Ceitical new update is delayed.
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Apple’s next iPhone update is a game-changer. Google and Samsung have been accelerating Android security and privacy updates to narrow the gap between the ecosystems. But Apple’s iOS 26 sets iPhone apart again. The bad news is this is suddenly delayed and 1.5 billion iPhone users need to wait longer.
Just as Samsung — Apple’s main competitor in the flagship stakes — struggles to roll out updates across its vast user base, Apple which has mastered the art of updating everyone, everywhere, all at once, now make this even easier.
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Apple is replacing the now defunct “Rapid Security Responses” with a new Background Security upgrade that runs silently in the background, updating iPhones silently without interrupting users. In this spyware era, this is exactly what’s needed.
“Apple is refining how iPhone users stay protected between major iOS updates,” says MacRumors. “Previously, you had to download Rapid Security Responses through the Settings app just like a normal iOS update.” iOS 26.1 makes the process seamless.
We had expected iOS 26.1 before the end of October, following the pattern of recent years for the first major update to a new version of iOS. But it’s delayed. “Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1,” MacRumors says, “which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible iPhones on Monday, November 3 or Tuesday, November 4.”
On the Android side, only Pixel comes anywhere close to Apple’s seamless update and upgrade programs. Just as iOS 26 rolled out efficiently, iOS 26.1 will do the same. Samsung needs to resolve this as Pixel picks up pace, or it risks falling further behind.
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It’s not all good news for iOS 26 on the spyware front. iVerify warns that the new version of iOS wipes critical logs whenever an iPhone is rebooted, making persistent tracking of sophisticated spyware attacks such as Pegasus near impossible.
“It could hardly come at a worse time,” iVerify says. “Spyware attacks have been a constant in the news and recent headlines show that high-power executives and celebrities, not just civil society, are being targeted.”
Conversely, Apple’s new background updates could not come at a better time for exactly that same reason. Install the update as soon as it’s released.