5 Things to Know About the iOS 16.5 Update

Apple’s pushed its iOS 16.5 update to iPhone users.

iOS 16.5 is a milestone release which means it brings a mix of new features and under-the-hood enhancements to compatible iPhone models.

With that in mind, we want to walk you through everything you need to know right now about Apple’s new iOS 16.5 software for iPhone.

In the walkthrough below we’ll take you through iOS 16.5’s changes, the software’s performance, the current list of iOS 16.5 problems, the iOS 16 jailbreak status, and more. We’ll start with some quick thoughts on iOS 16.5’s performance.

iOS 16.5 Review

If your iPhone’s currently running iOS 16.4.1, you’ll see the smallest iOS 16.5 download size. Unless you’re really low on storage, you probably won’t have to make room for the download.

If you’re moving your iPhone up from iOS 16.4.1, the iOS 16.5 installation process should take in and around 10 minutes to complete. It took about nine minutes to install on an iPhone 12 Pro.

We’ve been using iOS 16.5 on an iPhone 12 Pro for several days now and here’s what we’ve learned about the software’s performance thus far.

Battery Life & Connectivity

• Battery life while on iOS 16.5 is stable. We haven’t seen any major issues yet.
• Wi-Fi connectivity is fast and reliable.
• Bluetooth is working normally.
• GPS and cellular data are working properly.

App Performance

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

Speed

• iOS 16.5 feels just as fast as iOS 16.4.1 and we haven’t run into any abnormal lag, lockups, or freezes.

If you’re dealing with bugs and/or performance issues on iOS 16.4.1, or an older version of iOS, you might want to install the iOS 16.5 update on your iPhone today.

If you need help making a decision, check out our reasons to, and not to, install the latest version of iOS 16 right now.

iOS 16.5 Problems

The iOS 16.5 update went through a lengthy beta, but the software is causing problems for iPhone users. Some problems are brand new, others have carried over from older versions of iOS like iOS 16.4.1.

The current list of iOS 16.5 problems includes abnormal battery drain, Bluetooth issues, Wi-Fi issues, installation issues, Exchange issues, problems with first and third-party apps, and more.

If you run into a problem with iOS 16.5, have a look at our list of fixes for the most common iOS 16 problems. We’ve also released tips that could help you improve your phone’s performance and some tips that could help fix bad battery life.

Apple recently stopped signing on iOS 16.4.1 which means you can’t drop your iPhone’s software back to older software if iOS 16.5 starts causing problems on your iPhone.

For more about the downgrade process, check out our guide.

iOS 16.5 Features

Apple’s milestone updates (x.x) almost always bring new features, enhancements, security patches, and bug fixes to iPhone users and that’s what iOS 16.5 brings to the table.

Here’s the official iOS 16.5 change log:

New Features

• A new Pride Celebration wallpaper for the Lock Screen to honor the LGBTQ+ community and culture.
• Sports tab in Apple News gives easy access to stories, scores, standings, and more, for the teams and leagues you follow.
• My Sports score and schedule cards in Apple News take you directly to game pages where you can find additional details about specific games.

Bug Fixes

• Fixes an issue where Spotlight may become unresponsive.
• Addresses an issue where Podcasts in CarPlay may not load content.
• Fixes an issue where Screen Time settings may reset or not sync across all devices.

iOS 16.5 also brings security patches to iPhone and you can learn more about them over on Apple’s security site.

iOS 16.5 Jailbreak

If you still jailbreak, make sure you avoid the iOS 16.5 update.

Developers have released a new jailbreak that works with iOS 15.0-iOS 16.2. Unfortunately, the jailbreak doesn’t work with iOS 16.5 and it’s only compatible with the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus.

We’ll let you know if that changes.

What’s Next

We could see a new iOS 16.5.1 update drop soon. Apple is reportedly testing the software and a release is expected sometime this week or next week.

Apple’s working on a new iOS 16.6 update and the software will arrive sometime later this year ahead of iOS 17 in the fall.

For more about the iOS 16.6 update, have a look at our walkthrough. For more about the iOS 16.6 release date, check out our guide.

The company will also release iOS 17 for iPhone later this year. Unfortunately, Apple will drop support for three older iPhone models.

For more about iOS 17 and its release, have a look at our guide.

[slides postid=494792]