Apple has a new secret product to fix one of the worst things about buying an iPhone

Have you ever bought a brand-new iPhone, dashed home and opened the box to start your new iPhone adventure, only to be hit with a screen that says you must wait for a software update? Thanks to a brand new product Apple has developed for use in its retail stores, all that could be a thing of the past.

The news comes in the wake of a rather sticky iPhone 15 launch which saw some users unable to transfer data from their old iPhones to Apple’s new best iPhone without a software update. Customers who transferred data directly from a previous iPhone often found themselves stuck on the Apple logo and needing a restore. Only once iOS 17.0.2 was installed could users proceed.

Now, however, one top insider says Apple has created its own proprietary solution that can turn on an iPhone inside its packaging, install a software update, and then switch it off again.

What an update

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, “Apple is planning a new system for its retail stores that will update the software on iPhones prior to sale,” and has created “a proprietary pad-like device that the store can place boxes of iPhones on top of.” As noted, this will turn on the iPhone, update the software, and turn it off “without the phone’s packaging ever being opened,” so that you can open your phone and crack on with actually using it when you buy it.

It’s a welcome change that should smoothen the process of buying an iPhone even more. Of course, while not having to install a software update as soon as you open the box will be more convenient, the benefits go way beyond that. It will ensure avoiding a repeat of the aforementioned fiasco with the iPhone 15 and will ensure that your iPhone comes with any vital security updates attached to the latest software, so you’re protected from the outset.

Whether customers will ever witness this process is unlikely, as any cause to update phones would surely apply to all handsets in the store and need to be done behind the scenes. Of course, it does also add the prospect of this process not working and a customer needing to take extra steps to fix a bungled attempt to run the update. But just how well this works will become clear pretty soon, as Apple “aims to begin rolling this out to its stores before the end of the year.”