14 DAY TRIAL // According to reports, Apple is negotiating with carriers to deliver over-the-air (OTA) software updates for iPhone owners starting with iOS 5.
The first such updates will be incremental releases of the fifth major iOS release, not the actual iOS 5.0 update expected to arrive this summer, but iOS 5.1, sources tell 9to5mac.
Apple is reportedly kicking off OTA updates with the help of U.S. operator Verizon.
The two companies are said to have been discussing the possibility of wirelessly distributing iOS software updates since early this year.
One iOS device already receiving OTA updates is the Apple TV. The set-top box, however, retains little user information, and the new OS releases are relatively small in size, compared to iPhone software updates.
In contrast, iPhone and iPad updates are large - some coming in at a hefty 670MB, - but that’s still mainly because Apple releases the whole OS every time patches and enhancements are added to the software.
One way to avoid straining Verizon’s cellular network when OTA updates kick in is to make incremental iOS updates, like the Mac OS X 10.6.7 release for Early 2011 iMacs we talked about earlier today.
Customers could also be allowed to download these updates free of charge, should Apple reach a deal with the wireless services provider to allow OTA updates to be ‘whitelisted’ from the bandwidth allowance of a user’s data plan, as theorized by OS X Daily.
If Apple decides to stick to the current iOS update model - release the full operating system every time - OTA updates would most likely be done via WiFi only.
Finally, system updates make it critical to back up your device’s current state, therefore Apple is believed to plan the introduction of a cloud-based backup system specifically catering to OTA updating.