Just days after the surprise iPhone update that is iOS 18.6.1, there’s been another, called, unsurprisingly, iOS 18.6.2. Less than a week after the last one. Don’t find the whole process dizzying: read on for whether you should upgrade or not.
This post has the initial thoughts on the new release and I’ll be updating this post over the coming week and will make a final assessment on Thursday, Aug. 28.
Who Is It For And How Do You Get It?
Apple iOS 18.6.2 works for all iPhones from 2018 on. That’s the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Plus and iPhone XR models and every phone since. That means the iPhone 11 series, iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and so on right up to the iPhone 16 series, plus the second- and third-generation iPhone SE models as well as the iPhone 16e.
To update, go to the iPhone’s Settings app, select General, then Software Update. Then, choose Download and Install, and the software will download from there. This is a medium download, around 738MB, so it should be reasonably quick to install.
What It’s About
While the last iPhone update, just six days before this one, had a specific Apple Watch-related feature in mind (to restore the blood oxygen monitoring feature to watches that had seen it vanish or never appear in the first place, this update is about a security update. It’s worth noting that the previous update had zero security aspects.
Apple iOS 18.6.2 Security
Apple says the update “provides important security fixes,” and specifically a vulnerability that impacts the ImageIO system framework which looks after images. If that sounds commonplace, it’s not. This is an update with a single function: to overcome a problem which is already out in the wild.
“Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals,” is how Apple described the issue on its support site.
Initial Reactions
The new update has caused some consternation. As one Redditor said, “ Since Apple is aware that bad guy may already use this flaw to target particular groups of people, people should update their system as soon as possible.”
Apple iOS 18.6.1 Initial Verdict: Update
I think that’s good advice. This is a serious security issue and holding back from updating could be problematic. Update, please.
Final verdict next week.
