5 Things to Know About the iOS 16.7 Update

Apple’s released a new iOS 16.7 update for iPhone.

iOS 16.7 is a milestone release, but it’s much smaller than a typical milestone release. It doesn’t have any new features or bug fixes on board and is instead focused on patching up security issues.

The software is available for iPhone models that didn’t make the move to iOS 17, a list that includes the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. It’s also available for newer iPhone models that aren’t running iOS 17 yet.

With that in mind, we want to walk you through everything you need to know right now about Apple’s brand new iOS 16.7 software for iPhone.

October 5th update to reflect Apple closing the downgrade path back to iOS 16.6.1. This post was first published on Thursday, September 21st.

In the walkthrough below we’ll take you through iOS 16.7’s changes, the software’s performance, the current list of iOS 16.7 problems, the iOS 16 jailbreak status, and more.

We’ll start with some quick thoughts on iOS 16.7’s performance.

iOS 16.7 Review

If your iPhone’s running on iOS 16.6.1, you’ll see the smallest iOS 16.7 download size. Unless your device is really low on storage, you won’t have to make room for the download.

The iOS 16.7 installation should take somewhere around 10 minutes to complete. It took about eight minutes to install on an iPhone X.

We’ve been using iOS 16.7 on an iPhone X for several days now and here’s what we’ve learned about the software’s performance thus far:

Battery Life & Connectivity

• Battery life 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 and Podcasts are also running fine.

Speed

• iOS 16.7 feels as fast as iOS 16.6.1 and we haven’t run into any abnormal lag, lockups, or freezes.

If you’re dealing with bugs and/or performance issues on iOS 16.6.1, or an older version of iOS, you might want to install the iOS 16.7 update on your iPhone today. It could help.

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

iOS 16.7 Problems

iOS 16.7 went through testing behind the scenes, but the software is causing problems for some iPhone users. Some of these problems are brand new, others have carried over from older versions of iOS 16.

The current list of iOS 16.7 problems includes abnormal battery drain, Bluetooth issues, Wi-Fi issues, installation issues, Exchange issues, and problems with first and third-party apps.

If you run into a problem with iOS 16.7, 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 has stopped signing on iOS 16.6.1 which means you can’t drop your iPhone’s software back to older software if iOS 16.7 starts causing problems on your iPhone.

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

iOS 16.7 Features

Apple’s milestone updates (x.x) typically deliver a mix of features, enhancements, security patches, and bug fixes to iPhone users. Again, iOS 16.7 is not a standard milestone upgrade.

The iOS 16.7 change log doesn’t mention any new features. Instead, Apple says it brings bug fixes and security updates to iPhone users.

iOS 16.7 carries three security patches on board. You can learn more about iOS 16.7’s security contents over on Apple’s security site.

iOS 16.7 Jailbreak

If you still jailbreak, make sure you avoid the iOS 16.7 update for now.

Developers have released a new jailbreak that works with iOS 15.0-iOS 16.2. Unfortunately, the jailbreak doesn’t work with iOS 16.7 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 expect Apple to push new iOS 16 software to the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus down the road. These updates won’t be robust as they’ll likely focus on delivering new security patches for these devices.

Should Apple continue to release new versions of iOS 16, and again we think it will, you can expect the software to roll out alongside new versions of iOS 17.

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