After massive criticism: Apple announces update for iOS 18 for today (Update: Now released) | News

In response to serious security gaps that made the exploit chains surrounding “Coruna” and “DarkSword” possible, Apple also patched older systems. Coruna affected iPhones and iPads since system version 13, with DarkSword it was iOS and iPadOS 18. iOS 15.8.7 (for devices with iOS 13, 14 or 15), iOS 16.7.15 and iOS 18.7.7 addressed the problem. WebKit vulnerabilities served as an entry point for the exploits because prepared web content could open the first door and then, in combination with a kernel bug, take over the respective device.

Old iPhones patched – newer ones only run on iOS 26
While Apple received praise for offering updates to even ten-year-old iPhones, there was a lot of criticism on another front. 18.7.7 is deliberately not being offered to users who could theoretically switch to iOS 26 but did not want to take the step. This means that an iPhone The product policy of always wanting to move users to the current main version created a situation that was quite critical: withholding patches even though they existed.

Criticism caused a rethink
Wired is now reporting on a change of course and is citing an official statement from Apple. The security update for iOS 18 should therefore be activated for all devices – even if installing iOS 26 would be equally possible. Activation will take place today, depending on the settings, either as an auto-update or as a choice between iOS 18.7.7 and iOS 26.4.

However, the update should be understood as an exception to limit damage in the case of DarkSword, not as a general change in strategy towards long-term parallel maintenance of old main versions. Apple continues to emphasize that users with supported devices should move to iOS 26 to receive the “most advanced protections.”

Update: Now released
As promised, the update is now available for all iOS 18 users – in the form of system version 18.7.7, which was previously available for iPhones without iOS 26 support.