Apple finally offers (with a small warning message) the possibility of using the cellular network to perform software updates.
Apple’s iOS 15.4 update for the iPhone is coming soon, and it has some great features you won’t want to miss. Apple is releasing the third betas of the upcoming iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4, and tvOS 15.4 updates to developers tonight for testing. In this new beta version, the obligation to be connected to a wifi network no longer seems to be relevant.
Many users report seeing a “Use cellular data to download” or “Use mobile data to download” prompt when first updating to iOS 15.4 through the software update page. This possibility already existed for 5G networks, as well as for 4G networks, but it seems that the deployment is now widespread for 5G and LTE networks. Indeed, when you open the section dedicated to updates in the “Settings” and that you are currently on wifi, you will see a dialog box which allows you to activate the download on the cellular network or to remain only on wifi. If you choose this last option, nothing changes compared to before and iOS will wait until the device is connected to a wifi network to initiate a download.
If you enable cellular downloads, you’ll need to confirm each update with an additional dialog box. Apple plays the card of caution and reminds that downloading an iOS update can empty a cellular plan. If your plan is light, you might think twice before downloading around 700 MB for iOS 15.4 beta 3 and even several gigs for major updates.