You Should Update Your IPhone and Mac As Soon As Possible
Apple released several important software updates for your iPhone and Mac this week. You might not think so based on the version numbers of each update, but iOS 17.4.1 and macOS 14.4.1 are worth installing as soon as possible. That’s why.
What’s new in iOS 17.4.1?
Apple’s latest iPhone (and iPad) update does not contain any new features or user-specific changes. The release notes don’t mention any specific new changes at all, which might make you think you can safely skip the update or put it off until later.
However, it is nonetheless important, as evidenced by Apple’s security release notes . For some reason, the company packages the security notes separately from the release notes that you see in the Software Update section of your device. In this case, the company delayed even releasing security notes for 17.4.1 until it released macOS 14.4.1, which came out a few days later.
Either way, we now know that iOS 17.4.1 ( as well as iOS 16.7.7 ) fixes two security vulnerabilities: the first is an out-of-bounds write bug in CoreMedia, the part of iOS that deals with audiovisual assets. Attackers could use this vulnerability to trick you into opening a malicious image, which could lead to arbitrary code execution—in other words, they could use the vulnerability to run their own code on your device and potentially take over.
The second issue is another out-of-bounds recording vulnerability, this time with WebRTC, a platform that allows audio and video communication within a web browser. Again, if you process a malicious image with this vulnerability, someone could very well take over your device by executing arbitrary code.
At the time of publication, Apple was not aware of these vulnerabilities being exploited in real life, which is good news. However, know that they are widely advertised and it is only a matter of time before someone tries to use them, so it is important to update them as soon as possible.
What’s new in macOS 14.4.1?
macOS 14.4.1 ( and macOS 13.6.6 for that matter ) also includes these two patches, which is likely why Apple waited until it released these Mac updates before disclosing specific vulnerabilities.
However, in addition to important security updates, macOS 14.4.1 includes fixes for bugs you may have encountered while using macOS 14.4. According to Apple’s release notes, this update fixes an issue that prevented macOS from recognizing USB hubs when connected to external displays, as well as one bug that prevented copy-protected Audio Unit plug-ins from opening and verifying. Perhaps most importantly, the update fixes an issue where applications using Java could crash unexpectedly.
These three patches fix some of the issues that macOS users reported with version 14.4, so if you’ve been holding off upgrading to this version because of one of these three specific issues, macOS 14.4.1 should be a safer choice.
How to Update Your iPhone or Mac
Whether your iPhone is running iOS 17 or iOS 16, or your Mac is running macOS Sonoma or macOS Ventura, you should update it as soon as possible to fix these issues.
To update your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software Update . On your Mac, go to System Settings > General > Software Update .