By Neil J. Rubenking    09/11/2014 2:35 p.m. According to a report from utility software purveyor Wondershare, more than 20,000 people experienced data loss due to problems with upgrading to iOS 7. The Wondershare team derived this figure by analyzing activity on Apple support forums. They've prepared an infographic mapping a safe route so those upgrading to iOS 8 can do so without losing any data.

 

Roadblocks Ahead

Not every device can run iOS 8. If you have an iPhone 4 or earlier, iPad 1, or iPod touch 4 or earlier, you're out of luck. Perhaps it's time to upgrade to an iPhone 6?

According to the report, an iPhone 4s is on the edge. It has support, officially, but the hardware wasn't designed for iOS 8. And if iOS 8 causes problems, tough. There's no provision for reverting to iOS7.

 

Forks in the Road

The infographic lays out some steps to take before initiating an upgrade on your device. You'll need 2GB of free space, to start. You don't want any interruptions, so perform the update with the device plugged into a charger, and use a stable Wi-Fi connection. Of course, you'll back up first. Finally, according to Wondershare, upgrading a jailbroken device this way is risky.

If you can't guarantee a stable Wi-Fi connection, you should upgrade through iTunes. The same is true for jailbroken devices and for older devices. The graphic details two ways to reach iOS 8 via iTunes.

 

Full Article and Infographic.