iOS 14.5 is out. Likely to be the final big update to iOS until we get a sneak peek at iOS 15 at Apple’s developer keynote in June ahead of its release in the fall.
That said, it’s unlikely to be the last iOS 14 update. An update of the size and scale of iOS 14.5 is likely to bring with it bugs that will take a few updates to crush.
So, should you update, or wait for the inevitable iOS 14.5.1 to land in a few weeks?
My advice: Update. Update now. Update right now.
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I’m usually quite cautious when it comes to iOS updates. Well, not personally, but I am when it comes to others.
But not where iOS 14.5 is concerned, because as well as bringing support for AirTags and the anti-tracking privacy features and new emojis, the update includes patches for 50 vulnerabilities.
Yes, you read that right, 50.
To make matters worse, some of those bugs are remote code execution bugs, which mean that could run code on iPhones remotely. Other bugs allow attackers to read sensitive data remotely.
One bug, labeled CVE-2021-30661, ‘may have been actively exploited’ by attackers, raising the stakes further.
My advice on this one is to install it now. I’d normally recommend waiting for the update to land, but this is such a huge package of bug fixes that waiting doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Head over to Settings > General > Software Update and run the update now (if you haven’t already). It’s quite a big package — over a gigabyte — so it might take some time, but given the severity of this bug, it’s time well spent.
