Apple recommends iPhone users update iOS 18.6 immediately to avoid serious risks

iOS 18.6, just released by Apple, is an important update, not intended to add outstanding new features but mainly focuses on improving performance, increasing stability and especially patching dangerous security holes.

This is one of the maintenance updates released by Apple to keep the operating system running stably and securely, especially as the company prepares to launch iOS 19 and the new iPhone line in the fall.

The only feature highlight in iOS 18.6 is a fix for the Photos app, specifically a fix for an issue that prevented users from sharing “memory movies” — a feature that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically create emotional videos from a series of selected photos. This is a tool that many users love for its ability to turn personal photo libraries into vivid and in-depth short films.

But the more important part is the security patch system. According to Josh Stein, Vice President of Strategy and Security at US security company Jamf, iOS 18.6 contains more than 20 fixes for bugs and security vulnerabilities. While most users may not notice a difference in day-to-day use, these are essential updates to reduce the risk of cyberattacks or personal data leaks.

“We recommend that users update to iOS 18.6 as soon as possible, as many of the bugs addressed are deep in the underlying infrastructure and technologies that many Apple apps rely on,” Stein said. While there is no evidence that these vulnerabilities have been exploited in the wild, proactively updating is always the best defense.

Notably, this update comes shortly after Apple introduced the first public beta of iOS 19, signaling a transition period before the new iPhone line and new operating system officially launch in September.

That means that any future updates to iOS 18, if any, will be minor tweaks and won’t bring many changes to the features. So iOS 18.6 will likely be the last stable update for users who don’t plan to upgrade to the new operating system right away.

In short, although not flashy with new features, iOS 18.6 is still an update worth installing, especially for those who care about security and system performance./.