Apple

5 Things to Know About the iOS 13.5.1 Update

Published

4 years ago

07/10/2020

Apple’s released an iOS 13.5.1 update and the maintenance upgrade brings a short list of changes to the iPhone.

The iOS 13.5.1 update is currently the most up-to-date version of iOS 13 and the firmware is compatible with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and the iPhone SE 2.

Like most point upgrades, iOS 13.5.1 is small and comes with a short change log. It doesn’t have any new features or any known bug fixes, but it does bring a security patch with it.

With that in mind, we want to take you through everything there is to know about Apple’s latest update for the iPhone and iOS 13.

In this guide to iOS 13.5.1 we’ll take you through the update’s performance, the current list of iOS 13.5.1 problems, the best places to find feedback about bugs and performance issues, the iOS 13.5.1 jailbreak status, and more.

We’ll start with our impressions of iOS 13.5.1 update’s performance on iPhone.

Try TIDAL Free for 30 Days

iOS 13.5.1 Reviews

If your iPhone is running iOS 13.5 right now you’ll see a tiny download when you go to install iOS 13.5.1. The iOS 13.5.1 update is a 77 MB download for the iPhone X. It should be around same size for other iPhone models though the exact size will vary.

If you’re running an older version of iOS 13 on your phone you’ll likely see a larger download size because your iOS 13.5.1 update includes the changes from iOS updates you skipped.

If your phone is running on iOS 13.5, the iOS 13.5.1 installation shouldn’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes to complete. It took about seven minutes to install on the iPhone X.

For more on the iOS 13.5.1 download and installation, take a look at our guide.

We’ve been using the iOS 13.5.1 update for several weeks and here’s what we’ve discovered about its performance thus far:

Connectivity

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

Apps

Third-party apps including Netflix, Dark Sky, Twitter, Slack, Asana, Gmail, Chrome, and Spotify are all agreeable with iOS 13.5.1.
First party apps like Safari, Podcasts, and Calendar are also working fine at the moment.

Speed

iOS 13.5.1 currently feels as fast as iOS 13.5.

If your iPhone is struggling on iOS 13.5 or an older version of iOS 13, you might want to install the iOS 13.5.1 update on your iPhone right now.

If you need help making a decision, please check out our reasons to, and not to, install the iOS 13.5.1 update. It’ll help you make a decision.

We’ve published our mini iOS 13.5.1 reviews for the iPhone 11, iPhone SE 2, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, and iPhone SE so make sure you check those for additional feedback.

iOS 13.5.1 Problems

iOS 13.5.1 is causing problems for some iPhone users. Some problems are brand new while others have carried over from older versions of iOS 13.

The current list of iOS 13.5.1 problems includes some of the usual suspects: installation problems, lag, Exchange issues, problems with first and third-party apps, hotspot problems, weird battery drain, and issues with Touch ID and Face ID.

According to iOS 13.5.1 users, the Music application is causing significant battery drain. The app is apparently draining tons of battery when it’s not in use.

Apple hasn’t acknowledged the issue yet so it’s unclear when a fix might arrive. In the meantime, it looks like turning off Background App Refresh in Settings could help.

No products found.

If you run into an issue on iOS 13.5.1, take a look at our list of fixes for the most common iOS 13 problems. We’ve also released some tips that could help you improve your phone’s performance and some tips to help fix bad iOS 13 battery life.

If you can’t handle the iOS 13.5.1 update’s performance, note that you can no longer downgrade to the previous version of iOS 13 in an effort to improve your device’s performance. Apple has stopped signing on iOS 13.5.

If your phone is really struggling you can try moving it to Apple’s beta software and see if performance improves. If it doesn’t, you can always drop back to iOS 13.5.1.

iOS 13.5.1 Update: What’s New

iOS 13.5.1 is much smaller than iOS 13.5 and it brings a solitary change to the iPhone: A patch for the exploit used by developers to create the latest iOS 13 jailbreak tool. You can read more about it on Apple’s security site.

iOS 13.5.1 Jailbreak

If you jailbreak, you’ll want to skip iOS 13.5.1 for now. That said, the current jailbreak tool supports iOS 13.5 and older versions of iOS.

The developers behind the “unc0ver” jailbreaking tool for iOS recently released a new version, 5.0.0, that’s compatible with iOS 13.5 and most versions of iOS going all the way down to iOS 11.0. iOS 12.3-12.3.2 and iOS 12.4.2-12.4.5 are excluded.

The jailbreak tool is also compatible with all iOS 13-powered devices including newer iPhone models.

What’s Next

Apple is prepping a new version of iOS 13.

iOS 13.5.1 will be followed by iOS 13.6, a new version of iOS 13 that’s currently in beta testing. The update will carry new features and an assortment of bug fixes.

We don’t have a specific iOS 13.6 release date to look forward to, but a release for iPhone should come sooner rather than later. If you don’t want to wait, you can download the iOS 13.6 beta onto your iPhone right now.

For more on iOS 13.6, take a look at our guide.

Apple’s also working on iOS 14, a new operating system that is headed to all iOS 13-powered devices this fall.

iOS 14 is currently in beta which means you can give it a try on your iPhone right now if you really want to try new features or really want to get your phone off of iOS 13.

For more on iOS 14, please take a look at our guide.

4 Reasons Not to Install iOS 13.7 & 11 Reasons You Should

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.