There’s now growing evidence that Apple is about to release a new update for the iPhone. It could launch in a matter of hours, and will come before the next software we were expecting, which was iOS 17.2. Instead, the surprise update which we’ll see first will be iOS 17.1.2. Here’s all we know so far.
Just one week ago, rumors began to swirl that there would be an iPhone software update sooner than had been imagined. The next full-point release, iOS 17.2, is already in beta and includes new features as well as fixes and security improvements. But its general release was thought to be in December—and that’s still the case.
Now, Joe Rossignol at MacRumors has said that there is “mounting evidence” that iOS 17.1.2 will be released this week. This evidence comes from the website’s analytics logs and it’s been growing in recent days.
When Can We Expect It?
Apple’s preferred release day is a Tuesday, other things being equal, so that points to Tuesday, November 28. I’d say that’s still the most likely but bear in mind that the Thanksgiving holiday may mean that things have gone out of whack, so a release on Wednesday, November 29 is not out of the question.
There’s also precedent for this week because a release with the equivalent numbering, iOS 16.1.2 was released in the week following Thanksgiving last year, although that merely tells us that post-Thanksgiving is more likely than pre-Thanksgiving, and comes down to the fact that Apple staff in the U.S. are routinely given time off around now.
What’s In It?
Good question. We can tell from the software version number that it’s not a Rapid Security Response, as that would be named something like iOS 17.1.1 (a). Since RSRs are exclusively for bug fixes and security repairs which just couldn’t wait until a bigger release, it means that the software could have new feature in it as well.
That said, I think this is going to be purely about fixing problems, so which ones?
That’s the mystery. The last update fixed an issue with some models of BMW cars, not that Apple specified the make in its release notes. But some GM cars have also had issues with charging since iOS 17 arrived, with some users saying that their wireless charging pads in the vehicle wouldn’t work. Maybe that’ll be the focus of this update.
Or it could set out to sort wifi connectivity issues which have dogged iOS 17 since its launch in September, though it’s not yet clear that this issue had been widespread. It had been thought that iOS 17.2 would address this issue, so perhaps Apple wants to bring it forward. Other niggles recently have been push notifications problems and HomeKit issues, so these could be the focus of iOS 17.1.2. if Apple sticks to its regular timetable, we could know the answers in a matter of hours.
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