iOS 17.4 brought alternate app stores, new emoji, quantum security, and more. But no iOS release is perfect, and Apple has recently dropped a minor iOS 17.4.1 upgrade to mask some issues.
It’s a small update, and something of a vague one. Strangely, Apple hasn’t stated what’s changed with this release. The company simply states that it’s recommended for all users, with “details coming soon.” That could be to throw hackers off the scent of a vulnerability, or it could be because the bugs fixed are too boring and technical to list.
Apple has simultaneously released an update for older devices that can’t run iOS 17. If you have an iPhone from the 8 or X series, you’ll instead find iOS 16.7.7 waiting.
Despite the lack of concrete changes, we’d recommend installing the latest release to keep things running smoothly. You wouldn’t want to be caught out by a mystery bug or security flaw that could have been avoided with a quick update.
Note that even with Automatic Updates switched on in Settings, it’s often faster to manually trigger the update process. Go to Settings > General > Software Update to check for the latest version of iOS.