How much time does it take to install Apple’s iOS 7.0.3 update? While the update applies, an iPhone can’t make or receive calls & text messages. I timed the update, because I thought others might like to also know how long their iPhone would be “down”.
What’s in the iOS 7.0.3 update?
The iOS 7.0.3 update introduces iCloud Keychain, which can synchronise passwords (e.g. for eBay) and remember credit card details across Apple devices: iPhones, iPads & Macs running the just-released OS X 10.9 Mavericks.
In the 7.0.3 update there’s also a bunch of bug fixes. The most notable is a fix for iMessages failing to send.
How I installed the iOS 7.0.3 update
How the update is done may affect the install time for the iOS 7.0.3 upgrade. So it’s clear what update process I used to get these timings, here’s how I did the update.
Firstly, I applied the update directly using my iPhone (Settings app > General > Software Update). I didn’t use iTunes to download & apply the update.
Secondly, when the iOS 7.0.3 update became available, I didn’t tap to install it immediately. I was waiting for a time when I was happy for phone to be not working. By the time I went to install the update, my iPhone had already completely downloaded the update. The update was 67 MB in size for my iPhone 5.
iOS 7.0.3 update time
The iOS 7.0.3 update time was 7 minutes. During the iOS upgrade, the iPhone shuts down, applies the update, and then reboots.
After the update, there was a guided setup process for iCloud Keychain:
- Enter the Apple ID password for iCloud Keychain.
- Set a four digit passcode for the phone, if a passcode hasn’t been set.
(This security is a requirement for iCloud Keychain.) - Configure iCloud Keychain.
I entered the password for my Apple ID, proceeded to setup a passcode, then opted to setup iCloud Keychain later. That took 2 minutes.
That gives the total time of 9 minutes to complete iOS 7.0.3 upgrade on my iPhone 5. That’s a pretty short downtime, better than I expected.
If you’re not going to wait for to iOS update to completely download first, to work out when the upgrade will be completed, you’ll need to add the download time for the update. The download time will depend on the quality of your Internet connection and how quickly the servers that deliver Apple’s iOS updates can supply the download.
iOS 7.0.3 update time on iPad, iPad mini and other iPhone models
I’m not sure how long the iOS 7.0.3 update will take for the iPhone 5s, iPhone 4s and iPhone 4. I suspect a similar time to my iPhone 5, but probably slower for the older models. For the iPad & iPad mini, the time is likely to be similar, again probably slower for the old models.
If anyone wants to post their install time on different iPhone models, the iPad or iPad mini in the comments, so we have some actual measurements for the iOS update times on those devices, that would be great!