iOS 16.5 arrives next week, here’s the news. Apple recently released the final version of the iOS 16.5 beta to developers. A signal that the update is on its way. But an even more reliable and precise signal can be found in the statement released yesterday by Apple itself.
Apple Watch Series 9 will integrate a new chip based on A15
The document announces a new Sport Pride Edition band with a matching iOS watch face and wallpaper, while also saying watchOS 9.5 and iOS 16.5 are required to see them, “coming next week.”
Recall that iOS 16.5 is a minor update that does not introduce any important functional innovations. From its “read me” we learn that in addition to the wallpaper and background of the lock screen dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community and culture it will bring users:
- A new sports tab in Apple News with news and scores. A link will take you directly to the games where you can get more information
- Fix a bug where Spotlight becomes unresponsive
- Fixes an issue where Podcasts may not load properly on CarPlay
- Fixes an issue where Screen Time doesn’t sync across devices
Recall that iOS 16.5 follows the much more relevant iOS Rapid Security Response for 16.4.1 released last May 1st, in English Rapid Security Response. It’s not clear exactly what issue the update fixed, but it’s definitely a potentially dangerous issue.
In fact, we know that Apple releases these updates when “between one software update and another” the need arises to quickly introduce “security problems, such as those that may have been exploited or reported as existing”. So these are the most dangerous security bugs ever, referred to by insiders as “zero day” bugs.
Rolling back to iOS 16.5, Apple will automatically roll it out when available. You will be able to see the availability of the update in Settings -> General or see it applied automatically if you have chosen the appropriate option in Settings -> General -> Software update.
Whether it’s minor news is in line with Apple’s roadmap: now the developers and teams in Cupertino are focused on iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 which will be unveiled at the WWDC 23 world conference which starts on June 5th.
