As expected, Apple is distributing today iOS 17.6.1 for users of iPhone e iPadOS 17.6.1 for iPad users. Apple says the updates include bug fixes, including a fix for an issue with Advanced Data Protection. Let’s dig into a few more details.
What’s new in iOS 17.6.1?
Apple’s release notes for iOS 17.6.1 and iPadOS 17.6.1 state: “This update includes important bug fixes and resolves an issue that prevents you from enabling or disabling Advanced Data Protection“.
Advanced Data Protection is an optional feature that extends end-to-end encryption to a number of additional iCloud services, including iCloud device backups, Messages backups, Photos backups, and more. Apple says the Enhanced Data Protection bug in iOS 17.6 affected a small number of users. If a user attempted to enable Enhanced Data Protection and it failed, they were presented with a clear error message so they were aware that the change had failed.
If a user attempted to turn off the feature and failed, the interface would show that the feature had been turned off, but was still active in iCloud. After installing iOS 17.6.1 and macOS 14.6.1, these users will be prompted to go to Settings and check whether they still want to turn off Enhanced Data Protection.
This means that users affected by this bug were never tricked into believing that they had more security than they actually did.
iOS 17.6 is a minor update for iPhone, already released last month in developer beta. The update includes a number of bug fixes and security improvements. It also introduced a new feature “Catch Up” in the TV app, which uses machine learning to generate a series of highlight clips from MLS games.
It’s easy to get distracted by the beta cycles of iOS 18 and iOS 18.1, but it’s important to remember that the vast majority of iPhone users are still running iOS 17.
You can update your iPhone to iOS 17.6.1 by going into the Settings app, choosing General, and then Software Update. The build number for today’s update is 21G93. It is available for all iPhones running iOS 17.
Apple has also released iOS 16.7.10 for older iPhone models. This update, build number 20H350, includes bug fixes and other improvements.
MacOS Sonoma 14.6.1.
In addition to these updates for iPhone and iPad users, Apple is also rolling out macOS Sonoma 14.6 which includes the possibility of Manage Multiple Displays from Your M3 MacBook Pro.
The previous macOS Sonoma update also brought “important bug fixes and security updates“, according to Apple. Based on the version number, today’s official macOS update includes additional fixes.
What’s new
As for the news of macOS 14.6.1the update also addresses and resolves the issue of advanced data protection. Previously, users who attempted to enable ADP but failed would receive a clear error message and see a specific reflection in the UI indicating that ADP was not enabled.
On the other hand, users who attempted to disable ADP but failed to do so saw the UI display ADP as disabled, while it remained active on their iCloud data. With the update, these users will now receive a notification directing them to Settings, where they will have to confirm their decision to disable ADP. Despite the issue, users who have already been able to try the update have gained a level of security. equal to or greater than expected.
Sequoia is next
In addition to macOS Sonoma, Apple is running public and developer betas of the pre-release of macOS Sequoia 15the next major release expected in September or October.
