iOS 18.7.7 and iPadOS 18.7.7
Last December I complained that Apple was withholding iOS 18 security updates from iPhones capable of running iOS 26, leaving users who didn’t want to upgrade to Apple’s latest OS version yet in some security peril.
[…]
The good news: As of Wednesday April 1, Apple is pushing out iOS 18.7.7 to all devices running iOS 18. This update, released last month for devices that were not capable of running iOS 26, is now available even for compatible devices.
[…]
Now the bad news: This is happening because of some really bad security breaches like DarkSword and Coruna.
My iPhone was stuck on 18.7.2 since early December and was deprived of FOUR point updates!
I considered this an unprecedented user-hostile move to coerce users to upgrade to iOS 26 when they don’t want to or can’t, and was determined to never buy another iPhone.
What a crazy #Apple50 birthday present! 🎁
[…]
Who else is still holding the iOS 18 line like me?😅
DarkSword is a full‑chain iOS exploit kit that strings together six vulnerabilities in WebKit, Safari, the dynamic loader, and the kernel to go from a browser visiting a malicious website to full device compromise. The chain has been observed in the wild since at least November 2025 in campaigns set up by commercial spyware vendors and state‑sponsored actors.
There is no need to tap a link in Messages or approve an install prompt. Just loading a compromised site or even a malicious advertisement inside Safari is enough to trigger the exploit chain if your device is still missing the relevant patches.
After I wrote “DarkSword Exploit Threatens iPhones Still Running iOS 18” (23 March 2026), Apple published the tech note page “Update iOS to protect your iPhone from web attacks,” emphasizing the importance of staying current. It also addresses what those with older versions of iOS should do, noting that Apple released updates for iOS 15 and iOS 16 (to protect against Coruna—see “Older iPhones and iPads Receive Critical Security Updates for Coruna Exploits,” 13 March 2026).
Previously:
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One wonders if iOS 18 will get into a weird versioning quagmire that MacOSX did with 10.11
It was the case for me and for others I've read, that the iOS 18.7.7 update only appears after disabling iOS 18 beta updates (public, in my case). Re-enabling beta updates after updating again hides iOS 26 notifications.
