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Apple Re-posts iOS 9.3 Build For Older Devices Affected By Activation Lock Bug (macrumors.com)

Posted by msmash on from the second-time's-a-charm dept.

An anonymous reader cites an article on MacRumors: Just a few days after releasing the iOS 9.3 update, Apple stopped offering it to a selection of older devices including the iPad Air and earlier and the iPhone 5s and earlier due to an activation issue. When the update was pulled, Apple promised to release a new version of iOS 9.3 shortly. Apple today made good on that promise and has released a new version of iOS 9.3, build 13E237, which is now available for all iOS 9 users with older devices as an over-the-air update or through iTunes. Customers with older devices who had not yet updated to iOS 9.3 will be able to do so now.

28 comments

  1. And the Apple minions rejoice by mitcheli · · Score: 2

    I do admit, I like the promptness of Apple when they do release upgrades. They may take a long time to actually patch a bug, but a bulk of their user base has the upgrade is rather short order compared to Android.

    --
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    1. Re:And the Apple minions rejoice by ledow · · Score: 1

      Because it's a very different kettle of fish to publish and test updates only for your own devices, and to publish them for several hundred different manufacturer's.

      Fact is, if Apple don't want to fix the bug, you're stuffed. iPad 2 users have already found that out before with iOS 8 (was it?) that killed their performance. And there are still bugs in iOS and the default apps that aren't fixed and have been known for a while.

    2. Re:And the Apple minions rejoice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      several hundred different manufacturer's

      that's the bed google made, they have to lie in it.

    3. Re:And the Apple minions rejoice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. I was an Android user for several iterations of phones, until I finally got fed up with the mess that is the Android ecosystem. I'm certainly no Apple fan but I had to admit their (usually) stuff worked with less hassle and provided a more consistent user experience. From an ideological standpoint, I still hate the walled garden approach, but I vastly prefer the user experience.

      Incidentally, I did try last year to go back to Android, figuring that after 4 years they would have brought a little order to the mess. No such luck--I lasted about 2 weeks with the top of the line phone before giving up on it and getting a new Apple phone (with a heightened sense of appreciation for all the nifty UI enhancements Apple had added in the previous years, leaving Android even further behind in the dust).

      iOS has annoyances that make me want to throw my phone against the closest brick wall. (like Spotlight search NOT finding any contacts, which is a recurring stupid issue) but Apple's issues and limitations are nothing compared to the inconsistent and painful user experience on Android.

    4. Re: And the Apple minions rejoice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the heck is "inconsistent user experience"?? I have my Android phone, and if it's a little different than someone else's phone, I don't notice. It sounds like a buzzword to me.

    5. Re: And the Apple minions rejoice by mitcheli · · Score: 1

      What the heck is "inconsistent user experience"??

      It's trying to figure out how to hang up a phone call while the screen is locked in a method that takes less than 20 seconds of fumbling. And then repeating the procedure between brands.

      --
      Select from tblFriends where interesting >= 4;
    6. Re: And the Apple minions rejoice by ledow · · Score: 1

      Press the power button.

    7. Re: And the Apple minions rejoice by narcc · · Score: 1

      I'll agree that the differences are fairly insignificant to most technical users, but there are inconsistencies. I wouldn't complain about that, but I can see how some people would find that frustrating.

      That said, Android is lagging behind iOS as far as the UI goes. Giving credit where credit is due, Apple has had the good sense to actually improve over the years, addressing many of my earlier complaints. I can understand why a user, today, without any ideological motivation would willingly choose iOS over Android.

      Still, both are still impossibly behind BB10 and WebOS. You won't find much other than praise for WebOS's UI. BB10 stole quite a bit and added their own improvements. Going from my three-year-old z10 to Android or iOS is like stepping back in time. Why aren't they copying, or outright stealing, from these infinitely better interfaces?

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics
    8. Re: And the Apple minions rejoice by guruevi · · Score: 1

      That seems to be the solution for all Android problems, it's Windows 2000-2010 all over again.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  2. Doctorow's Law by tiltowait · · Score: 0

    I'm glad this was fixed, but for several days I had a bricked device (you ended stuck on the activation screen, with no option to skip that process) and in a situation best summed up by Cory Doctorow: “Anytime someone puts a lock on something you own, against your wishes, and doesn’t give you the key, they’re not doing it for your benefit.”

    1. Re:Doctorow's Law by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      I'm glad this was fixed, but for several days I had a bricked device (you ended stuck on the activation screen, with no option to skip that process)

      Meh. This happened to me on an iPad2.

      I fixed it by plugging it into the computer. Worked fine then.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    2. Re:Doctorow's Law by Streetlight · · Score: 1

      I'm not an Apple hardware user but it seems to me if your hardware is bricked it can't be recovered without extraordinary means. Maybe we should call hardware that doesn't seem to work when updating software "sponged", kinda like a soft brick.

      --
      In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
    3. Re:Doctorow's Law by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      Or users that only try one method of updating as 'full of hot water'.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    4. Re: Doctorow's Law by andymadigan · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile, I'm glad they finally released the update so that I could install it. My iPad kept prompting me to install iOS 9.3 but then told me that it couldn't. Even today, I couldn't use the OTA update mechanism and instead had to plug in the iPad (I almost never connect it to my Mac) and update using iTunes. All because some idiots couldn't remember their iTunes password.

      --
      The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
    5. Re:Doctorow's Law by Streetlight · · Score: 1

      Is the user full of hot water or is the sponge full of hot water? Maybe we have dry sponges and wet sponges!

      Anway, if getting a device restarted by a simple method like rebooting, plugging into a computer, removing the battery in a removable battery device (not easy these days), or some combination of these, I wouldn't call the device bricked, I'd call it sponged. Really, really bricked means one is excellent at diagnosing problems and need to take it to the Apple store or send it to the manufacturer for a major overhaul, like replacing the motherboard or some other component in the device. If the Genius at the apple store can't fix the device without such serious action not easily available to the customer, then the device was definitely bricked.

      --
      In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
  3. What about the hyperlink bug? by Len · · Score: 1

    What about the bug that crashes apps when you tap on a hyperlink?

    1. Re:What about the hyperlink bug? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course not, you're just holding it wrong.

      And of course if you read that article it turns out the bug is with a third party app and not iOS so I don't know why you'd think Apple would be responsible for fixing it.

    2. Re:What about the hyperlink bug? by Szeraax · · Score: 0

      It is not a 3rd party app's fault. It is iOS not handling correctly.

    3. Re: What about the hyperlink bug? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heaven knows that even if the OS is so fragile that a poorly coded third party app can crash the whole thing, Apple will perform the needed tests to protect the denizens of their walled compound. Right? Right??

    4. Re:What about the hyperlink bug? by Len · · Score: 1

      And of course if you read that article it turns out the bug is with a third party app and not iOS so I don't know why you'd think Apple would be responsible for fixing it.

      Nonsense. I did read the article. (Obviously, since I linked to it, right?) No, it's not the app's fault. The app had a file that was "too big". Except it wasn't too big until now, and Apple didn't say "don't make that file too big". It is a bug in iOS 9.3.

    5. Re:What about the hyperlink bug? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So uninstall the app. Problem solved.

      Why is this so hard for Apptards to figure out?

    6. Re:What about the hyperlink bug? by windwalkr · · Score: 1

      So uninstall the app. Problem solved.

      If you RTFA, you'd know that uninstalling the App doesn't fix the problem. This is an OS-level denial-of-service style bug.

  4. would you like to learn more? by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Funny

    you don't really expect us to click that, do you?

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  5. A New Version? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With the same version number?

    It the "version number" just for show??

    1. Re:A New Version? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty much.

      The version number is for marketing purposes: iOS 9.3 is an enhancement to iOS 9.2.1, which was a bug fix release for iOS 9.2.

      There's that separate build number they mention that is the "real" version number and it simply increments as changes are made.

  6. Well I outsmarted them this time! by stackOVFL · · Score: 1

    This happened to me. But after a few panicked moments I remembered. I wrote my password on a postIt! Glory be I was saved. Now your all gonna tell me how I shouldn't write my passwords on PostIts! In my defense, I did put the posit under the mouse pad on my gaming system. I should not have told you that....

  7. 4s upgrade to ios 9.3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Upgrade went without a hitch, phone works great and still seems to run as fast as when it was new to boot!

  8. Bad Versioning by rcharbon · · Score: 1

    Why isn't this iOS 9.31? When my phone already running 9.3 told me that and upgrade to version 9.3 was now available, I didn't know whether it actually was a new version.