One of the very last iOS 17 updates is here because iOS 18 is out now. If that sounds confusing, here’s the reasoning. Every phone that runs iOS 17 can run iOS 18, too. But not everyone wants to leap on board with a newest update on day one. So iOS 17 provides the security and bug fixes without the uncertainties of iOS 18.
iPhone 15 is the last iPhone that can use iOS 17. All new iPhone 16 models will come with iOS 18 … [+]
Which iPhones Can Run iOS 17.7?
All currently available iPhones from the iPhone Xs onwards can run iOS 17. That means it’s also for the iPhone Xs Max and iPhone XR released in 2018. All subsequent iPhones are also compatible. That means the iPhone 11 series, iPhone 12 series, iPhone 13 series, iPhone 14 series and iPhone 15 series. This also includes iPhone SE second- and third-generation models.
How To Get It
To update is straightforward enough: open the Settings app, click on General, then Software Update. Here you can choose to download the new software immediately, which will usually mean it’s on your iPhone sooner. Pick Download and Install, and it’ll be on your phone pronto.
What’s In The Release
There are no new features mentioned by Apple, and it’s clear that this update is focused on bug fixes. Apple’s notes read: “This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users.”
In other words, the security updates that are part of iOS 18 are also available here. Fellow Forbes contributor Kate O’Flaherty talks about the security issues here.
Apple won’t be doing this dual-release system throughout the whole year that iOS 18 is available. Rather, it is likely to have iOS 17 complementary updates, entirely focused on bugs and other security issues, for perhaps one or two more goes, almost certainly alongside the release of iOS 18 updates. The next scheduled iOS 18 update is iOS 18.1, due in October, with iOS 18.2 expected in December.
But there could easily be smaller updates as we go along. Last year, the sudden overheating of some iPhone 15 models led to an almost unprecedentedly quick software update. That shouldn’t happen this time, by the way, as Apple has redesigned the thermal envelope in the iPhone 16 hardware.
I’ll be reporting on whether or not this release (and indeed iOS 18) are worth upgrading to later in the week.