Pros of OTA updates of iOS:
- They’re very convenient.
- They’re much smaller in download size than the equivalent update via iTunes. (Delta updates rather than full iOS images, i.e. only files that have changed.)
Cons:
- Device needs to have 50% battery charge minimum or be on charge.
- Dependent on the speed of your device’s Wi-Fi connection.
- The updates need to unpack themselves on your device before beginning their updating… so much more space on the device is required.
- You’ll usually need to wait for ages whilst Preparing Update:
- If you have more than one Apple device then 5GB free iCloud storage space is often not enough to backup prior to any update.
- Good luck if you suffer a glitch. An OTA restore is a painful experience.
However, whilst I tend to always use iTunes – even though the Windows version is poor – I’ve only once had a problem with an OTA update a long time ago, hence why I know what a miserable experience an OTA Restore is (or used to be). I lost the use of my phone for ~3 hours… and have nearly always used iTunes since (unless it’s a critical update and I’m away from home). By comparison, a restore from iTunes takes just a few minutes.
Hope this helps…
