The new 16.5 update to the iPhone’s operating system adds a sports section to Apple News and a new way to celebrate Pride Month in June.
Apple’s latest iPhone update, iOS 16.5 is available now to all smartphone owners. The tech giant also rolled out similar software updates for the iPad and Apple Watch.
Apple iOS 16.5 is available for all iOS 16-compatible devices, which means the iPhone 8, iPhone X, and newer. iOS 15.7.5 is the most recent update to protect older devices, but Apple may yet offer iOS 15.7.6 to address the serious vulnerabilities patched by iOS 16.5 (more below).
If you don’t receive an update notification, you can trigger the update manually by navigating to Settings > General > Software Update. If you are running newer beta software (see ‘The Road Ahead’ section at the end), you must unenroll your device before publicly released updates will appear.
Almost 24 hours into release, the biggest complaints about iOS 16.5 are focused on Apple’s failure to fix ongoing bugs. Most frustrating is a long-running notification center issue where graphical glitches stop notifications from being seen. For some, this happens only in Focus mode. For others, it happens periodically in any mode.
There are also isolated reports of SIM card issues, Apple Music not playing and some AirPod connection bugs. That said, I have seen no widespread problems at this stage.
Apple iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5, which contain identical security patches, are essential updates. Their new features may underwhelm, considering the major version number, but this is the biggest iPhone and iPad security update I can remember. Three Zero Day flaws have not happened in years. Put your security first and upgrade.
The biggest reason you should update your iPhone is to receive the latest fixes that keep your smartphone secure.
“Updating your smartphone’s operating system when notified to do so helps patch security gaps and improve your device’s overall performance,” said the Federal Communications Commission in a statement.
