iOS 16.4 Is Out. How to Download the Latest iPhone Update

This story is part of Focus iPhone 2023CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice on Apple’s most popular product.

Apple just released iOS16.4. The latest iPhone software update brings several new features to iOS 16, including 21 new emojis including the pea pod, light blue heart, and jellyfish, and voice isolation for cell phone calls that blocks ambient noise to make your voice clearer.

iOS 16.4 also adds Safari-based push notifications, duplicate album support for iCloud Shared Photo Library, crash detection optimizations for the iPhone 14 Series, VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app, bug fixes, security updates, and more.

Read on for a step-by-step guide on how to install iOS 16.4 on your compatible iPhone. You can check out some too the best existing features on iOS 16 and a few hidden features that we found surprised. And if you recently got a new iPhone, here you are the best iPhone 14 cases so far.

Before you start, is your iPhone even compatible?

Not every iPhone gets the iOS 16.4 update. You need at least an iPhone 8 released back in 2017 to run iOS 16. This also includes the iPhone X, iPhone 11, iPhone SE (second generation and later) and the new iPhone 14.

Next, back up your iPhone

It can be exciting to get your hands on new software, but there are precautions you should take before updating. You may not be satisfied with some of the features of iOS 16.4 (although you can fix some of the most annoying ones), so for some reason you need to be able to downgrade to an earlier version of iOS 16 — and that requires backing up your iPhone before the update.

By default, your iPhone should back itself up every time it’s connected to power and Wi-Fi during your regular sleep times. However, if this backup feature is disabled, you can go to Ideas > your name > iCloud > iCloud backup and then hit Secure now to secure your device.

Also, you can backup your iPhone to your Mac via Finder. Just connect your device to your computer, open Finder, select your device, and then create a backup. Apple also recommends archiving your backup to avoid being overwritten by other backups.

Also, make sure you do these three things

You want the download and installation process to go as smoothly as possible, and the best way to do that is as follows:

• Make sure your iPhone is connected to power. You can’t download iOS 16.4 if you have less than 50% battery, so it’s best to just plug in your phone during the update. And even when you’re plugged in, the battery needs to be over 20% charged.
• Connect to WiFi. You also can’t download iOS 16.4 using cellular data, so connect to a stable Wi-Fi network.
• Create enough storage space. If you’re running out of disk space, you need to do some cleaning up before you can download and install iOS 16.4. Go to Ideas > Generally > iPhone storage to delete large files and apps.

Here is our guide on how to get more iPhone storage.

How to Download and Install iOS 16.4

Once you have everything set up, open your iPhone and go to Ideas > Generally > Software update, Wait a few seconds (or minutes) for the update to appear, and then blow Download and install for iOS 16.4.

You should then see a loading bar along with a rough estimate of how long the download process will take. Once the download is complete, restart your device and wait for iOS 16.4 to be installed. When your iPhone boots up, follow the instructions and you should see iOS 16.4 downloaded on your device.

More information about the new operating system can be found here in our iOS 16 cheat sheet and some of the most annoying features and settings on iOS 16 (and how to fix them).