Why did I get a timed out message when I tried to update to iOS 5?

Q  I have an Apple iPhone 4 and I wanted to download the iOS 5 update via iTunes. Unfortunately, every time I tried, I got a ‘timed-out’ error message – so I gave up.

The Apple website is not very helpful apart from wanting to charge me an exorbitant amount of money to call them. Can you help?
Roger Bradshaw

A  The launch of iOS 5 for the iPad and iPhone on 12 October created huge demand and, perhaps inevitably, Apple’s servers couldn’t cope with the surge. As a result, many people were unable to download the update or, if they did succeed, they were subsequently unable to install it successfully.

This is because iTunes needs to communicate with Apple as part of the installation and, as noted, the company’s servers couldn’t cope with demand. As such, the only real advice we can give is try again.

Demand for the download will have abated considerably by now, so there should be fewer problems completing it. Do note, though, that Apple does from time to time issue interim updates, which will again increase demand on its servers: we recommend waiting for a few days after such a release before trying to download and apply the latest update.