Apple Hits with Important Updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Apple Watch Series 3

18 AUGUST 2022 - Three important updates from Apple about which to tell you - four if you’re rockin’ an Apple Watch Series 3. Let’s start with that one.

A piece from 9 to 5 Mac says Apple has released watchOS 8.7.1. This one’s made specifically for the Series 3 chronometer. That’s because it does one thing only: “fixes a bug that could cause the Apple Watch Series 3 to reboot unexpectedly for some users.”

Mostly users using an Apple Watch Series 3.

No security fixes for the watchOS update, making it something of an outlier Wednesday. The other three updates from Apple were entirely security focused. A piece from Cult of Mac says Apple on Wednesday also released iOS 15.6.1, iPadOS 15.6.1, and macOS Monterey 12.5.1. All three updates address the same two issues - one tied to the Kernel and another tied to WebKit. Not only could both vulnerabilities allow arbitrary code execution, Apple says of both that it “is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.”

So, apparently no proof that they’re in the wild, but talk that they may well be. The updates are all free and easy - at least they have been for me. Each is available in Settings on a given machine - the watchOS update not included. That one still hits through the Watch app on an associated iPhone.