Apple iOS 16.1.2.
While we’re waiting for iOS 16.2 to arrive, Apple has suddenly snuck out a smaller release, iOS16. 1.2. Here’s how to get it and what’s in it.
Make Forbes your destination for all-things iOS. Read full details of what’s in the release from me the moment it lands. Kate O’Flaherty looks at the security considerations of each new release. And then read Gordon Kelly’s analysis of whether you ought to install or wait.
Which iPhones can run iOS 16.1.2?
If you have an iPhone from the iPhone 8 onwards, this is for you.
For iPads, you need iPadOS which, for the first time, is on a different release schedule than iOS. There’s no iPadOS 16.1.2, by the way, this is an iPhone-only release.
How to get it
You’ll have done this before but just in case: open the Settings app on the iPhone and then choose General, then Software Update. Once you’ve clicked on Download and Install, you’ll be set.
What’s in the release
Apple’s notes are concise. First, they say that this updated promises improved compatibility with wireless carriers. Since every single iPhone user needs a wireless carrier to use the phone to the full, this is important.
But it’s the second stated improvement that’s most interesting. Apple says there are, “Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models.”
Crash detection is one of the marquee upgrades on the iPhone 14 series. It means that if, heaven forbid, you’re involved in an impact such as a car crash, that the phone will contact emergency services if you don’t respond, sharing your exact location with them.
But since the iPhones launched, there have been numerous accounts of the feature kicking into gear when it shouldn’t, for instance, when the user rides a rollercoaster. The system uses data and advanced G-force sensors, but since rollercoaster rides also involve the sudden stops and starts the G-force sensors are looking out for, Apple previously admitted that such rides could trigger crash detection.
Apple hasn’t given many details as to what improvements there are to crash detection, but with luck it will mean that fairground rides will no longer be asking riders to turn off their crash detection features.
Apple also says the upgrade is recommended for all users.
