If your iPhone is running on iOS 17 and you still haven’t downloaded the latest update, do it now.
Apple released its shiny new operating system to everyone in November, five months after unveiling it at the annual World Wide Developer Conference.
New features include a nifty standby screen, live voicemail – generating transcripts of messages as they happen – and NameDrop, the easy way to swap contact details with other iPhone users.
These are just a few of the updates, and there are plenty of others to be getting to grips with, hence why iOS 17.2 wasn’t expected until later this month.
However, last week Apple released iOS 17.1.2, alongside a warning to all users to download it immediately.
There were no new features in the release, simply security patches – Apple initially said: ‘This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.’
Once Apple published its security notes it became clear what the issue was – two ‘zero-day vulnerabilities’ in the system that required immediate patches. These are issues that were previously unknown to the developer, meaning there is currently no defence against it.
Both appear to relate to WebKit, the web browser engine used by Safari, Mail, App Store, and many other apps.
This means phones still running on iOS 17.1.1 are extremely vulnerable, and users should update their operating system immediately.
iPad users should also update their tablets by downloading iPadOS 17.1.2.
The public beta version of iOS 17.2 has already been rolled out, but do not install it unless you have backed up your iPhone.
All iPhones released during or after 2018 are compatible. These are:
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