Tech

Here's how to quickly and simply update all your Apple devices

If you own an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iPod touch, Apple TV, or a Mac, then it's time to update your device to keep it safe from hackers. Here's how to do that quickly and simply.

Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer on July 23, 2016

Last Monday Apple issued updates for iOS, OS X, WatchOS and tvOS to patch a serious security hole that could allow hackers to steal login and password data. If you haven't yet updated your devices, now's the perfect time to do it.

Here's what you need to do to update your devices:

Mac

Click on the Apple icon () in the top-left of the screen and choose App Store. From there click Updates in the menu bar to see all the updates you need to install.

The latest OS X update is El Capitan 10.11.6.

For more information, click here.

Built-in iOS apps you should replace with third-party apps

iPhone, iPad, iPod touch

Click on Settings > General > Software Update to see if you have any updates waiting for you.

The latest update is iOS 9.3.3, and this is compatible with iPhone 4s and newer, the 5th- and 6th-generation iPod touch, the iPad 2 and newer, as well as all iPad mini and iPad Pro devices.

Alternatively, you can update via iTunes, but that's a more involved process:

Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed
Connect your iOS device to your computer
Fire up iTunes and select your device
Click Summary, then click Check for Update

For more information, click here.

Apple TV

The process here is pretty much the same as with iOS.

Go to Settings > System > Software Updates > Update Software (on earlier devices this is slightly different, and you have to go Settings > General > Update Software). From there, click on Update Software.

The latest update is tvOS 9.2.2.

For more information, click here.