December 25 update below, plus updated release date projections. This post was first published on December 23, 2023.
The next iPhone software release will include something all owners will welcome: an extra layer of security to protect you if your phone is stolen by a thief who has your passcode. It can’t come too soon.
The next iOS update will have a big enhancement.
David Phelan
The release will be iOS 17.3—unless there’s another surprise bug-fix release beforehand. Things can change but my latest thinking is that it’s expected to land after the holidays, likely in the middle of January, around Tuesday, January 16 or Tuesday, January 23. This could slip to the following week or things could move if the holidays slows down the beta testing, perhaps even to early February, though I think that’s less likely. It’s currently in public beta. Among the new features is something called Stolen Device Protection.
It’s bad enough that your iPhone could be stolen, but thieves who have got hold of your passcode, say by reading it over your shoulder in a bar, could do more. They could reset your passcode so only they can access it, swap their face into Face ID and then proceed to drain their bank accounts.
I’ve written about how to make your iPhone less vulnerable earlier in the year, but this new update will make things much better.
It’s a topic which has been covered in depth by Joanna Stern and Nicole Nguyen at The Wall Street Journal, including talking to a convicted iPhone thief about how he acted quickly to turn off Find My iPhone, so that the owner couldn’t find or erase the phone.
Now, in a feature that came as a surprise when it was spotted in the first developer and public betas for iOS 17.3, there’s a new level of security which will help foil thieves, even with access to your passcode.
Stolen Device Protection means that, when it’s activated, Face ID or Touch ID authentication is required for actions like viewing passkeys, erasing content and more. Unlike now, you or your thief won’t be able to fall back to passcode entry to make these changes.
As for that action which is supremely important for these thefts, changing the password of the Apple ID account, the new system cleverly adds a security delay on top. If the phone is in an unfamiliar location, authentication by biometrics (Face ID or Touch ID) is then followed by a one-hour wait, after which you must authenticate with biometrics again. The same delay is also needed to add a new Face ID or to turn off Find My iPhone.
The one-hour delay won’t apply if the phone is in a familiar place such as your home or at work.
A thief who knows your passcode could still buy stuff with Apple Pay using the passcode, or search for passwords for other apps which have no separate protection. But it’s a big step up in security.
Note that this feature is opt-in, and if you don’t choose to, you’re no better off than you are now.
For now, you could create a passcode that’s harder for someone to spot over your shoulder, such as one that combines letters and numbers, and never give your passcode out. Oh, and make sure there are no clues to passwords in any of your apps. Remember that you can lock individual items in the Notes app, and obviously make sure you have a separate password for that.
Thieves will still try to steal your iPhone, but this new addition should mean it’s tougher for them to steal your digital life as well.
December 24 update. Stolen Device Protection is the marquee new feature, not least because it came as something of a surprise. With it, you can’t take certain Apple Cash and Savings actions in Wallet, use payment methods saved in Safari, use the iPhone to set up a new device or apply for a new Apple Card—as well as the reassuring restrictions mentioned above.
It’ll be available to all iPhones from the iPhone XS onwards, providing they have been updated to iOS 17, and providing the user activates it, of course.
The new software will also include other features such as collaborative Apple Music playlists. This looked like it was going to appear on iOS 17.2, but was removed before the betas became general release software. With this feature you can invite friends to add songs to particular playlists or listen to your chosen songs. It’s not yet apparent if there’ll be a limit to how many people can share, so it could be a highly creative way to share music. It’s set up easily by going to a playlist in Apple Music and tapping on the person icon to create a link you can send to others. Contributors can then react using emoji. More features will likely be added before the release date in January.
December 25 update. It looks like the iOS 17.3 update will bring good news beyond the highly desirable Stolen Device Protection. According to YouTuber Brandon Butch, there’s something which hasn’t been mentioned in the notes for the first public beta, and that’s better battery life.
Well, increased life between charges is always welcome but the first review is pretty positive. He says, “I’ve been blown away by how good the performance and battery life is.” And this is in conjunction with the fact that there’s been no discernible drop in performance, he believes. He goes on to say he thinks there could be another beta release this week, Christmas week. He claims this could be the update for watchOS to resolve the issue which has seen Apple take Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 off the shelves. I’d be delighted if this happens, if it means Apple can start selling its smartwatches again, but it seems a bit early to me.
For iOS, he thinks the next release will be in the week commencing January 8. This tallies with what Aaron Zollo at ZolloTech is saying. This YouTuber says the expectation for the timing of the next beta releases could be as late as January 9 or 10, which has led me to believe the general release will happen later in the month or even in February—I’ll keep you apprised if this changes.
Back to Brandon Butch: his prediction for the release date is similar to mine, that is, the week commencing January 23 or even the week before. Unlike Zollo, Butch believes this will not slip into February. I think that’s right but, as ever, things can change.
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