My wife loves her iPhone and iPad — but steadfastly refuses to update them.
A major new release with killer features? She has zero interest, even when I encourage her to update for security reasons.
That’s why Apple’s new Background Security Improvements feature is so important.
It automatically patches Apple’s operating systems without any prompting from the user.
Apple just sent out its first Background Security Improvements update, which patches a nasty hole in WebKit.
Setting aside the philosophical debate about corporations unknowingly altering users’ devices, this first update has a strange peculiarity.
On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > Software Update and see what version of iOS you are running.
If you’re on top of updates (likely, if you’re reading this newsletter), your iPhone will confidently tell you that “iOS is up to date” — and there’s a big fat checkmark to reassure you.
But back up a bit and go to Settings > Privacy & Security, then scroll to the bottom of the long screen and tap Background Security Improvements.
You’ll likely see Automatically Install toggled on. But glance down, and you’ll see a manual button to install iOS 26.3.1 (a).
Yeah, WTF!
It appears that Apple has trouble with the word “automatic.” And worse, it’s bizarre that you can't find these Background Security Improvements under the regular software update section. Apple appears to have done just about everything it can to make it impossible to find them easily.
You literally look for a software update, your device says unequivocally that it's up to date ... unless you go to a completely different place and find an "automatic" installation that you have to press a button to install!
Our best guess is that Apple’s trying not to update a couple of billion iPhones, Macs and iPads simultaneously. Presumably, the devices will update automatically over the next few days/weeks. Or this simply could be a quirk of the initial rollout. 🤷
Anyway, if you want to install this automatic update sooner, you can — manually!
Also in today’s newsletter:
If you have an iPhone 16e, you can get the all-important missing MagSafe — by swapping in the back of a newer iPhone 17e. No one is ever going to do this when a magnetic sticker suffices, but it is possible!
Even with the brainpower of the fab M5 chip, the Vision Pro headset can only compute so much. Not so fast! You can now stream high-def content to the headset from a much more powerful computer or remote server. Perfect for those hyper-realistic flight sims.
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: This beefy backup battery comes with every type of plug imaginable, and costs just $22.99 — a hefty 59% off. Definitely could save your bacon on a trip!
Check out our surprising comparison of the new iPhone 17e to last year’s iPhone 16. Newer is not always better.
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Today’s poll
Is it OK for Apple to automatically update everyone's devices?
Results from yesterday’s poll: Do you have fond memories of the iPhone 5?
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