Black History Month celebrations reveal when iOS 16.3 will arrive.
Apple usually keeps the release dates for its software under wraps, not least so it can change its mind and go earlier or later as it needs. But today, buried in a press release for quite another product, Apple has told us when we should expect iOS 16.3.
Today, just before 9AM Eastern, Apple revealed new content to celebrate Black History Month. This includes new iPhone wallpaper, a new Watch face and a Black Unity Sport Loop for Apple Watch.
In itself, the announcement was welcome but unsurprising. Apple usually celebrates Black History Month and a new Watch strap has debuted at this time of year before.
The new Apple Watch Sport Loop for Black History Month.
The Watch Strap is particularly attractive, with the word Unity woven into the band “abstractly”, Apple says.
Pattie LaBelle in Time to Walk.
Also of interest is a new Time to Walk, released on Monday, January 30 and featuring singer Patti LaBelle. There’ll also be a new Time to Run with Fitness+ trainer Cory Wharton-Malcolm, celebrating Black History Month with a run through South LA. There’s plenty more on offer and the Apple release is well worth a look.
Read down to the footnotes of it, though, and there’s a reveal of when iOS 16.3 will be coming. It says, “The Unity 2023 watch face will be available next week, and requires Apple Watch Series 4 or later running watchOS 9.3, and iPhone 8 or later and iPhone SE (2nd generation) or later running iOS 16.3.
“The new Unity iPhone wallpaper for the Lock Screen will be also be available next week and requires iPhone 8 or later running iOS 16.3.”
Next week begins on Monday, January 30. Since Apple’s favorite day of the week for software updates is Tuesday, I’d expect that to be the day the next iPhone software update is released, January 31. That’s way sooner than even the most seasoned of analysts had been predicting.
It’s an interesting release, with support for security keys for Apple IDs. You can read more about this in Kate O’Flaherty’s post here, but it means you can use a hardware accessory to confirm who you are rather than inputting passwords for two-factor authentication.
Other features revealed so far are more minor, including new information on how to use Handoff between the iPhone and HomePod. Since Apple has just announced an all-new HomePod 2nd-generation, which is available from February 3, there’s another reason to know 16.3 is imminent.
Emergency SOS calls, that all-new feature, may also have upgraded wording. Of course, there will be plenty of bug squishes, including perhaps a horizontal line screen issue some users have been experiencing. Some had thought we might see iOS 16.2.1 to address this sooner, but the new understanding that 16.3 is just days away may mean there’s no small update coming in between. But you never know.
