iPhone 3.0 Update is Ready, Apple Servers Under Strain?
2:52 pm, June 17th, 2009, Lonnie Lazar
Apple finally made the iPhone 3.0 firmware update available to US customers Wednesday afternoon and anecdotal reports indicate the company’s servers are working hard to meet the demand.
A few readers indicated problems with their downloads timing-out in the comment thread on our review of the software, other readers in a thread at MacRumors indicated painfully slow download speeds for the 230MB file — though some also indicated lightning quick experiences as fast as one minute to download.
I happened to be caught out and about this afternoon and found even getting to the iTunes app store was problematic over a public WiFi connection. Before attempting to fetch iPhone 3.0 I tried downloading a free iTunes U Summer Mix of music, which I gave up on after 3 ‘network connection re-set’ error messages and figured trying to update my iPhone would be fruitless.
How about you? Are you running the software now? Any problems with the download? Let us know in comments below.
Posted by Lonnie Lazar in Apple, First impressions, Software, iPhone | Comment on this article
No problem here. Caught it right after it was activated. Tried two are three times and before the update was active and then caught it first thing!
Trevor, on June 17th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Hi! I live in Brazil, it took me 2 hours to download the update and then another 1 1/2 hour trying to install it, I always got a message saying iTunes couldn’t connect to Apple activation server. It finally installed and is working beautifully!
André LuÃÂs, on June 17th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
I was just one the phone with an Applecare representative. He just told me not to upgrade to 3.0 just yet, turns out that one can download the software upgrade. But once its complete one cant get service one their phone since itunes servers are going to be officially down for 46 hours. Not only will you not have service but be tremendously pissed off
Damamani, on June 17th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
The app store is painfully slow or non-functional, on both the iPhone and iTunes on my desktop. Error -4. App updates are available, but are not downloading. Getting a “waiting” under the app on the phone. Accepting new terms alerts pop up but tapping accept does not speed up the process. Feels like Apple’s servers are getting blitzed.
Rob, on June 17th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I downloaded it right as it came out and had no problems whatsoever.
It seems laggy though, to me.
Justin Kila, on June 17th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
In preparation for the expected onslaught, I had my iPhone connected and pressed “Check For Updates” about every 3 minutes this morning. I was probably in the first few thousands that got in and updated. Within an hour, when my kids tried to update the DL time went from a few minutes to a couple hours.
Other than that, the update when flawlessly and I am really pleased with it.
perkiset, on June 17th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Took me about an hour to connect with the server to “authorize” my iphone so it could install the update. My download of the software went smooth though.
James, on June 17th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
My download and install took about 15 minutes this morning starting at about 10:15AM (AZ time). It went very smooth and the OS is working great. Spotlight is fantastic. No MMS yet (waiting on AT&T of course). Other new features work great.
Matt, on June 17th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
My AppStore is very slow, and i can’t update any app, i can’t access my itunes account (mac and iphone).
but my biggest problem is that i don’t know how to put a fake APN cause the menu is gone.
can you help me?
Juan, on June 17th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
After I updated, the only apps that work are the ones that the phone brought. When I try to open an app, it goes right back to the home screen. I have restarted the phone several times but nothing.
Kiowa169, on June 17th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
yup installed in about 5 min… lovely
Zack Pyle, on June 17th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Running 3.0 on 2G, no problems with download (1min, Germany), no bugs yet.
Armin, on June 17th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Is this worth it for those using an iPod Touch 1/2 GEN????
FRANK, on June 17th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Got the download first time at about 7pm GMT here in Ireland. Apparently new servers were installed at Apple’s European HQ in Cork over the past few weeks so no trouble on the download. Installation took about 10 minutes overall excluding download. So far so good on the OS 3.0 but there are problems. For instance, some contact cards in the Address Book do seem distorted if there’s a lot of detail in there. Also Tethering support isn’t active on Irish iPhones… possibly due to a Carrier update perhaps, however looks like based on the UK pricing, Tethering won’t be available in Ireland anytime soon.
Nice upgrades though. Menus are much slicker and quite a bit faster. However I have noticed a worrying fact about the battery life which seemed to degrade by 75% on a 20-minute EDGE phone call. Strange but we’ll see tomorrow. Shame Apple wouldn’t throw in the Voice Control as a bonus for non-3GS phones. Like the addition of Bluetooth Stereo… can’t wait to try it out.
diarmy
diarmy, on June 17th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Got it on first try.
But having trouble getting software updates.. status is still between waiting – loading – waiting
Yen, on June 17th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Worked the second try for me. I would hate to be the sysadmin at Apple. Apple at least learned from last years mistake and is spreading the load. A day like today you can’t have enough bandwidth.
Pats, on June 17th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Unknowingly and innocently went to sync my phone today to update my music bank…. Apparently at the same time everyone went for the update…. And lost my entire contact book. Sucks to be me.
Andrea Fischer, on June 17th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
No problems here. Downloaded and installed quite easily this afternoon.
Dave, on June 17th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I had issues with MobileMe not letting me into Find My iPhone initially but it seems to be working. I am betting a LOT of people downloaded this update minutes after it became available. I’m sure the servers were strained.
SkyGuy79, on June 17th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
After 5 hours and 2 attempts, backup still running. Download was fast, but still cannot get past the frickin backup that is taking forever, to even get started with the upgrade. Aargh….
Rob, on June 17th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
You should have ditched the public WiFi connection and just tethered to your iPhone…. aww, too soon?
3.0'd, on June 17th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
No problem downloading but couldn’t reach an activation server for a couple of hours. Didn’t expect this though: after installation, the update switched my language settings from English to Danish. Wasn’t expecting that.
Jeff, on June 17th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
about 15mins to download and it took about 3 attempts to verify and install, so far so good!
Crag, on June 17th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
I’m in Seattle. Downloaded about 3:30 p.m. here. No problems. Download and install both smooth and the phone runs fine.
Prospero, on June 17th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
From the other side of the pound (Portugal/Europe) I had an error somewhere halfway, but in the retry the download came throught ok, but slower.
Filipe Miguel Tavares, on June 18th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Downloaded it in 5 mins (New Zealand) was absolutely fine and no hiccups… Why would you try to download an upgrade over 200Mb from a public WiFi connection? Trying to create a drama on the post?
Millions of users will be downloading at the same time… it’s normal to have a problem like this! grow up people!
George, on June 18th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Had to try for a few hours, but got it done. I guess 40 million other people had the same idea as me…
ko_nayne, on June 18th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Donwloaded at 9 pm with no problems. So far so good
Antony Xenios, on June 18th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Downloaded it last night around 5:30 Central time and had no problem. Took about 12 minutes.
ScooterRed, on June 18th, 2009 at 8:46 am
I installed it last night. Took about 10 minutes to download (DSL) and the install took about 10 minutes. So far I am pleased with the new features. I like the voice memo app and the landscape keyboard helps out quite a bit with text messages. My favorite new feature is being able to log in to my youtube account and access my playlists and subscriptions.
Mugatu, on June 18th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I downloaded and installed on two phones yesterday. It went very, very well on both units. Speedy downloads (just 5 minutes or so each) and both installs look good!
jmjohn, on June 19th, 2009 at 6:26 am
I downloaded 3.0 for my iPod Touch, and it killed it. I got the dreaded error 14 – which I understand is software failure. Had to go to Genius Bar and they restored to factory settings – so everything had to be set up again like a new purchase. Very painful. And e-Reader is broken – bookshelf won’t work.
geri simpson, on June 21st, 2009 at 1:47 pm