Apple updates iOS to fix 3G problems for iPhone 4S in Europe (now, what about us?)

Apple has updated iOS 6 to fix 3G connectivity problems for iPhone 4S users in Europe. I’m wondering, however, if Apple has a bigger problem.

Vodafone UK and 3 Austria had warned their iPhone 4S subscribers to refrain from updating to the latest version of the Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 6.1, due to what Vodafone called occasional difficulties “connecting to the network to make or receive calls or texts or to connect to the Internet.”

The update is about 86.8 MB and is available over the air for iPhone 4S users. The release notes say that “this update fixes an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability for iPhone 4S.”

My other devices, however, including an iPhone 5 and an iPad 2, show no update available.

The Next Web wonders if other devices will also get the update, and so do I.

I’m just one data point, of course, but my iPhone 5 has been extremely unreliable for the last week or two — since the iOS 6.1 update — sometimes failing to connect to my carrier’s networks, sending texts extremely slowly, and failing to connect to the internet, or connecting extremely slowly.

And the infamous cellular data bug seems to be still biting people.

Apple had released iOS 6.1 with an updated version of Siri, which now allows purchasing of movie tickets, and support for 59 new carriers. Apple’s Phil Schiller had said at the time that iOS 6 had reached nearly 300 million devices in just five months.

Perhaps taking it a bit slower might have been the better part of valor.

Question: Have you been experiencing any issues with cellular connectivity on iOS 6.1? Please let me know in the comments.