It was a day of small, but important updates for Apple gear on Thursday. A piece from Engadget had Apple releasing x.x.x updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS. While each brought fixes and tweaks specific to their platforms, each had one thing in common: A fix for, what Engadget calls, “a major web security flaw.” Addressing an issue in Webkit, the piece says:
Specially crafted websites can take advantage of a “use after free” bug (that is, referencing memory after it's freed for use) to run arbitrary code on your device. This isn't a theoretical exercise, either — Apple said there was at least one report of the vulnerability being “actively exploited” before a patch was ready.
Now, it’s ready, and turning up in iOS and iPadOS 15.3.1, macOS Monterey 12.2.1, and watchOS 8.4.2. But wait. There’s more.
Tweaking the Tablet and Phone
In addition to the Webkit fix, Apple’s release notes tell of another issue addressed for iPhone and iPad. Notes for both both updates (because they are totally different operating systems) say each “fixes an issue that may cause Braille displays to stop responding.”
Stopping the Sleeping Power Drain
We’d heard earlier this week that the macOS 12.3 beta addressed an issue that was causing some sleeping Macs to lose power thanks to a problem with Bluetooth peripherals. Since they were fixing the security thing anyway, the company seems to have decided there was no point in waiting. MacRumors says that issue was addressed with Thursday’s release of macOS Monterey 12.2.1.
Watch What Happens!
As for what the watchOS update did… you tell me. All Apple’s release notes say is that “watchOS 8.4.2 includes security updates and bug fixes for your Apple Watch.”
Collect ‘em all! Or, don’t and say you did. We’ll never know!
