Apple announced iOS 16 and watchOS 9 during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) back in June with plenty of new features for iPhone and Apple Watch.
A public beta of the both software builds have been available for a couple of months, but now the final versions are here and available to download.
We have entire features on iOS 16 and watchOS 9, both of which give you a full run down of all the new features you can expect to appear on your devices. There's new Lock Screen customisation for iOS 16 that is one of the most exciting features to try and more advanced sleep tracking for watchOS 9, including sleep stages for Apple Watch, finally.
We've also got a piece on the first features to try on iOS 16 if you want to know the best ones to play with initially. With that in mind, here's how to download the software and try all the new things out.
How to download and install iOS 16
You'll first need to make sure you have a compatible iPhone in order to run iOS 16. You can find all the system requirements for iOS 16 in our separate feature, but in a nutshell, you'll need an iPhone 8 or later.
The iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and the iPhone SE 2016 aren't compatible. If you have an iPhone 8 or later though, follow these instructions.
- Open Settings
- Tap on General
- Tap on Software Update
- Download and Install
How to download and install watchOS 9
For watchOS 9, you'll need to have an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer - read our watchOS 9 system requirements here. Notably, the older Series 3 is not compatible with the new software. If you have a Watch Series 4 or later though, follow these steps.
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone
- Tap on General in the My Watch tab
- Tap on Software Update
- Download and Install
Make sure your devices are connected to power and Wi-Fi when you are downloading and installing the software updates.