iPhone New iPhone 4S - Is Update Forced?

[DigitalDawn]

I want to buy a new iPhone 4S for my husband on Ebay.

If I buy a new phone with IOS 5.x, will an update to IOS 6.x be forced when my husband restores his current 3GS backup? Or can he continue to use the phone in 5.x and apply a 5.x jailbreak?

 

[jrswizzle]

I want to buy a new iPhone 4S for my husband on Ebay.

If I buy a new phone with IOS 5.x, will an update to IOS 6.x be forced when my husband restores his current 3GS backup? Or can he continue to use the phone in 5.x and apply a 5.x jailbreak?

Was the current 3GS backup done from iOS 6? The iOS 6 JB is out and is pretty fantastic...

 

[Bugeyeblue]

All iPhone 4s's come with iOS 6 out of the box from what I understand.

 

[jrswizzle]

All iPhone 4s's come with iOS 6 out of the box from what I understand.

Not necessarily - any 4S's sold after it was released would, however if one were purchasing from eBay the phone could either have been purchased and used before iOS 6 came out or could have been bought from an earlier stock and never opened.

 

[Bugeyeblue]

Not necessarily - any 4S's sold after it was released would, however if one were purchasing from eBay the phone could either have been purchased and used before iOS 6 came out or could have been bought from an earlier stock and never opened.

OP said they wanted to buy new. That's why I said that. But yes you're right, it could be on an older version if they buy used. I started a thread on this a few months back in the iPhone section and everyone who bought new 4s's had iOS 6 pre installed no matter where they bought from.

 

[jrswizzle]

OP said they wanted to buy new. That's why I said that. But yes you're right, it could be on an older version if they buy used. I started a thread on this a few months back in the iPhone section and everyone who bought new 4s's had iOS 6 pre installed no matter where they bought from.

Buying "new" from eBay is quite different than buying new from other retailers. The phone could still be packaged and never opened, but from an older stock before iOS 6 was released. Probably unlikely, but possible nevertheless.

 

[Bugeyeblue]

Buying "new" from eBay is quite different than buying new from other retailers. The phone could still be packaged and never opened, but from an older stock before iOS 6 was released. Probably unlikely, but possible nevertheless.

Interesting. I didn't know that.

 

[jrswizzle]

Interesting. I didn't know that.

Lol - not saying I know the particular 4S model the OP wants to purchase is that way.....only makes sense that someone/some company could still have an unopened 4S from the pre-iOS 6 days.

I worked at Best Buy and it generally took us a little while to sell off our older stock even after a new OS came out. For instance - the iOS 4 to iOS 5 jump.....we had a mix in our cages and the only way you could tell is if the box had the iCloud icon on it. Not a big deal to most as one could simply upgrade when they got it home.....

Generally I tired to sell the older stock first - unless I was selling to an elderly person, or someone who seemed somewhat tech-illiterate.....then I sold one of the newer ones so they didn't have to mess with the upgrade right away.

 

[DigitalDawn]

Let's assume the 4S is new but it's on 5.x. If the original 3GS was on IOS 4.x and my husband restored his backup, would the phone be updated to IOS 6, or would it stay on IOS 5?

 

[jrswizzle]

Let's assume the 4S is new but it's on 5.x. If the original 3GS was on IOS 4.x and my husband restored his backup, would the phone be updated to IOS 6, or would it stay on IOS 5?

Where is the backup stored? I would say if you restored from iCloud, you'd stay on iOS 5. However, if you plug into iTunes it would prompt you to upgrade to iOS 6.

Care to share the aversion to iOS 6?

 

[DigitalDawn]

That's good to know. Currently his backup is stored on his PC, but he could certainly save to iCloud.

Don't like the new Apple Maps app. And it's setup as the default Maps app, so all the other apps link to the new Apple maps app.