Thanks to iOS 5, iPhone 4S marks the first generation of iOS devices capable of being fully setup and activated without ever plugging into iTunes. Here’s what the process looks like.
iPhone 4S isn’t the only model to take advantage of iOS 5′s “PC free” setup. All new iOS devices now ship ready to use out of the box, and existing devices upgraded to iOS 5 no longer need to be connected to iTunes to first activate, nor is iTunes required to perform ongoing backups or software updates anymore.
Most competing mobile devices have always been “PC free” in the sense of begin able to set up and use right out of the box. Apple’s iTunes-centric setup and maintenance for iOS devices initially helped make iPods, the iPhone and iPad easy to setup and use, but the process also involved some steps that could be frustrating, especially if your iTunes system wasn’t available or if you didn’t own a PC.
The new PC Free setup of iOS 5 means that all the advantages of having your music, videos, apps, books, documents, photos, backups and software updates managed through iTunes are still there: Apple still offers the best App Store experience, the easiest to use backup and recovery system and the fastest and least troublesome device sync and software update mechanism.
However, Apple has done away with the initial necessity of plugging into iTunes, and made the USB tether an alternative option to performing wireless setup, content purchasing and sync, backups, restorations and updates, thanks to new cloud integration. Users now have a choice.