There are plenty of security updates and one major bug fix in the new iPhone software release, iOS 18.6. It’s likely it will be the last update for iOS 18, before the release of iOS 26 this September.
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 Wednesday, Aug. 6.
Who Is It For And How Do You Get It?
Apple iOS 18.6 works with all iPhones from the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Plus and iPhone XR models released in 2018 and every phone after that. 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. Note that the iOS 26 software will work with all these phones except the first three, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Plus and iPhone XR.
To update, open the iPhone Settings app, select General, then Software Update. Then, choose Download and Install, and the software will download from there. This is a largish download, around 1.07GB, but it should be reasonably quick to install.
What It’s About
There are no new features in this update, which isn’t a surprise this late in the cycle. There are plenty of security fixes and one big feature fix, which is an issue in Photos that could prevent memory movies from being shared has been sorted.
Apple iOS 18.6 Security
There are more than two dozen issues fixed in this update, Apple has said. Of these, eight are concerned with WebKit, the engine that powers the Safari browser. Others include two Accessibility features, including one which could use VoiceOver to read out a passcode.
Initial Reactions
Positive comments from Reddit users include, “After ten months 18 finally feels mostly finished,” and “I installed and now phone is faster. Yay,” though there have been comments that persistent bugs, usually minor, to be fair, have not been squished.
Apple iOS 18.6 Initial Verdict: Update
It would be a grim state of affairs if Apple was still getting things terribly wrong this late in the cycle. Initial reactions are positive: final verdict on Wednesday, Aug. 6.