Apple has made an important announcement for all existing iPhone 5 users, asking them to have their cell phone updated before November 3rd, to avoid any future inconvenience.
Users of this 2012-Gen smartphone will be required to update their device to 10.3.4, the same update which was launched in July this year, in order to keep their iCloud, email, app store and web browsing functional. In case you are not aware of the version your device currently supports, Apple has a support page on its website that can help you out.
The update deadline is the result of GPS time rollover. Essentially, GPS systems counts date and time using a week counter, which resets itself to zero after the week count reaches 1024 (Bet you didn’t know that!). This results in disruption of location data and since GPS requires accurate time data to function, the disruption is vital. It is for the same reason that a device hit with certain bugs has a persisting issue of date reset.
Newly rolled out devices are crafted to adapt with the rollover and will not face any issue with the GPS, unless hit with a bug. Apple has also stated that is iPhone 4S, first-generation iPad mini, iPad 2, and fourth- and third-gen iPad will also need to update their versions in order to keep the GPS accurately functional, however, other systems can and will still continue to function without the update.
As per reports, GPS accuracy of the devices built between 2006 and 2016 may be impacted with the rollover.
If the iPhone 5 is not updated to 10.3.4 by November 3, its users will have to go through a hectic process to restore everything and have their device running.
Apple’s support page read:
“If the update to iPhone 5 is not completed by November 3, 2019, you will be required to back up and restore using a Mac or PC in order to update because over-the-air software updates and iCloud Backup will not work.”
Apple has clarified that the GPS rollover will not be impact devices until 12:00AM UTC of November 3rd, but why wait so long? Go ahead and update right away.
