Here's why you might be getting the 'unable to check for update' iPhone error
If you are unable to check for new software updates on your iPhone and iPad, you aren't alone. BGR reports that there have been several reports of users not being able to check for new updates over the past 24 hours on various platforms.
Despite Apple devices indicating that an update is ready to be downloaded, users are greeted with an 'Unable to Check for Update' error when they look for a new version update.
A Threads post indicates the problem isn't just limited to the iPad and iPhone, but some Apple Watch Series users may have been affected too. The error says: "Unable to Check for update. Checking for a software update failed because you are not connected to the internet."
There's also a post about it on the Apple Community board and many users on MacRumors' Forums also encountered it, signaling that a good many people have been affected. Similarly, some users of X, which was formerly known as Twitter, have also complained about the issue.
The error isn't just being encountered by those on beta software but also by users on stable versions. For some, rebooting their devices was enough to make the problem go away, but others weren't able to check for new updates even after rebooting their iPhones and iPads.
It can be theorized that the error is related to the brief outage that was recently experienced by various iCloud services and since most of them have been resolved, chances are things will go back to being normal soon. Otherwise, if this bug has nothing to do with iCloud, you'll have to wait for Apple to get to the bottom of this and issue a fix.
I just checked my iPhone which is on iOS 16.5.1, and got the following error:
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: