8 Things to Know About the iPhone 6s iOS 11.4.1 Update

iPhone 6s iOS 11.4.1 Update: What's New

If you're currently running iOS 11.4 on your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you get a trio of bug fixes and a new USB Restricted Mode located in Settings > Face ID/Touch ID & Passcode.

For more on iOS 11.4.1's changes, please take a look at our guide.

If you're moving up from iOS 11.3.1, your iOS 11.4.1 update comes with changes from iOS 11.4 including Apple's long-awaited Messages in iCloud feature. The feature was originally supposed to arrive alongside iOS 11 in September, but was delayed for additional testing. 

If you're moving up from iOS 11.3, your iOS 11.4.1 update comes with a few more security patches. iOS 11.3.1 was primarily focused on fixing touchscreen issues on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. 

If you skipped iOS 11.3, your iOS 11.4.1 update comes with upgrades to Augmented Reality (ARKit), a new Business Chat feature in Messages, battery throttling features, upgrades to Apple Music and the App Store, and a whole lot more. 

If you're unfamiliar with the features on board the iOS 11.3 update, please take a look at our walkthrough. It goes over them in detail. 

If you're running iOS 11.2.5 on your iPhone 6s you get two additional changes with iOS 11.4.1. 

One is a fix for an issue where using certain character sequences could cause apps to crash and the other is a fix for an issue where some third-party apps could fail to connect to external accessories.

If you're currently running iOS 11.2.2, iOS 11.4.1 delivers more than bug fixes. It also comes with iOS 11.2.5's changes which include support for the HomePod speaker and an upgrade to Siri that lets you instantly stream a news podcast when asking your personal assistant about the news.

If you're moving your iPhone 6s up from iOS 11.2.1, your iOS 11.4.1 update comes with a patch for the Spectre exploit. 

If you're upgrading from iOS 11.2, your iOS 11.4.1 update comes with a fix for HomeKit issues. If you use HomeKit at your house, you'll want to download iOS 11.4.1 right away.

If you're coming from an older version of iOS, your iOS 11.4.1 update will be much larger due to iOS 11.2 and any other updates you skipped.  

The iPhone 6s iOS 11.2 update was packed with changes including Apple Pay Cash, a fix for a calculator issue, a fix for an autocorrect bug that caused some devices to swap "it" for "i.t." and a fix for a potentially devastating date bug. It also included enhancements to the TV app.

For more on the changes on board the iOS 11.2 update, take a look at our walkthrough. It will guide you through everything you need to know. 

If you're coming from iOS 11.1, you'll also get two bug fixes with your version of the update. One is for a Hey Siri issue and the other is for that autocorrect bug that caused the "i" to change to a capital "A" and a rectangle with a question mark. 

If you're coming from something older than iOS 11.1, your iOS 11.4.1 update will be more substantial thanks to iOS 11.1.

Apple's first milestone upgrade included new emoji characters including a zombie, vampire, and a face with a monocle.

If you want to use and see emoji characters from friends, and you aren't running iOS 11.1 or above, you'll need to download the iOS 11.4.1 update. 

iOS 11.1 also brought back the 3D Touch App Switcher gesture that went missing in the initial iOS 11.0 release. If you use 3D Touch on your iPhone 6s, this is another reason to download iOS 11.4.1. 

These are just a few of the changes in iOS 11. If you want to read about them all take a look our iOS 11 vs. iOS 10 walkthrough, our list of hidden iOS 11 features, and our iOS 11.4.1 upgrade guide.