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Apple released a broad set of iOS updates spanning current and legacy devices, urging users to install them to avoid serious reliability issues. Reported releases include iOS 26.2.1 for newer devices and parallel updates for older models (e.g., iOS 18.7.4, iOS 16.7.13, iOS 15.8.6, and iOS 12.5.8), covering hardware as old as the iPhone 5s/6 era and affecting an estimated 2+ billion iPhones globally.
For the oldest supported devices, Apple’s notes indicate the updates are not feature or security patches but a certificate update intended to keep core Apple services functioning beyond January 2027, including iMessage, FaceTime, device activation, and Apple account sign-in. Separately, Apple also tied the urgency of updating to reports of emergency-calling failures on some older iPhones under rare network conditions (notably highlighted after incidents in Australia), positioning the releases as necessary to maintain both service continuity and critical calling functionality.
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Apple also pushed a wider set of urgent software updates across current and older iPhone models and released watchOS 26.2.1 for cellular Apple Watch Series 6 and later. Apple urged users to install the updates promptly, with reporting linking part of the urgency to emergency-calling reliability issues, especially noted in Australia.
On or before January 27, 2026, Apple released iOS 12.5.8, iOS 15.8.6, and iOS 16.7.13 for older iPhone and iPad models. The updates were intended to refresh security certificates so iMessage, FaceTime, Apple account sign-in, and device activation would continue working beyond January 2027, rather than to fix vulnerabilities or add features.
Before the January 2026 releases, Apple had last issued patches for the iOS 15 and iOS 16 branches in mid-2025. These older supported branches then remained unchanged until the later maintenance update.
Apple's iOS 12 branch previously received an update in January 2023, after which it went unpatched for roughly three years. This established the long gap before Apple revisited the legacy platform.
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Apple released iOS 26.1 and iPadOS 26.1, delivering critical security updates for a wide range of supported iPhone and iPad models. The updates address multiple vulnerabilities, including flaws in the Neural Engine that could allow malicious apps to crash system components or corrupt kernel memory, and weaknesses in Apple Account privacy controls that previously allowed unauthorized screenshot capture of sensitive data. Additional fixes strengthen sandbox enforcement and file integrity controls, reducing the risk of unauthorized data access or privilege escalation by malicious applications. Apple maintains its policy of withholding vulnerability details until patches are available, emphasizing the importance of timely updates for all eligible users. The company is also preparing for future releases, with iOS 26.2 expected to introduce new features such as digital passport support and RCS encryption, further enhancing both security and privacy for its user base.
Jul 12, 2026
Apple released security updates for **iOS 26.6.1**, **iPadOS 26.6.1**, **macOS 26.6.2**, **visionOS 26.6.1**, and legacy **iOS/iPadOS 18.7.10**, addressing a broad set of vulnerabilities across supported platforms. Reporting on Apple’s advisories indicates the updates collectively fix more than 100 flaws, with roughly 29 to 30 issues documented for the current-generation iOS, iPadOS, and macOS releases and a much larger set rolled into the backported updates for older devices. Apple said it is not aware of any of the vulnerabilities being actively exploited, but urged users to update because public disclosure raises the risk of attacks against unpatched systems. The patched issues span **WebKit**, the kernel, **ImageIO**, **CoreAudio**, **APFS**, **Telephony**, Wi‑Fi, Contacts, and other components, with impacts including arbitrary code execution, information disclosure, denial of service, memory corruption, sandbox escape, and cross-origin data exfiltration. One notable iOS flaw in `Telephony` could allow an attacker in a privileged network position to bypass **IPsec** authentication and intercept traffic, while Apple’s documentation also lists numerous WebKit bugs and an image-based code execution issue. Several findings were credited to AI-assisted security research, including nine CVEs attributed to **OpenAI Codex Security**, and Apple said some visionOS vulnerability details would be published separately.
Aug 31, 2026
Apple released emergency security updates for older devices to block exploitation associated with the **Coruna** exploit chain, backporting fixes previously delivered in newer iOS branches. The updates target legacy hardware that cannot move to the latest operating systems, with reporting indicating **iOS 15.8.7** and *iPadOS 15.8.7* protect devices such as the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, first-generation iPhone SE, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4, and iPod touch 7. The attack path described for Coruna combines multiple flaws in the **kernel** and **WebKit**, enabling device compromise through malicious web content and potentially leading to arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges. Apple’s security documentation also confirms a related backport in **iOS 16.7.15** and *iPadOS 16.7.15* for slightly newer but still unsupported models, including iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, and several older iPads. That advisory ties the Coruna exploit to **CVE-2023-43010**, a memory corruption issue triggered by processing crafted web content, and states the fix was originally shipped in **iOS 17.2** before being brought to devices unable to upgrade further. Together, the updates show Apple is extending protections against an actively weaponized exploit chain across multiple older device families rather than limiting remediation to current-generation platforms.
Jun 29, 2026