iPhone 5 users: update iOS by next week to remain online

If you’re using an iPhone 5 from 2012, Apple would like to remind you to update your OS lest you get left behind.

The company notes that owners of the phone should update to iOS 10.3.4 by 3 November to ensure that you can still access Apple’s online services.

“Starting just before 12am UTC on 3 November 2019, iPhone 5 will require an iOS update to maintain accurate GPS location and to continue to use functions that rely on correct date and time including ‌App Store, ‌iCloud, email, and web browsing,” Apple noted in a support update.

“This is due to the GPS time rollover issue that began affecting GPS-enabled products from other manufacturers on 6 April 2019. Affected Apple devices are not impacted until just before 12am UTC on 3 November 2019.”

That’s 2am SAST for South Africans.

If you’re not able to update before then, users will have to restore and update via a Mac or PC.

You can check your current iPhone 5 iOS version by heading over to About in your General settings, and checking the “software version” listing.

It’s not clear if this also includes the 5S and 5C variants.

Edit: A previous version of this article noted that the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C also required updates, however, Apple does not make this clear. We’ve updated the article accordingly.

Feature image: iPhone 5 by Alim Mohammed via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)