If you’re looking for brand-new features to play with on your Apple devices, today’s updates from Apple are going to let you down. However, they’re just as important to install on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch today, as they fix an important vulnerability.
In fact, they all fix the same single vulnerability for each device: a WebKit issue that was reported by researchers from both Google and Microsoft. Its severity is rated “high,” and it’s easy to see why:
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.
The vulnerability exists due to a boundary error when processing web content in WebKit. A remote attacker can create a specially crafted web page, trick the victim into opening it, trigger memory corruption and execute arbitrary code on the target system.
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in complete compromise of vulnerable system.
While it’s true that odds are low that you, a normal connoisseur of the internet, would stumble across a site like this, there’s absolutely no reason to delay giving your devices a quick update today. The process couldn’t be any easier:
- iPhone / iPad: Settings app > General > Software Update
- Apple Watch: Watch app > General > Software Update
- Mac: Apple logo > System Preferences > Software Update
When you go to update your devices, you’ll be updating your iPhone and iPad to iOS and iPadOS 14.4.1, respectively. Your Apple Watch will get updated to 7.3.2, and macOS Big Sur should now run version 11.2.3 of the operating system.
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Supported devices include anything that’s equal to or later than the iPhone 6s, iPad Air 2, or iPad Mini 4. And the iPod Touch (7th generation) is also eligible for the update, too. The Apple Watch Series 3 and later smartwatches are all eligible for the update. On the Mac side, you simply need to be running macOS Big Sur, which works with a pretty hefty number of desktops and laptops dating back a handful of years.