Apple Core Rot: Never Update Your iPhone Before a Trip, Make Sure to Run the Additional Update

iPhone updates cost a lot of cellular data—gigabytes.

But if you update at home before a trip, you had better make sure that you also download a ~500GB turd just so you can connect the iPhone to the computer.

Nice of Apple to update and leave this problem festering and latent for travelers, eh?

Here’s a winning combination: you cannot connect the iPhone, and you cannot update it as requested because the lack of the update means you cannot get internet! Fine for home, not so nice for traveling where all you have is cellular Nice work Apple! One more checklist item to fix the computer before leaving home.

It would have been a disaster, but I could finally do the ~500GB turd update over Bluetooth personal hotspot (since neither USB nor WiFi would work).

I take a dim view of Apple software updates when traveling—they chew up enormous cellular bandwidth. It’s why I have to travel with two iPhones and an iPad—just to be able to buy enough bandwidth.

Why should a 500GB update be needed just to plug the phone in and have it connect? Horrible engineering.

Software update required to connect iPhone

Can’t download iPhone update because cannot connect personal hotspot!