Older iPhone Users Urged to Install Security Updates by Apple

Apple has issued a security advisory to all iPhone and iPad users, urging them to update their devices to the latest available versions of iOS / iPadOS system software to keep their data protected.

In the support document, Apple specifies web-based attacks that are aimed at older versions of iOS and iPadOS, potentially allowing malicious actors to compromise their iPhone or iPad:

If your iPhone doesn’t have the latest software, update iOS to protect your data.

Security researchers recently identified web-based attacks that target out-of-date versions of iOS through malicious web content. For example, if you’re using an older version of iOS and were to click a malicious link or visit a compromised website, the data on your iPhone might be at risk of being stolen.

We thoroughly investigated these issues as they were found and released software updates as quickly as possible for the most recent operating system versions to address vulnerabilities and disrupt such attacks.

Apple specifically mentions updating eligible devices to iOS 15.8.7, iOS 16.7.5, iPadOS 15.8.7, and iPadOS 16.7.5. Eligible devices for these particular patched versions of iOS and iPadOS include all models of iPhone 6s, all iPhone 7 models, all iPhone 8 models, iPhone X, iPhone SE 1st gen, iPad mini 4th gen, iPad Air 2, iPod touch 7th gen, iPad 5th gen, iPad Pro 9.7″, and iPad Pro 12.9 1st gen. Newer iPhone and iPad models can install iOS 26.3.1 and iPadOS 26.3.1 to get the latest security updates.

Apple specifies that “devices with the latest, updated versions of iOS 15 through iOS 26 are already protected”, again indicating to update your eligible devices whenever possible. Any iPhone or iPad that can run iOS 13 or iOS 14 is able to get the latest iOS 15 and iOS 16 versions on their devices, and newer iPhone and iPad models are able to run the latest versions of iOS 18 or iOS 26.

Newer devices can install the freshly released Security Improvement versioned as iOS 26.3.1 (a) and iPadOS 26.3.1 (a) to have the latest security updates installed on any modern iPhone or iPad. iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, and macOS Tahoe 26.4 are set to be released in the near future as well.

The takeaway here is simple and straight forward; update your Apple devices, whether they are old or new.

For any iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > Software Update, and install what is available.

For Mac, go to  Apple menu > System Settings (or System Preferences) > General > Software Update, and install available updates too.