Apple has stopped signing the last stable iOS 16 release. Photo: Rajesh
You can no longer downgrade your iPhone to iOS 16.6.1. Following the release of iOS 17.0.3, Apple has stopped signing the last stable iOS 16 release for its iPhones.
So, if you did not like iOS 17 for some reason, there’s no way you can downgrade your iPhone to iOS 16 now.
If you're done with iOS 17 betas, you can easily set your iPhone to ignore them. Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
With iOS 17 now available to all, you no longer need to be enrolled in Apple’s beta program to get your hands on it. There are good reasons why you might not want to run prerelease software on your iPhone any more.
Here’s how to pull your iPhone out. It’s easy and only takes a minute. Maybe less
Yep, you can always go back to iOS 16 from iOS 17 beta. Image: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
Installing the iOS 17 beta is a great way to try all the new features before the operating system’s public release — if you can stomach a little inevitable iPhone flakiness. Some people can, some people can’t. If you gave the iOS 17 beta a shot and now regret your decision, don’t worry: You can downgrade your iPhone to iOS 16.
Follow this guide to safely downgrade your iPhone to a stable iOS 16 release from iOS 17 beta.
Time to check for updates on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Following a beta period spanning over a month, Apple has released the stable build of iOS 16.5, iPadOS 16.5, and macOS Ventura 13.4 to the public. Your Apple Watch and Apple TV are also getting a new update.
Unlike iOS 16.4, the latest iOS release is not packing a ton of new features. There are a few improvements and enhancements, but otherwise, this is mostly a bug-fixing release.
iOS 16.5 will be out soon with a number of "nice to have" tweaks. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
The wait for iOS 16.5 is almost over. On Tuesday, Apple committed to releasing it “next week.” The same is true for watchOS 9.5.
Apple almost always introduces new versions of its operating systems simultaneously. So, those eager for macOS Ventura 13.4 and tvOS 16.5 should expect these updates soon, too. Especially as the release candidates for all these OS updates came out on Tuesday.
iPhone battery life doesn't improve under iOS 16.4.1, as had been hoped. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Testing shows that the recently released iOS 16.4.1 does not fix an iPhone battery problem introduced by its predecessor.
This wasn’t the usual small change in battery life that’s usual with updates. Many iPhone models saw significant drops with iOS 16.4. And the latest version isn’t a fix.
Apple is already looking ahead to iOS 16.5 and macOS Ventura 13.4. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple seeded the initial betas of iOS 16.5 and macOS Ventura 13.4 to the general public on Thursday. Developers were given access on Tuesday. Beta testing began almost immediately after the public release of the previous versions.
iPadOS 16.5 beta 1, watchOS 9.5 beta 1 and tvOS 16.5 beta 1 are also available to the public and to devs.
iOS 16.4 makes it easy to block embarrassing background noise from your phone calls. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Voice Isolation feature that’s been making FaceTime and Zoom video chats better for over a year is finally available for regular iPhone voice calls. With it, the people you’re on a phone call with can’t hear noises going on around you.
Here’s how to activate one of the best new features of iOS 16.4.
Find and delete copies of your photos on your iPhone. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
You could have dozens of copies of the same images in your Photos library, taking up space on your phone and in your iCloud account. Luckily, Apple offers an easy-to-use little tool that lets you find duplicate photos and delete the copies, all right from the Photos app.
Update: In iOS 16.4, released today, duplicates will now be detected between Shared iCloud Photo Libraries. If you have this set up, check for duplicates again — there’s likely to be hundreds more after updating.
These types of duplicate images can accumulate more quickly than you might expect. They arise if you make a copy of a photo to edit, if you screenshot a photo to bump it to the top of your Camera Roll, or if you and your partner both upload the same picture to your Shared iCloud Photo Library. In fact, I found hundreds of duplicates in my own carefully curated library.
It’s a surprisingly sophisticated feature that took Apple engineers a fair amount of smarts to cook up (more on that later). Here’s how to use Apple’s duplicate image remover and get rid of all those unnecessary files.