Why Won’t My iPhone Update to iOS 12 and How to Fix It

Updated Oct 16,2018 | by Micky

Q: Why won’t my iPhone update to iOS 12?

iOS 12, released on Sep 17, 2018, brings up many surprises. The faster responsiveness, the amazing and practical AR features, and the vivid funny memoji when chatting with others. It’s so attractive that a number of iPhone and iPad users can’t wait to download it and have a try.

However, recently, we hear many of them complain that their devices are unable to check for update iOS 12 and some other errors like disconnection from the internet occur when trying to download the latest software.

It’s weird and dreadful. So, in this article, I will explain the reason why there are such glitches and offer you some practical solutions to fixing them.

You Are Also Welcomed to Read – iOS 12 Won’t Install

If your device is too old, for example, iPhone 4, iPhone 5 or iPad mini 1, you won’t be able to install iOS 12 for they are incompatible with each other.

I have an iPad mini 1 and when I go to Settings > General > Software Update, a notification “Unable to check for update” pops up asking me to retry or close. When I try to download iOS 12 software via iTunes, it tells me my software is up to date.

Here is a list where you can check whether your device supports iOS 12.

The size of iOS 12 is generally larger than 2GB and you’d better make sure there is double space on your iPhone or iPad for a successful update or problems may occur.

To check the storage on your iDevice, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage where you can see the details on the top.

If there is limited space, make sure to clean the iDevice by removing unwanted Apps and clear cache files and cookies. Many iPhone cleaners such as IOTransfer are free to use.

If the iOS 12 unable to check for update issue still happens after cleaning the device, it might be caused by Setting App itself. In this case, you might as well choose iTunes for the update. Just follow the steps below.

Tip: Make sure you’ve updated iTunes to the latest version.

     1.  Download the iOS 12’s IPSW file on your computer.

2.       Connect the device to PC and launch iTunes.

3.       In iTunes, click on the iPad or the iPhone icon on the upper left and then, click on Summary.

4.       Click on Check for Update while pressing Shift on your keyboard, choose the IPSW file you previously downloaded and the device will get to update to iOS 12.

If your device is still running on iOS 12 beta version, then, there will be a conflict which leads to “iPhone won’t update to ios 12”. The best way to fix it at this moment is to completely uninstall iOS 12 beta from your device: Go to settings > General > Profile > iOS Beta Software Profile > Delete Profile. Then, reboot your device and check whether the iOS 12 update works.

Sometimes, Apple server can be overloaded with a large number of update request especially when a new iOS version is released. This can be one of the reasons why your iPhone won’t update to iOS 12. So, wait for a few hours or days before trying again.

Bottom Line

Why won’t my iPhone update to iOS 12?

Did you find the answer after reading the tutorial? Hopefully yes.

iOS 12 is amazing and powerful, but remember that since it has been just a few weeks after its release, there are still many bugs to be fixed. If you have any problems with iOS 12, always feel free to contact us.

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