5 Things to Know About the iOS 12.4.1 Update

Apple’s released an iOS 12.4.1 update for iPhone and iPad that patches up a security vulnerability the company recently unpatched.

The iOS 12.4.1 update is a maintenance update which means it’s much smaller than the iOS 12.4 milestone upgrade that preceded it. It’s a tiny release and it’s available for all devices capable of running iOS 12.

If your phone or tablet is currently running iOS 12.4, you get the shortest list of changes. If you’re moving up from an older version of iOS 12, your iOS 12.4.1 update will be bigger because you’ll get the features and fixes from the updates you skipped.

With all of that in mind, allow us to take you through the most important things to know, right now, about Apple’s iOS 12.4.1 release.

Our guide goes over the iOS 12.4.1 update’s performance, iOS 12.4.1 problems, places to look for feedback about iOS 12.4.1’s performance on your specific device, the iOS 12.4.1 jailbreak, and more.

We’ll start with our quick impressions of iOS 12.4.1’s performance on the iPhone and iPad.

iOS 12.4.1 Reviews

iOS 12.4.1 requires a tiny download if you’re currently running iOS 12.4.

If you’re moving up from iOS 12.4, your download is only a few megabytes. The iOS 12.4.1 update is a 99.3MB download for the iPhone X and it’s around the same for other models.

If you’re running an older version of iOS 12, you’ll see a larger download size because, again, your update brings the features and fixes from the iOS updates you missed.

If you’re currently running iOS 12.4, the iOS 12.4.1 installation should take less than 10 minutes. It took about six minutes to install on an iPhone X.

For more on the iOS 12.4.1 download and installation, take a look at our guide.

We’ve been using the iOS 12.4.1 update on our iPhones and iPads for a short time and here’s what we’re seeing thus far:

Connectivity

• Battery life is currently stable.
• Wi-Fi connectivity is fast and reliable.
• Bluetooth is working normally.
• GPS and cellular data are both stable.

Apps

• Third-party apps including Netflix, Dark Sky, Twitter, Slack, Asana, Gmail, Chrome, and Spotify are all working normally at the moment.
• First party apps like Safari, Podcasts, and Calendar are also working fine.

Speed

• iOS 12.4.1 feels as fast as iOS 12.4. iOS 12.4 was fast on all of our devices.

If you’re dealing with bugs or performance issues on iOS 12.4 or another version of iOS 12, you might want to install iOS 12.4.1 right now.

If you need help making a decision, check out our reasons to, and not to, install the iOS 12.4.1 update on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch right now.

We’ve published our iOS 12.4.1 reviews for iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, and iPhone SE so check those for additional feedback if you need it.

iOS 12.4.1 Problems

iOS 12.4.1 users are reporting various bugs and performance issues.

The current list of iOS 12.4.1 problems includes installation issues, abnormal battery drain, issues with Touch ID and Face ID, issues with first and third-party apps, lag, random reboots, and more.

If you run into an issue on iOS 12.4.1 have a look at our list of fixes for the most common iOS 12 problems. We’ve also released tips to help improve iOS 12’s performance and tips to help improve iOS 12 battery life.

If you can’t handle iOS 12.4.1’s performance on your device, you can try downgrading.

Apple is currently signing on the iOS 12.4 update which means you can use a loophole to downgrade to the previous version of iOS 12.

Unfortunately, you can’t downgrade to anything older than iOS 12.4. Apple’s closed up the downgrade path to iOS 12.3.2 and below.

iOS 12.4.1 Update: What’s New

The iOS 12.4.1 update doesn’t come with any new features. In fact, it only has one change on board: A security patch for a vulnerability the company unpatched a short time ago.

You can read more about the security contents of the update on Apple’s website.

iOS 12.4.1 Jailbreak

You can jailbreak iOS 12.4, but you can’t jailbreak iOS 12.4.1. At least not yet.

Jailbreak developers recently released a working iOS 12.4 jailbreak tool that’s compatible with Apple A7 through A11 devices. That means you can jailbreak an iPhone 5s, iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or iPhone X running iOS 12.4 but you can’t jailbreak an iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or iPhone XS Max.

If you own a newer iPhone model, you can jailbreak iOS 12 using the Chimera jailbreak tool. However, your device needs to be running iOS 12.0-iOS 12.1.2.

Unfortunately, you can’t downgrade to any of those versions of iOS 12.

What’s Next

iOS 12.4.1 will most likely be the final version of iOS 12.

Apple hasn’t confirmed iOS 12.4.2 or iOS 12.5. And with the iOS 13 release just weeks away, we probably won’t get a new version of iOS 12.

If this holds up, iOS 12.4.1 will be the last update for devices like the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone 5s. These devices, and others, will stay put on iOS 12.

Apple’s iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 upgrades will bring performance improvements and new features including Dark Mode, a swipe keyboard, and more to the iPhone and iPad.

We expect Apple to pull iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 from beta in September, shortly after the company launches its 2019 iPhones.

The 2019 iPhone launch date is confirmed for September 10th and the release date is rumored for September 20th. The iOS 13 release date should land somewhere in between those dates.

For more on iOS 13, take a look at our walkthrough. For more on iPadOS 13, take a look at our guide to the beta.

Install iOS 13.7 for Better Security

> 1 / 15

If security is important to you, think about installing the iOS 13.7 update. iOS 13.7 doesn't have any known security patches on board. That said, if you skipped iOS 13.6 or an older version of iOS, you'll get security patches with your upgrade.  iOS 13.6 had more than 20 patches for security issues on board which made it an extremely important update. If you skipped iOS 13.6, you get the patches with iOS 13.7.  If you want to learn more about iOS 13.6's security patches, head on over to Apple's security site for more information. If you skipped iOS 13.5.1, you get its security patch with your upgrade to iOS 13.7. You can read more about it on Apple's website. The patch is for an exploit used by jailbreak developers.  If you skipped iOS 13.5, iOS 13.7 brings iOS 13.5's 41 new security patches with it. Apple's posted the details on its website and you can dig into the particulars if you're interested.  Among them, patches for the company's Mail app, Wi-Fi, AirDrop, Bluetooth, FaceTime, Messages, and Notifications.   If you skipped the iOS 13.4 update, you'll get iOS 13.4's 28 security patches with your upgrade. You can read about all of them on Apple's website right here.  iOS 13.4 also brought several improvements to Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Apple's John Wilander outlined them in a blog post and it's worth checking out.  Reports have outlined a vulnerability in Wi-Fi chips made by Broadcom and Cypress Semiconductor that left billions of devices susceptible to attack. Dubbed Kr00k, the vulnerability allows nearby attackers to decrypt sensitive information that's relayed over-the-air.  Fortunately, it looks like the issue was patched up with the release of iOS 13.2, an update that arrived all the way back in October.  So if you're running a really old version of iOS 13, you'll really want to move your device up to the newest version of iOS 13.  If you skipped iOS 13.3.1, you get its patches with iOS 13.7. The iOS 13.3.1 update included 21 new security patches that will help protect your device from harm. The company's outlined those patches in detail if you want to dig in.  If you skipped iOS 13.3, you get its patches with iOS 13.7. iOS 13.3 brought 12 new security patches to the iPhone and you can read about each one over on Apple's security page.  The iOS 13.3 update also added support for NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys in the Safari browser.  If you missed iOS 13.2, it had 16 new security patches on board. You can read about all of them on Apple's website right here.  iOS 13.1.1 brought a security patch for a third-party keyboard issue to your iPhone. If you're interested in the particulars, you can read about them over on Apple's website. If you passed on installing iOS 13.1, you get an additional patch with your iOS 13.7 update. You can learn more right here.  If you're moving up from iOS 12, you'll get iOS 13.0's nine security patches with your upgrade to iOS 13.7. Read about those here.   If you skipped iOS 12.4.1 or any older versions of iOS 12, you'll get their security patches with your iOS 13.7 update.  iOS 12.4.1 only had one patch on board, but Apple's iOS 12.4 update brought 19 security patches to the iPhone. If you're interested in the specifics, you can read about them on right here. In addition to those patches, iOS 13 itself comes with some security and privacy upgrades including improved anti-tracking features in Safari and the ability to get rid of location metadata in your photos. You also now have the ability to block apps from using Bluetooth and the ability to allow apps to access your location just once. iOS 13 will also send you reminders about applications that track your data.

> 1 / 15