Tech

iOS 7 now available, but upgrade your iPhone or iPad with care

Wilson Rothman
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The home screen of an Apple Inc. iPhone 5 operating iOS 6, left, and an iPhone 5C operating iOS 7 is displayed in San Francisco.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Apple's massive overhaul to its iPhone and iPad operating system, iOS 7, is now available. If your eligible device is reasonably up to date already, you can just click Settings -> General -> Software Update to download it straight to your phone, but be careful! It's a major change from the iOS you know, so it pays to learn all about it first.

If you do nothing else, click "Learn More" when it tells you that iOS 7.0 is available (see screenshot). You'll see a lengthy list of stuff worth skimming before you commit.

For eligible devices and further cautions, have a look at my previous story. And for a lot more info, start reading this massive review done by our friends at Laptop.

More from NBC News:
Activiation lock may be most important iOS 7 feature
Android vs. iOS: The race has never been closer
Your favorite apps get iOS 7 makeover

After we upgraded an iPhone 5 here, it was acting funny, occasionally powering down, and showing low or no battery. Hopefully with a full battery charge and a manual restart or two, things will work themselves out, but it's annoying for sure, so it pays to be cautious!

Others we've heard from on Twitter are experiencing congestion in the download, or a hang-up in the installation process. Most people may be doing fine, but this does not seem to be a completely hiccup-free process. Good luck, and feel free to let us know on Twitter at @wjrothman if you're having any troubles of your own.

—By Wilson Rothman, Technology & Science editor at NBC News Digital. Catch up with him on Twitter at @wjrothman, and join our conversation on Facebook.