![\"Apple](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754037129_55_960x0.jpg\")
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Apple iOS 18.6 is here.<\/p>\n
NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n
By the way, at the time iOS 18.5 came out, it was thought it would be followed this fall by iOS 19, but Apple announced a few weeks later a complete overhaul of its naming system, with each OS having a year number attached \u2014 the year when it will mostly be used, in this case 2026.<\/p>\n
Which iPhones Can Run iOS 18.6?<\/p>\n
Like every other release in the iOS 18 cycle, iOS 18.6 is compatible with all iPhones from 2018 onwards. That means the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone XR and all iPhones since. This list includes the iPhone SE in both its second- and third-generation models. And all members of the iPhone 16 series are included, right up to the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16e. Please note that this may be the last time I type those words: iOS 26, currently in public beta, is only compatible with iPhone 11 series and later. It will go on general release in September.<\/p>\n
How To Get It<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve doubtless done this many times by now, but just in case: open the iPhone Settings app, then choose General, followed by Software Update. Next, click on Download and Install, and it\u2019ll be on your phone shortly. This is a large- sized update, 1.07GB on my iPhone 16 Pro Max.<\/p>\n
iOS 18.6 \u2014 What\u2019s In The Release<\/p>\n
This late in a release cycle there\u2019s rarely any prospect of much in the way of new features. That\u2019s the case here. It\u2019s almost all about bug fixes and security updates, which Apple will define in due course.<\/p>\n
But there is one change, an issue for the Photos app. Apple reveals this update, \u201cfixes an issue in Photos that could prevent memory movies from being shared,\u201d the release notes state.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t an issue I\u2019ve personally seen, but Apple has fixed it.<\/p>\n
Then there are the two-dozen security fixes. Of these, one third are related to WebKit, which underpins Safari, and which could see a user\u2019s sensitive information revealed or result in fake web address information if visiting a malicious website.<\/p>\n
There are also accessibility issues, such as an alarming one where VoiceOver could be used to read a passcode aloud and another where the privacy indicators \u2014 the little orange dot on the iPhone screen that shows the microphone is active, and the green dot that confirms the camera is on \u2014 could be incorrectly displayed.<\/p>\n
Why so many security issues? Well, as mentioned above, the last iOS update was in the second week of May, so more than 11 weeks before this new release.<\/p>\n
One of the fixes relates to \u201ca high-severity vulnerability that has been exploited in zero-day attacks targeting Google Chrome users,\u201d as Bleeping Computer reports it. It\u2019s called CVE-2025-6558 and is a security bug which is \u201cdue to the incorrect validation of untrusted input in the ANGLE (Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine) open-source graphics abstraction layer, which processes GPU commands and translates OpenGL ES API calls to Direct3D, Metal, Vulkan, and OpenGL,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n
This means that remote attackers could execute arbitrary code using HTML pages designed for that purpose, which would escape the sandboxing in Google Chrome. Google says it patched the problem on July 15, but tagged it as having been actively exploited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Google has yet to provide further information on these attacks, Google TAG frequently discovers zero-day flaws exploited by government-sponsored threat actors in targeted campaigns aimed at deploying spyware on devices of high-risk individuals, including dissidents, opposition politicians, and journalists,\u201d the report continued.<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s notes said that it could cause unexpected crashing, but there were no further details until Bleeping Computer\u2019s comments. The advice is that the latest version of Chrome should be installed.<\/p>\n
The next update? It\u2019s likely to be iOS 26 in September, unless there\u2019s something that needs fixing because of this release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated July 31 with details on the two dozen security updates to add to the Photos fix in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[304,19861,641,21738,22056,2306,22055,86,56,54,55,22057],"class_list":{"0":"post-37736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-ios-18-6","10":"tag-iphone","11":"tag-iphone-16-pro-max","12":"tag-latest-release","13":"tag-mobile","14":"tag-new-iphone-software","15":"tag-technology","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom","19":"tag-upgrade-now"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}