Apple has today released iOS 18.6.2, iPadOS 18.6.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.6.1; bringing a fix for a security vulnerability that has been actively exploited. Apple has today also released updates for devices on iPadOS 17, macOS 14, and macOS 13.
As reported by MacRumors, iOS 18.6.2, iPadOS 18.6.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.6.1 all contain fixes for a security vulnerability that is known to have been actively exploited:
According to Apple's security support documents, memory corruption could result from devices that were sent a malicious image file.
Apple says that it is aware of a report that the issue "may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals."
Mac Rumors further reports that Apple has also released iPadOS 17.7.10, macOS 14.7.8, and macOS 13.7.8.
As these updates were not distributed to external testers prior to their release, we do not have any information on whether they contain any accessibility fixes for blind, def blind, or low vision users at the time of writing. However, as these updates appear to have been released to address a small number of specific issues, we do not expect them to contain any such fixes.
iOS 18.6.2 and iPadOS 18.6.2 are available via Over-the-Air Update (Settings > General > Software Update) via Finder on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, or via iTunes on a PC or Mac with macOS Mojave or earlier.
To install macOS Sequoia 15.6.1, choose System Settings from the Apple menu, select General in the table, click Software Update in the scroll area, and click the Update Now button to begin the update process. If other updates are available, you can click the Info button to see details about them and select specific updates to install.
Comments
Good to know
My Macs have been nagging me to update for a while now, and I've been refusing to do it because the hard drive on my ancient AirPort Time Capsule router has finally flatlined so I'm running with no backups, however between risking a most likely harmless software update and the potential of getting all my stuff encrypted for ransom, I think I'll just copy the most important stuff to an external drive and update macOS.
Done
No issues, iPhone 16 pro max.Good download.
Headphone mic issue
Since the update I've had issues with my phone not recognizing the mic in any of my headsets and headphones. I still get the audio through but the mic input defaults to needing the speaker, requiring me to hold my phone to my mouth. I don't know if it's an update thing or if Apple flipped some obscure switch somewhere. Has this happened to anyone else?
Had some problems with AirPods Max on macOS too
For some reason I had to update to macOS 15.6 before updating to macOS 15.6.1, as the option to download and update the latter was simply not available on macOS 15.5, and after I made the update to macOS 15.6, my AirPods Max started intermittently switching between Bluetooth and USB audio, sometimes also pitch shifting everything an octave down without changing the tempo, a problem that remained after updating to macOS 15.6.1. My solution was to reset the AirPods, pair them with the Mac again because there's no microphone in USB audio mode, and the problem stopped manifesting itself. The pitch shift without changing tempo is a weird problem as it doesn't happen naturally without converting the audio to frequency-domain first, changing the frequencies, and converting it back to time-domain for playback, so currently I have no idea how this was even possible.
Magic Retina
Just curious, does this happen to you with OEM Apple EarPods? I am of course referring to the old wired earbuds that used to come with iPhones, that you actually plug into the device. I am a bit old-school, and tend to avoid using Bluetooth as much as possible, so I'm wanting to know if I'm gonna have mic issues on my old EarPods before I make the update on my iPhone.
TIA
Brian
Alas I have no way to test this, I haven't had headphones that plug into my phone while on a call in years. I don't think it would be an issue though since that's hardware and this seems to very much be a software issue. It really just happened out of nowhere for me so I figure either I messed something up in settings somewhere or Apple flipped a switch in a random place and broke things again.
Fair enough
Thank you for the input. :-)
Consider it Done, Well Partially
I just updated my phone and all is well thus far. My Mac has yet to be updated, and I'm wondering if this has anything to do with me being unable to access all new video content for the APH Hive courses I've started taking. I will reach out to the folks at APH if the update doesn't resolve this issue. But I'm finding the Hive to be very accessible on my Mac. Haven't yet checked it out on my phone.
The issue with headphone microphones has existed for a long time
For someone like me who frequently uses WeChat for chatting, the iPhone's headphone microphone issue has been a long-standing annoyance. If you try to send voice messages or make video calls on WeChat while wearing headphones, you'll easily notice that the headphone microphone often doesn't work. This happens unpredictably, anytime and anywhere, and is particularly noticeable when using AirPods with noise-canceling features. So, it seems this is an old problem.
Safari tabs moving around at random
Thanks for the heads up about the mic issues. This is the first time I've ever encountered them and it's very frustrating.
New thing that's been happening since the update: my tabs in Safari are rearranging themselves. I keep important things I need to double check or work on at the top of my tabs list but for the past week, since I did the update, they have started moving themselves around almost daily. I have no idea what's doing this. I will wake up and find my top tabs now in the middle somewhere and things I just opened at the top of the tabs page or somewhere in the middle. It's really obnoxious.
still no screen recognition?
screen recognition is checked in this release but not appearing when i need it?
how please can i resolve this as looks like it enabled but the rotor isn't seeing it.
Will
Try quick settings
Hi,
Try using voice overs quick settings feature. First, go to settings, accessibility, VoiceOver, VoiceOver recognition, and be absolutely certain that screen recognition has been enabled. Next back out of that screen, and move down until you find the quick settings button within VoiceOver settings. Double tap on that, and make sure screen recognition is selected within quick settings. Finally, set up a gesture for quick settings, and then you can activate it from virtually any screen.
From this point on, you can activate quick settings, and just toggle screen recognition whenever you need it.
Admittedly it is not as fast or convenient as the rotor, but it sounds like the rotor is having issues, so consider this a work around.
Alternatively, you can go to settings, accessibility, VoiceOver, commands, touch, and add a gesture to screen recognition directly, under the VoiceOverheading.
Best of luck! :-)
thank you Brian
Brian it was my error after all this time i hadn't enabled screen recognition in the first place again, thank you.