Apple senior VP Craig Federighi explained in an email to an iPhone user why iOS auto-updates take so long to roll out.
If you read BGR, you probably download software updates as soon as they’re available. We typically recommend doing so, especially considering how often those updates include vital security fixes. Of course, there are millions of others that prefer to wait until the device tells them to update. This even includes iPhone and iPad owners, though many are quick on the uptake. But those who aren’t might wonder why iOS auto-updates take so long to appear. Well, as it turns out, Apple holds back automatic updates intentionally. On Tuesday, Reddit user Mateusz Buda emailed Apple’s senior VP of software engineering, Craig Federighi, to find out why iOS auto-updates often hit devices days or even weeks after the update rolls out. In his email, Buda explained that even with Automatic Updates turned on, he didn’t get notifications when new iOS updates were released. Federighi responded hours later, providing some interesting insight about the feature: “We incrementally rollout new iOS updates by first making them available for those that explicitly seek them out in Settings, and then 1-4 weeks later (after we have received feedback on the update) ramp up to rolling out devices with auto-update enabled.
