You can also backup to iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC.

• Connect your iPhone to your PC or Mac using a Lightning cable,
• Wait for your device to show up in iTunes.
• Now click on the tiny little iPhone-like icon on the top left hand corner,
• then in the backup section select ‘This Computer’ then choose to start the backup right away.

To be thorough, you can backup to both iCloud and iTunes, there’s nothing wrong with backup redundancy and many would consider that prudent.

Free up Storage Space  for iOS 18 Installation

Also, you need a minimum of 3GB of storage available to install iOS 18 in the first place. Also, we recommend that you take things slightly overboard by freeing up at least 6GB of storage space. This will make sure that the update goes through as smoothly as possible. Well, you can check your device’s available storage capacity by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage / iPad Storage.

Before you update to a major new iOS release, it’s often a good idea to tidy up your device, delete some long unused apps, and update your remaining apps.

Update Your Apps on iOS device

Also, it’s a good idea to update all iOS apps on the device so that they are new and more likely to be compatible with the latest iOS 18 release.

• Simply open the App Store,
• Then go to the Updates tab,
• Here choose “Update All”

Also, Go through the Software Update utility from time to time on your PC or Mac to make sure that you are running the latest version of iTunes. There is a possibility that Apple might release an update this Thursday.

It’s Time to Install iOS 18

Once you have completed the above tasks, you’re ready to install iOS 18. Well, the latest iOS 18 is a free software update for all compatible iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch, and you can download iOS 18 once it is available on 20 September 2024.

If you have automatic updates on this may or may not happen at the time it releases it can take a few days so just go ahead and check yourself if you want it right away.

Make sure you have enough batery life and the reason i say this is because maybe you are at work maybe you’r somewhere else and you want to update to iOS 18 you’ll need at least 50 percent if you dont have your charger with you so make sure that you have at least fifty percent battery life or you have your charager with you reaither one will work if you’re over fifty percent fine. If you’re not then you’ll need your charger

The simplest way to install the iOS 18 update is through the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad.

• Just open Settings,
• go to General, then choose Software Update.
• When iOS 18 is available, click to Download and Install.
• Now depending on your internet connection can determine how long it takes to actually download the update.
• Once the updates are downloaded it can take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes to install.
• So just make sure you have that time available.