ipad update to ios 8

I help seniors with their ipads. Several are near capacity and thus will be unable to update without deleting a lot of stuff. Can I do the update for them from my mac laptop? (that is plug their ipad into my mac?)

Pat1000oaks said:

I help seniors with their ipads. Several are near capacity and thus will be unable to update without deleting a lot of stuff. Can I do the update for them from my mac laptop? (that is plug their ipad into my mac?)

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Hello Pat.... - well, as you likely know, there are only two ways to upgrade the iOS on an iPad, i.e. OTA (Over the Air, wirelessly) or cabled to a computer using iTunes; the latter will involve having the device authorized for an iPad and also an Apple ID - don't see how that would be possible w/ multiple iPads & different IDs using your laptop?

First, I'm assuming that all of these iPad users have their own Apple IDs - correct? Second, how many have computers w/ iTunes? The first thought is to at least for those w/ computers & iTunes to backup their iPads (if not already done) and then do a cabled upgrade. For those w/o computers, a backup to iCloud using their Apple IDs would be used and then an OTA upgrade performed - for that to work, at least 5 GB of storage needs to be free, so the non-essential data (pics, music, etc.) & apps would have to be deleted; of course, purchased apps, music, et al can always be re-downloaded.

That's my thinking but maybe others will have a different solution(s). Dave

Good advice from Dave. Most of the seniors that I know who own an iPad use them mostly for email and storing photos of their family. Usually their iPads are not overly burdened with things like music, games, and various apps. I would try an over the air update for those whose iPads have adequate storage space (see Dave's remarks above). As Dave pointed out, you can't use your Mac because the Apple IDs would not match and if you attempted a reset to match the IDs it would cause future problems for the senior.

Thanks for your answers. Believe it or not the apple store told me I could do it but I thought they were wrong so put up the question. These seniors have inherited the ipads from their kids or grandkids and two of them have 15,000+ photos. I told them to get rid of the photos!

Pat1000oaks said:

Thanks for your answers. Believe it or not the apple store told me I could do it but I thought they were wrong so put up the question. These seniors have inherited the ipads from their kids or grandkids and two of them have 15,000+ photos. I told them to get rid of the photos!

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Well, wife & I are seniors but our iPads are not loaded w/ that MANY photos (not an objection, I have 6000+ CDs & 1500+ DVDs/BDs!), so some gentle 'culling' would help -

BUT, if your 'seniors' only have the iPads (i.e. no computers w/ iTunes), then there are some inexpensive wireless storage options if they insist on keeping the images (or other files except for music) - for myself, I have an AirStash device (pic below & link is to Amazon) - the little gizmo establishes its own Wi-Fi network and accepts SD cards (up to LARGE capacities); has no internal memory - an app runs on the iPad and photos can easily be transferred in both directions - just one suggestion. Dave
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