iPhone users to receive major free upgrade this month – four tasks you must do to ensure your device is ready

APPLE rolls out a major iOS update about once a year – and the tech titan’s next one is landing in a matter of weeks.

iOS is the operating system iPhones run on, and the new iOS 17 means millions of customers are about to receive a significant boost to their devices

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But there’s a handful of things iPhone owners must do to prepare their device for the system overhaul before it arrives.

Onlookers expect iOS 17 will be ready to download in the week of September 18 – the week following Apple’s September 12 event, when the new iPhone will launch.

To ensure you’re able to access all the newest features, simply follow these four steps.

Check your device is compatible

First, check that your device is compatible with the update.

A number of devices are capable of running iOS 17, and so will be locked out receiving the new features it’s hoped to bring.

All phones between the iPhone SE and iPhone 14 will be eligible.

Update your device

On the day a major iOS update arrives, Apple’s servers can become overloaded, which can make installing it take longer than usual.

Before iOS 17 arrives, it’s wise to update your device to the latest software that is currently available.

This will help make sure that the larger iOS 17 operating system downloads smoothly.

It will also mean your phone as protected against cyber vulnerabilities as it can be while you wait for the server frenzy to die down.

You may also want to wait a week or so until Apple issues iOS 17.1, which is usually a fix for any bugs that arrive with the first iteration.

Create extra space

You will need a fair amount of space available for the update.

Iterations of iOS 16 currently take up around 10GB of storage on iPhones.

But iOS 17 is reportedly much bigger in size.

If you don’t have at least 15GB to spare or your iPhone, then you should try and make some room for the update.

You can do this a number of ways, such as deleting or offloading unused apps, axing downloaded content or shafting more images and videos onto iCloud.

Back up your iPhone

Lastly, you may want to back up your iPhone using iCloud, or the Finder on a Mac or iTunes on a PC.

Previously, people have complained that they lost data like old text messages and photos during an update.

The Sun has detailed how you can do back up your iPhone prior to an iOS update here.