If your excitement of installing the iOS 11.3 update which was just released was cut short by “Software Update Failed: An error occurred downloading iOS 11.3” error then I can understand the frustration. But thankfully there are some solutions you could try.
How to Fix iOS 11.3 Software Update Failed Error
Try again
You have probably tried this several times already. When the error popup appears, you will be prompted with two options namely “Close” and “Settings”. Press the close button to exit the error message, wait for a couple of minutes and then proceed with installing iOS 11.3 again from Settings > General > Software Update.
Wait for a few hours before trying again
When a new iOS firmware is released to the public, millions of iOS users are trying to download and install it right away. The huge amount of traffic on Apple servers means that it will sometimes fail to keep up with some of the requests. Therefore, it is best to wait for a few hours or days before trying again, as the load on their servers will be reduced.
Update to iOS 11.3 using iTunes
If none of the above solutions work for you, consider updating to iOS 11.3 via iTunes on your computer. All you have to do is to plug in your device to your computer, launch iTunes and then click on the Update button from the Summary tab.
Install iOS 11.3 Update Manually
As a last resort, you can manually download the iOS 11.3 IPSW file and use it to update your device. This usually fixes the issue as you no longer depend on Apple’s servers to download the firmware file.
This method is recommended for advanced users as it requires you to update to iOS 11.3 manually using iTunes. If you’re an average user then you’ll be better off waiting for a few hours before trying the update again. Otherwise, follow the steps below to download and install iOS 10 using IPSW:
Step 1: Go to our download page to download the iOS 11.3 IPSW file for your device. Make sure that you download the correct IPSW file that corresponds to your device model.
- Download iOS firmware file for iPhone
- Download iOS firmware file for iPad
- Download iOS firmware file for iPod touch
Step 2: Connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to your computer and launch iTunes.
Step 3: Go to the Summary tab of iTunes.
Step 4: Hold the Shift key in Windows or Alt/Option key on Mac and click the “Restore iPhone” button.
Step 5: Browse and select the iOS 11.3 IPSW file downloaded earlier.
iTunes will now begin to install iOS 11.3 on your device. Once the process has been completed, you can restore from your backup to get back all your data and files.
These are some of the solutions to fix the “Software Updated Failed” error on your device and download and install iOS 11.3 successfully. Make sure to let us know how the process goes in the comments below.
This article was last updated in April 2018.
