Samuel Axon
Apple today released the next major versions of several of its operating systems, including watchOS 9, tvOS 16 and iOS 16. The latter is probably the most important of the three, with a total overhaul of the iPhone lock screen, new iMessage editing and capabilities. for removing messages and passkeys that try to replace passwords (Our full iOS 16 review is coming soon.)
Also of note are a range of updates for older operating systems, including iOS 15.7, iPadOS 15.7, and macOS Monterey 12.6. The iPad and macOS updates both bring the security-related patches from the newer OS versions back to older ones, as we await the release of iPadOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura later in the fall. The release of iOS 15.7 has two goals: to keep older iPhones that can’t run iOS 16 up to date with security patches (this includes the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 series along with the original iPhone SE) and to help people who don’t want to upgrade to iOS 16, a way to get security updates.
Apple also did this a few months after the release of iOS 15, offering version 14.8 on supported devices so people could delay the update without putting themselves at risk. In January 2022, the company stopped updating iOS 14 and forced all iOS users to update to version 15.2.1.
The shift from iOS 15 to iOS 16 will likely be similar, but a few new wrinkles could complicate things. First, iOS 16 includes a new feature called Rapid Security Response, which allows Apple to release minor security fixes without releasing an all-new iOS update — we don’t know if (and how) those updates will come to iOS 15. It was also the case that any device with iOS 14 was also able to upgrade to iOS 15, where iOS 16 drops support for a few generations of older hardware. We’ve asked Apple for clarification on both counts and will update this story if the company responds.
Apple has also released macOS Big Sur 11.7 to patch vulnerabilities in the now 2-year-old operating system and Safari 16 for both Monterey and Big Sur. Catalina, the latest version of macOS X, did not receive any updates today, indicating that Apple is likely done with supporting them.
