While the iOS 18.3 beta was released to the developer community on December 16, Apple is apparently working on an iOS 18.2.1 update which has appeared online since mid-December. The update, which MacRumors spotted in its site analytics, is thought to be a bugfix update for iOS 18.2.
Separately, an anonymous X account with a verifiable track record has provided a potential build number for this operating system update — 22C161. The account suggests that iPadOS 18.2.1 will be released with the same build number as well, though no outside confirmation of these claims has been made so far.
Internally, the build numbers of Apple operating systems can change within a matter of hours — so this may not be the final version number for iOS 18.2.1. It’s currently thought that an iOS 18.2.1 update is likely to be released in late-December 2024, or early January 2025, and will address assorted security vulnerabilities and bugs.
The iOS 18.2.1 update would obviously follow iOS 18.2 — a major OS update that introduced support for various Apple Intelligence features along with an improvement for FindMy. This includes Image Playground and Genmoji, which use Apple’s generative AI software for image generation. Genmoji also made its way to the Mac with macOS Sequoia 15.3, following its debut on iOS.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and MacRumors
