How to get your Apple devices ready for the last big OS update of 2024

While Apple doesn’t give a timetable, we have pointers and historical data to fall back on.

First, Apple dropped a swath of release candidates yesterday, indicating that — barring some last-minute catastrophe — everything is ready.

Also, going back through my calendar – yes, I log operating system releases in my calendar – iOS 17.2, 16.2, and 15.2 were released Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, and Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, respectively.

So, if I were a betting man, I’d wager next Monday or Tuesday.

As for the time of day, updates normally land 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET/5 a.m. AEDT (next day). It takes a while for the update to roll out, and depending on how busy the update servers are, it might take a while before the new updates are available.