Apple MAY Join Many Others in Separating Security Patches from System Upgrades

Since the beginning of Apple-time (or is it i-time?), Apple has always bundled security fixes into iOS upgrades. This means that a user could not install a security update without also upgrading the OS. In general, Apple has always forced users to upgrade their iPhones and other mobile devices. This tends to make Apple products more secure because a higher percentage of the users are on the current version of the OS.

This is different than, say, Microsoft, who will push out monthly security patches even though they might only add new features once or twice a year.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple may be planning to separate security fixes from feature upgrades in the next version of iOS.

Of course, sometimes, Apple may release a new version of their OS just to patch a bug, but users never know what else might be bundled inside that upgrade.

But there is a new setting in the software update menu called “Install Security Updates”.

It could be that this is only a feature to install emergency fixes, something that has become more common at Apple as their software becomes more complex.

It also appears that if a user installs a security update they may have to uninstall it prior to installing a version upgrade. If this turns out to be true, this would be very unlike Apple and this makes it harder for users to stay current.

iOS 14.5 is going to be a big deal. One feature in it is that checks for fraudulent web sites will be run through Apple’s servers to protect user privacy and that could, possibly, break things or slow things down. This new update also requires users to opt-in to data sharing.

iOS 14.5 is expected to be released officially in a couple of months. Credit: The Hacker News

by