Apple’s 2023 Updates for iPhone Users is not over yet, contrary to what you might think. It was expected that iOS 17.2 would be followed by iOS 17.3 in January (the first beta version has already been released). However, Apple has just released small but urgent Updates for iPhone with bug fixes in the form of iOS 17.2.1 for newer phones and iOS 16.7.4 for older phones. Here’s everything you need to know.
Which iPhones Can Run iOS 17.2.1 and iOS 16.7.4?
For iOS 17.2.1, the compatibility list is the same for all devices that support iOS 17 since its release in September. That means iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone XR, and all versions of iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 were released in 2018. It also includes 2nd and 3rd-generation iPhone SE models.
For iOS 16.7.4, compatibility reverts to older devices or earlier versions if users with access to iOS 17 have not updated, meaning all iPhones dating back to the first iPhone with Face ID, the iPhone X, and both iPhones with Touch ID, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.
How To Download?
Whatever version you need, you probably already know how to do it, but just to be sure, go to the Settings app on your iPhone, select General, then Software Update. Here you’ll find sections for automatic updates and beta updates. Enable or disable automatic updates and you’ll be able to download new software immediately. iOS 17.1.2, for example, is a small update of less than 300 MB.
What’s Included.
iOS 17.2 includes many new features, which you can read more about here. Apple usually only says “This update provides important bug fixes and is recommended for all users” in the release notes. However, iOS 16.7.4 comes with another caveat, and MacRumors reports that “This update fixes an issue where deleted built-in Apple apps do not reinstall. The update fixes an issue where deleted built-in Apple apps may not be reinstalled,” notes MacRumors. It’s not a widespread problem, but it’s certainly annoying to experience, and it would probably be more common if so many people hadn’t updated to iOS 17.
It is not known if there are security issues in both versions, but it seems unlikely that they overlap.
It is also important to note that iOS 17.2.1 was not released with Quick Security Response, so this update may be just a bug fix and not a security issue.
The December 22 Updates for iPhone Interesting additional information has come out about this update, but Apple has kept quiet about the details of the security update. First, according to MacRumors, the release notes are not the same in all countries. In Japan and China, it says, “This update fixes an issue that can cause the battery to drain quickly in certain situations.” YouTuber Brandon Butch discovered this and is now updating and says, “This is neither a bug nor an error, as Apple releases the same release notes on its website.”
So where can you get better battery life? It is possible that coding on Chinese and Japanese iPhones is causing the bug. However, users in each country may see lower battery life. Let’s hope so.
“CVE stands for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, a system maintained by the MITRE Corporation, a nonprofit organization, which publicly records publicly known information security flaws,” Kingsley Hughes explained. So what the phrase ‘non-disclosure of publicly known CVEs’ suggests is that this update may not be about vulnerabilities recorded in the CVEs, but about other security and privacy issues.”
As Alice would say, it gets weirder and weirder. Kingsley-Hughes also commented on the anomaly of battery issues associated with Chinese and Japanese Notes, saying that feedback on battery life in iOS 17.2 was positive and consistent with what I’ve seen. His conclusion: “If this update was made to fix the battery problem, it must have been something special, such as a test or diagnostic code that was left in the beta version and not removed.”
He has another point worth noting. Maybe this new version is just a bug fix and not a security issue. Maybe Apple wants to release these fixes before unlocking iPhones on Christmas Day. “The Updates for iPhone may also be related to the setup process for new devices,” according to the business.
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