If you made up your mind and are planning to upgrade to iOS 7, here are a few tips for what you need to consider in advance coming from our own upgrade experience.

Some of us were able to upgrade to the beta version of iOS 7 prior its public release. We have so far upgraded some three iPhone 5 devices, two iPhone 4S, an iPad Mini, and an iPod Touch 5 and we met a few hurdles and some surprises on the way. Read on to find out what’s important to take into account before upgrading the iPhone, iPod or iPad to iOS 7.

The beta is now at its final 6th edition and the public version of iOS 7 is expected to be released as soon as tomorrow with Apple’s iPhone event. If you’ve made up your mind and want to be among the first few enjoying the new looks of iOS 7, be sure to answer with a “Yes, absolutely” to these 3 questions prior to upgrading.

Think of iOS 7 compared to iOS 6 as Windows 8 compared to Windows 7. iOS 7 brings a radically new minimalist look, redesigned icons and new access features such as the Control Center. While Apple claims iOS 7’s look is an improvement over iOS 6, if you were used to the older iOS, you may be confused at first or find it hard to adopt the new look.

We won’t torture you demanding for a “Yes, absolutely” in answer to this one. However, be positively sure that your iPhone data exists safely backed up before setting out to upgrade to iOS 7. 50% of our iPhone upgrade attempts failed which required a full reinstall of the iDevice and its data.

Check the following blog article for a complete guide on ways to back up iPhone data before upgrading to iOS 7.

The beta version of iOS 7 has been around for some time now since June. Many problems have since been reported and addressed. However, even the latest Beta 6 is not immune to bugs and errors and it is probable that these come transferred over to iOS 7’s imminent public release.

What’s more, some of your favorite apps may still not be compatible with iOS 7 even after its public release. For example, we have come to realize that the native Podcasts app was not compatible with the first few beta versions. Be vigilant especially for non-native apps from small third-party companies.

Once you upgraded to iOS 7, you will have a hard time downgrading to a previous version of iOS 6.

We have noticed that battery life is diminished on all iOS devices we tested after the upgrade to iOS 7. Many iOS 7 Beta users have complained of shorter battery life compared to iOS 6. In the meantime, forum discussions on how to go around the iOS 7 battery issues have quickly sprouted about.

Finally, if you have an iPhone 4 and 4S, prepare for slower response times on your device.

A note to jailbreak users, upgrading to iOS 7 will break your JB and there is no iOS 7 jailbreak in view at least until iOS 7.1.

Even if you are ready for iOS 7, iOS 7 might still not be ready for you. Be sure to consider carefully before you upgrade.