Updating the Operating System of Apple Devices

Before you begin

You can update the operating system of your Apple devices if they meet the following requirements.

iOS

  • Running iOS 10.3 or later
    • If enrolled in DEP, running iOS 9 or later
  • Supervised

macOS

  • Running macOS 10.11 or later
  • Enrolled in DEP

About this task

Note: You can update an iOS device to any version after the version currently on the device. However, you can only update macOS devices to the latest available version of its operating system. The upgrade is not reversible on either iOS or macOS devices.

To update the operating system of an Apple device:

Procedure

  1. In the console, select the Apple devices whose operating systems you want to update.
  2. Note: SOTI MobiControl automatically prompts all compatible Apple devices to scan for OS updates every 24 hours. However, you can use the Scan for OS Updates device action to force your devices to initiate a scan immediately.

    For security and stability reasons, OEMs often stagger the roll out of updates to devices. Therefore, if an update was recently released, different devices may receive different results, even if they are currently running the same OS version.

    In either the Device Information panel (if you selected one device) or the Device Actions menu bar (if you selected multiple devices), click the More menu button and select Scan for OS Updates in the Device Actions menu.
    The Scan for OS Updates dialog box opens. If a warning message appears at the bottom of the dialog box, click on the message to get more information about the warning.
  3. In the Scan for OS Updates dialog box, click the Scan for OS Updates button.
    Note: If the device is currently offline, it will scan for OS updates the next time it checks in.
  4. To see whether an OS update is available for an Apple device, open the Device Information panel for the device and check the Software Updates section of the panel.
    This step must be performed on each device individually.
  5. In the console, select all devices with available updates, click the More menu button, then select Update OS in the Device Actions menu to open the Update OS dialog box.
  6. In the Update OS dialog box, select one of the following options from the OS Update Method list:
    • Download and install the software update
    • Download the software update but do not install it
    • Install an already downloaded software update
    • Download the software update and notify the user via the App Store (macOS only)
    • Download the software update and install it at a later time (macOS only)
    If a warning message appears at the bottom of the dialog box, click on the message to get more information about the warning. Otherwise, continue.
  7. In the Update OS dialog box, click the Update OS button to start the update.

Results

Once the update begins, you can monitor its progress in the Device Information panel. Status information is updated whenever the device checks in, but you can also use a Refresh OS Update Status device action to immediately update the information.