Updated April 18 with more details of the update, its content and its importance.
Just over two weeks ago, Apple launched iOS 18.4, a biggish update with plenty of new features and fixes (more on how that update brought its own problems below). And there’s new information now this update has landed relating to where the fixes are aimed, and the security issues addressed here. The issues have already been exploited in real-world situations, making it an important update.
So, news of an interim update before the big release of iOS 18.5 came as a surprise when reports surfaced last week.
Here it is: full details of who it’s for, how to get it and what’s inside.
Which iPhones Can Run iOS 18.4.1?
All versions of iOS 18, are compatible with iPhones from the iPhone Xs from 2018 onwards. That means the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone Xr from that year and every iPhone after that, including the iPhone SE in both its second- and third-generation models. And all members of the iPhone 16 series are included, right up to the latest, the iPhone 16e.
How To Get It
This is simplicity itself. Open the Settings app, choose General, then Software Update. Next, click on Download and Install, and the software will download. This is a smallish update, 570MB on my iPhone 16 Pro Max. Mine took less than 10 minutes from clicking on Download to full installation.
What’s In The Release
This release was something of a surprise, given that the previous update, iOS 18.4, landed just two weeks ago, on Monday, March 31 and it had new features and a slew of security fixes (more than 60 of them).
It had been thought that the next release would be iOS 18.5, but things don’t always go to plan, hence this smaller update.
Apple is tight-lipped about the content here except for one specific: CarPlay. Apple says, “This update provides important bug fixes and security updates, and addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles,” in its release notes.
The notes refer to wireless CarPlay — there was no problem if you plugged your iPhone into the car by cable. And it’s interesting that Apple is saying that the issue is rare. I had tried to recreate it in several cars without success.
That said, if you got into your car to start CarPlay as usual and found yourself unable to connect, that is a major headache, however rare it might be. Especially if you depend on your iPhone for satellite navigation, for instance.
The update notes also specify “bug fixes and security updates,” and these come down to two security flaws, both of which are part of the urgency of the update as they are being used in real-life attacks.
The first of these security flaws affects the CoreAudio in the iPhone, which says that processing an audio stream, if it’s come from a malicious source could result in code execution. The company has commented on this. “Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on iOS,” it says in its support page.
Take heart that the issue has been focused on specific individuals, likely journalists, politicians, government officials and so on. However, the longer the flaw existed, the greater the chance that the focus of the attacks could be widened.
Apple says that a memory corruption issue was addressed to solve the problem.
The second flaw concerns RPAC, that is, Return Pointer Authentication Code, a security feature that stops attackers from manipulating code. It is another zero-day fix vulnerability aimed at specific targeted individuals. If used, it would bypass this security measure to allow read-and-write capability.
Both these issues can also affect some iPads, Apple TV boxes, Macs and even the Apple Vision Pro. Updates for each of these have been issued at the same time as iOS 18.4.1.
