iOS 10.3 not offered for upgrade on iPhone 6, but is on iPad Air

[Bsnmate2]

Hello to all. I am new to this site and look forward to interacting with other iOS device owners. I maintain my wife's iPhone 6 and iPhone Air. I am never one to quickly jump on the latest updates, in iOS or Windows. I like to study user reviews and let the dust settle before I commit. The iPad Air is running iOS 10.2 and iPhone 6 is running iOS 9.3.5. When I check the updates on the devices I see that iOS 10.3 is offered on the iPad Air, but iOS 10.2.1 is offered on the iPhone 6. Does anyone know why there is this discrepancy? Thanks

 

[J. A.]

Welcome to iPhoneForums!

Both software versions are signed by Apple right now, maybe that's why the iPhone 6 tries to update to iOS 10.2.1.
Updating to 10.3 over the air has been pulled from a few devices (5 and 5c), but it's still possible to update them via iTunes. So if the OTA update doesn't work (in Settings - General - Software Updates), try using iTunes (computer) to get the device up to date.

 

[Bsnmate2]

Welcome to iPhoneForums!

Both software versions are signed by Apple right now, maybe that's why the iPhone 6 tries to update to iOS 10.2.1.
Updating to 10.3 over the air has been pulled from a few devices (5 and 5c), but it's still possible to update them via iTunes. So if the OTA update doesn't work (in Settings - General - Software Updates), try using iTunes (computer) to get the device up to date.

 

[Bsnmate2]

Thanks J.A. I contacted Apple Support for a chat. According to what I was told, older iOS's may not recognize a new iOS update. I have iOS 9.3.5 on her phone and have been waiting to update, carefully watching comments on various sites for an update without the usual bugs. I believe that the installed update does not recognize 10.3. I also had an older version of iTunes on my pc which did not recognize 10.3. After uninstalling iTunes and reinstalling version 12.6 it immediately recommended installing iOS 10.3 on the iphone 6 when I plugged it in. So this all makes sense and I will probably update the iPhone soon, but will have to go via iTunes instead of OTA. Thanks again for the reply.

 

[J. A.]

You're welcome.

Something similar happened when users tried to update from iOS 7x to iOS 9.

Apple released 10.3.1 a few hours ago. When you connect the iPhone to iTunes, that iOS will be installed.