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iOS 5.1 Release Date: What to Expect From iOS 5.1

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iOS 5.1 is the next major update to Apple’s latest mobile operating system iOS 5.

iOS 5 was released on October 12, 2011, right before the iPhone 4S arrived. Since then, Apple has released iOS 5.0.1 which was supposed to fix battery life issues, but hasn’t solved them for all users.

If you haven’t upgraded to iOS 5 yet, now is a good time to upgrade. Not only do you get great new features, but it even runs great on the iPhone 3GS.

The next big software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is iOS 5.1. This update is expected to contain a number of bug fixes, another attempt at battery life fixes and most exciting — possible Siri updates to enhance the app.

iOS 5.1 Release Date

iOS 5.1 Release Date

iOS 5.1 was released to Apple developers on November 28th, 2011. This beta has been in the hands of developers for a week now, but Apple has not made an official iOS 5.1 release date announcement.

Because Apple wants to fix the pervading battery issues, we expect that Apple will push the iOS 5.1 release out sooner rather than later.

Apple has released a second version, iOS 5.1 beta 2, to developers for testing. This new version brings a few more hints at new features, listed below, but early reports suggest that battery life has not been fixed.

It is possible for Apple to release iOS 5.1 before the end of December, but not a sure thing. At this point, the iOS 5.1 release date could slip to January.

iOS 5.1 Features

Battery Life

One of the biggest targets for Apple is to fix the elusive iPhone 4S battery issues.

Reports suggest that iOS 5.1 hasn’t fixed the iPhone 4S battery life issues that have been hampering the iPhone 4S for a number of users, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a fix in here for some users.

Or at least Apple’s latest attempt to fix the battery life bug.

New Keyboard in Mail

Another new feature is a slightly redesigned keyboard in the mail. This change is visible in the recipient field of the Mail app, where you now have access to an @ symbol to speed up entering email addresses.

iOS 5.1 keyboard

iTunes Match Over 3G

New to iOS 5.1 is the ability to sync and stream your iTunes Match music over 3G. This is a handy feature, but could quickly eat through the data plans of many users, so be sure that you use this feature wisely.

PhotoStream Enhancements

In the latest beta, Apple has added the ability to delete individual photos from your PhotoStream.  These photos will then be removed from the rest of your iOS 5.1 devices as well.

Siri App Control

Siri iconThe most exciting iOS 5.1 feature that has been rumored is the ability to do more with Siri. We have yet to see anything about this in the iOS 5.1 beta, but Apple could be sharing this feature with just a few developers right now.

Reportedly, Siri will soon be able to perform the following actions.

  • Interact with Apps – like to do apps.
  • Turn Bluetooth and WiFi on and off
  • Capture a video or photo

While it would be awesome to see these features in December, Apple may hold off on updating Siri until next year.

What Devices will run iOS 5.1

Like the iOS 5 upgrade, the iOS 5.1 update will work on the following devices.

  • iPhone 3GS
  • iPhone 4
  • iPad
  • iPad 2
  • iPod Touch 3rd and 4th Generation

Even the iPhone 3GS, which is more than two years old, handles this new operating system well.

iOS 5.1 Upgrade

Like the iOS 5.o.1 update that was released on November 10th, we expect to see iOS 5.1 available as a downloadable over the air update.

All you should need to do is connect to WiFi, download the update and wait for it to install. You should make sure you have a backup though.

iOS 5.1 and iPhone 4S Jailbreak

iPhone 4S JailbreakIf you have been following the status of the iPhone 4S Jailbreak, you’ll know that progress has been made, and the iPhone 4S has been jailbroken.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 4S jailbreak is not available to the general public yet. We recommended staying away from iOS 5.0.1 if you want to jailbreak, because it may patch holes that iPhone hackers use to jailbreak your iPhone.

(Read: 18 Reasons to Jailbreak the iPhone 4S)

There is no official word from the iPhone Dev Team or the Chronic Dev Team, but if you do want to jailbreak your iPhone 4S, you may want to pass on the iOS 5.1 update.

Waiting shouldn’t be that hard to do, unless the Siri integration is really available.

40 Comments

40 Comments

  1. Mframe3795

    12/05/2011 at 2:34 pm

    Most of the comments have been about the 4S phone.  I have the 3GS and after downloading the 5.0.1 to it my battery life went to hell.  I have to charge it 2 or 3 times a day.  Before that it would last 2 or 3 days.  I sure hope the 5.1 works to fix this.

    • Anonymous

      12/06/2011 at 1:19 pm

      it is your fault that you are still using 3gs. lol…..i dont mean to be mean. After three years I would face the same situation. 

    • Yash

      12/12/2011 at 12:28 am

      buddy just downgrade your version

    • Jteve Sobs

      12/12/2011 at 4:02 am

      You ARE aware that your phone is over about 2 years old right? And taking into account all the charges and discharges your battery has endured for these 2 yrs, I’d say its pretty decent to charge twice a day.

      • Juno Az

        12/23/2011 at 10:02 am

        Apple still sells the 3gs.

    • Jonesyjunk

      12/16/2011 at 9:47 am

      Fully agree on the 3gs battery life issue. Mine was fine the day before I upgraded (from ios3!) and now it is screwed, when I’m using the phone it lasts maybe 2 hours. I really need a fix for this or I will be hacking the phone and downgrading back to ios3. 

    • Davoze

      12/28/2011 at 1:46 pm

      Blast from the past!

  2. Andres

    12/05/2011 at 5:23 pm

    Do want iOS 5.1 update before the end of december please! I wouldnt want to update anymore and see if I jailbreak 5.1 if there is ever going to be a jailbreak.

    • Kyler

      02/14/2012 at 4:58 pm

      It is jailbreak able for 5.0.1 untethered to!

  3. Invad sim again

    12/07/2011 at 8:03 am

    what about the invalid sim error which is affecting hundreds of thousand of people at least the lucky ones with bad battery can use there iphone as a phone.
    STILL NO NEWS FROM APPLE
    ill vote with my money

    all done with my expensive ipod4S!!!!

  4. Umairullhassan

    12/07/2011 at 12:23 pm

    my iphone 3gs is blocked due to updating ios 5.1 when its jailbreak is available :(

  5. Jeremys1995

    12/10/2011 at 12:01 am

    My ipod touch 4g battery does a little better on 5.01 but still sucks hopefully ios 5.1 will fix it

  6. Ryan Grossi

    12/12/2011 at 8:56 am

    I can stream iTunes Match over 3G with iOS 5.0.1..

  7. Zach Koshak

    12/14/2011 at 11:18 am

    Maybe now they can finally fix the broken wifi on my iPod Touch

  8. Zubby_ahmed

    12/20/2011 at 11:39 pm

    wifi issues(so broken, slow, does not post until turn off wifi and switch to 3G)…itunes sync issues (errors while iphone 4S not connected to power such as randomly opening itunes repeatedly…displaying error could not sync)…..random network drops after unlocking phone….battery life improved on 5.0.1 but not as it was on my iphone 4 ios4…..PLEASE FIX THESE ISSUES

  9. Juno Az

    12/23/2011 at 10:04 am

    re: new keyboard in mail…
    my iphone already has the @ sign.  i think what’s new is the “globe” icon.  i’m assuming this is the address book?

    • Logan

      12/23/2011 at 4:20 pm

      It’s the period.

    • Marsdenphil

      12/26/2011 at 12:59 pm

      The globe icon is the button to change input language if you have more than one assigned, the address book is just your contacts and autocompletes when you start typing someone’s name…

      • Youyou

        01/03/2012 at 5:58 am

        Wow! A new keyboard! Yay. Now if only my battery lasted long enough to type an email…

    • Orob

      01/09/2012 at 5:20 pm

      The globe sign is for changing the language of your keyboard

  10. Johnhill1482

    01/04/2012 at 1:53 am

    why isn’t the iPhone 4s in the list of compatible ios 5.1 devices?johnhillf

  11. Eulanamadu

    01/16/2012 at 6:08 am

    will this update work for siri because siri doesn’t pick up london location

  12. Jreff4

    01/18/2012 at 7:21 pm

    Here is what REALLY pi$$es me off. I updated my iPad 2 to 5.01. Low and behold my Alesis IO Dock no longer works with Garageband. The IO Dock is one of main reasons that I bought the iPad! Alesis has been in contact with Apple and confirmed that FUBARed the audio interface. Alesis states that Apple is fixing the problem with 5.1 (whenever that might ocurr). In the meantime, I am screwed and very angry.

  13. Simon_ram_joe

    01/19/2012 at 9:41 pm

  14. Seingmaster

    01/22/2012 at 6:31 am

  15. Seingmaster

    01/22/2012 at 6:33 am

    Actually the battery drain issue already fixed with Dural M1 jailbreak tools.I used it to untethered jailbreak my iPhone 4S and it work great. My battery can go for almost 1 and a half day with normal facebooking , music and video. Link :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt7R0xTCHPA

  16. Anonymous

    01/26/2012 at 11:22 am

    Siri: control ALL apps.  Photos: be able to sort any which way you want,
    i.e., most recent first.  Battery: improve it.  Speaker: bring up the
    volume.  Keyboard: Add Swype already!  Folders:  Allow more than 12 per
    folder.  Copy/Paste Palette: allow multiple items on the clipboard. 
    Safari: reflow text. Multitasking: Allow a “Close All” functionality. 
    Ahem, Android has ALL of these already.  COME ON APPLE, SHEESH!!!!!!!!!

  17. Benjamminchristensen

    01/27/2012 at 12:48 pm

    I have updated my iPhone 3GS to ios 5.0.1 and the battery life is even worse now

    • Sriram Rangan

      01/31/2012 at 6:24 am

      Buy a new battery from eBay or similar websites, or download the 5.1 beta ipsw by making a dev center account. 

  18. Walessa

    01/31/2012 at 8:06 pm

    In Kuwait, and I here many countries in the middle east, IPHONE caller ID is not working. If you save a number as +123 456-7890 then get a call from 456-7890 it will not show the name of the caller. Since messages appear in the +123 456-7890 format, they show the name of the sender, unless the sender was saved in your phone as 456-7890.

    Imagine using your phone for 3 months without knowing who is calling you when your phone rings! It is not acceptable for Apple to delay this fix until Ios5.1 is released.

  19. Ziggy

    02/04/2012 at 3:55 pm

    5.0.1 is far to buggy i have an iPod Touch 4G btw but after upgrading to 5.0.1 i’ve been having problems with it e.g. locks up, responds slow, of course the battery drain issue, and I don’t know if any of you has had the problem after 5.0.1 but you know the notification pull down pannel? it stayed their while i was using messages app so the background while I was sending messages was pretty much my notification pannel so I do hope apple fixes it with 5.1

    this is the bug I’m referring too btw I took a screen shot

  20. Anonymous

    02/10/2012 at 2:34 pm

    It’s a bit sad that what I can look forward to in the next OS release is a fix for the shocking battery drain that my 6-month old iPhone 4 is suffering.

    Way to think big, Apple!

  21. Jameshodgetts10

    03/10/2012 at 1:36 pm

    Can you get siri on this new update on the iPhone 3gs

  22. None

    03/12/2012 at 12:23 am

    you guys are all a bunch of phone fags

  23. Benjaminchristensen

    03/18/2012 at 4:54 am

    Can’t wait for the iPhone 5. I will get it from my parents

  24. Rj_1924

    04/10/2012 at 12:51 pm

    When is untethered jailbreak for ios 5.1 on iphone 4 is going to be released

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