Millions of iPhone users warned to update immediately following 'extremely sophisticated attack'
Apple has issued their latest security related update, urging all eligible iPhone users to immediately download the newest iOS version in order to avoid what they're called an 'extremely sophisticated attack'.
iPhones are some of the most reliable smartphones on the market right now, as Apple's security systems help protect users from any malicious attacks or vulnerabilities that might appear.
However, hackers and bad actors seem to always find a way, and therefore Apple has to act quickly in order to patch over any stress points that appear. This is typically done with iOS updates, but it's often down to the user themselves to act and protect themselves by downloading it.
The latest of these, as reported by the Daily Mail, is in the form of iOS 18.4.1, released on April 16, 2025. This update for both iPhones and iPads is solely for security purposes, so while it might not come with any of the shiny new features that you'd expect from a new software version, it's just as - if not more - essential for you to download.
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As detailed by Apple's iOS patch notes, there are two major security flaws that malicious actors were able to exploit in the previous update version, surrounding CoreAudio and RPAC.
For CoreAudio, Apple states: "Processing an audio stream in a maliciously crafted media file may result in code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on iOS."
Additionally, a similar 'extremely sophisticated attack' cropped up within RPAC, with Apple outlining: "An attacker with arbitrary read and write capability may be able to bypass Pointer Authentication."
Both of these issues have now thankfully been addressed and fixed alongside the release of iOS 18.4.1, with CoreAudio's problem solved through 'improved bounds checking', and the RPAC fault by 'removing the vulnerable code'.
You might not necessarily think this affects you, or it all might sound rather boring or like nonsense, but it's extremely important that you download the latest update as you want to close off all potential risks that might expose the security of your device.
It's only 570MB in size too so you should have the space to download it, but if you do need to sort out your storage there are thankfully a few tricks you can use to quickly free up room to download this update.
Taking a look at the r/apple subreddit though, it appears as if people have a wealth of bugs that they're still waiting for Apple to wave its magic wand and fix.
"I hope one of the bug fixes is about the battery," writes one of the top comments. "Mine's been draining so fast on 18.4."
While there are indeed some hacks and tricks you can use to extend or even double the battery life of your iPhone, sometimes you simply can't avoid the seeming negative effects of a new update.
Another points out that the "iPhone 16 still has the pink flashing bug with stock wallpaper," showing that there's still plenty of problems for Apple to iron out in forthcoming iOS releases.