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Apple has officially released what it describes as “the biggest release of iOS ever.”

And, I’m afraid, it hasn’t been a complete success.

Some early adopters of iOS 10 discovered that their iPhones and iPads were “bricked” by the new version of the operating system, turning their devices into rather expensive paper weights or doorstops.

Thought I was getting #ios10 – instead I got a bricked phone. BACKUP before you install everyone!! @AppleSupport — Bj Dahl (@therealbjorn) September 13, 2016

Yeah, I’m one of the idiots with a bricked #iPhone after trying to upgrade to #ios10 – thanks for absolutely nothing @apple @AppleSupport 🙈 — Darren Ratcliffe (@webdarren) September 13, 2016

This is why I often recommend that users wait a day or two before rushing to apply the latest major update of an operating system… unless they believe they might be at particular risk of being targeted by online criminals exploiting security holes fixed by the new version.

Often, despite the rigorous beta testing that you trust has been carried out, there will still be some wrinkles that haven’t been properly ironed out. And wouldn’t you rather wait for millions of other iOS users around the world to give the software a whirl before you take the plunge?

After all, the various iterations of iOS 9 have presumably been serving you reasonably well for the last year… does waiting an extra couple of days really matter that much?

The good news is that on this occasion Apple seems to have responded rapidly to the reports of bricked devices and *already* resolved the issue (owners of broken iPhones can reportedly resolve the problem if they connect their device to a computer running iTunes).

In a statement to the press, Apple described the problem as a “brief issue”:

“We experienced a brief issue with the software update process, affecting a small number of users during the first hour of availability. The problem was quickly resolved and we apologize to those customers. Anyone who was affected should connect to iTunes to complete the update or contact AppleCare for help.”

My advice? I think most people can probably afford to wait a couple of days before updating their iOS devices – just in case other niggles are found. But don’t wait too long – after all, iOS 10 *does* contain security patches that make more sense to have installed than not.

Update: The initial version of this article reported that Apple released iOS 10.0 and then replaced it with iOS 10.0.1 to fix the issue that some users were experiencing.

It has now become apparent that the initial release was of iOS 10.0.1, and that the fix was achieved without issuing a further update if the operating system. Sorry about that.

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