What is better: updating your devices as quickly as possible, or waiting to see which bugs are popping up?
Install updates: Wait as soon as possible, or better?
It never happens: updates for your devices. As an Apple user you often not only have to update your iPhone, but also your Apple Watch, Mac and iPad. That means you can’t use the devices temporarily and that is annoying. Yet you often hear that installing updates is important as quickly as possible.
However, if you are alert to the Apple news, then you will sometimes read messages stating that updates make devices partly unusable by Bugs. What is wisdom then?
Two types of updates
Updates for Apple devices can be roughly divided into two categories. There are updates that add new functions, such as a completely new edition of iOS or MacOS. You can recognize these updates by a round number, or a number with 1 digit behind the tip. Think of iOS 18 for a large new release with new functions, and iOS 18.3 as a small update with new functions.
In addition, there are mini updates that usually do not have new functions, but make your device safer. These security updates have a second point in the name with a figure behind it. Think of iOS 18.3.2.
Security updates: Install as soon as possible
In the case of security updates, it is actually always best to download and install them as quickly as possible. Take as an example security update 18.3.2, with which a vulnerability was repaired that was actively abused. Without that update, the door of your device would be wide open to attackers.
With most security updates, Apple is not so specific about which vulnerabilities are being repaired. However, that does not mean that the update is unimportant. Apple says about that:
“To protect our customers, Apple does not make security issues public and does not discuss or confirm it until a full examination has been carried out and the required patches or releases are available”
Unfortunately, it is not that it never goes wrong with comprehension updates. For example, iOS 17.4.1 caused many problems, but the update also repaired dangerous leaks at the same time. The extra safety of security updates almost always weighs heavier than the possible bugs.
Function updates: Wait a little
Especially with larger updates with new functions, it is tempting to install them as quickly as possible, because you want to try out the innovations. Yet with these updates it can be wise to take a look at the cat from the tree.
Although Apple can be thoroughly tested and then there are beta versions for all users to detect more problems, bugs still regularly appear after the official release. That ranges from a battery that suddenly empties at lightning speed and heating problems, to apps that crash and functions that do not work properly.
If you are worried about that, it may pay to wait a few weeks to see if these kinds of problems appear. In addition, the rule is: the greater the update, the greater the chance of problems.
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