I've found that the preferred solution does not handle line breaks.
I've found this approach works in all cases:
UILabel* dummyLabel = [UILabel new];
[dummyLabel setFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, desiredWidth, CGFLOAT_MAX)];
dummyLabel.numberOfLines = 0;
[dummyLabel setLineBreakMode:NSLineBreakByWordWrapping];
dummyLabel.attributedText = myString;
[dummyLabel sizeToFit];
CGSize requiredSize = dummyLabel.frame.size;