Cool! Apple releases iOS 17.0.3 to stop iPhones from overheating, draining batteries, and more
Good news iPhone users! If you've been forced to wear asbestos gloves because your iPhone has been as hot as the Sun, you might no longer have to don any protection when you want to touch your handset. That's because Apple has sent out iOS 17.0.3, as expected, to exterminate the bugs that led iPhone units to heat up while the battery drained. Most complaints focused on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone Pro Max although other models running iOS 17 were also warming up.
Even though Apple blamed a software bug for the problems, certain apps like social media site Instagram and ride-share service Uber, when opened, seemed to spark the hike in temperature that affected some of Apple's smartphones. Both Instagram and Uber sent out updates and the developers behind mobile game Asphalt 9 were reportedly working on a fix. But Apple did quickly respond to reports of overheating iPhones and said over the weekend that the problem was a bug in iOS 17 and promised to release an update.
The update should also improve battery life for those with an overheating iPhone. Complaints from users suggested that the battery on their overheating handsets were draining at a rate of 1 percentage point per minute. For example, 10 minutes spent browsing Instagram on an overheating iPhone would reduce the amount of battery life remaining by 10 percentage points.
iOS 17.0.3, which is being disseminated along with iPadOS 17.0.3, is available for iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2nd generation and later, iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 6th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later. Apple says on the update card, "This update provides important bug fixes, and addresses an issue that may cause iPhone to run warmer than expected."
Apple disseminates iOS 17.0.3 to stop iPhones from overheating and to fix a couple of OS flaws
In addition to bringing down the heat on affected iPhone units, iOS 17.0.3 also patches a pair of security vulnerabilities including one in the Kernel, which is the part of an operating system that has control over everything. CVE-2023-42824 (the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures numbers are used to catalog cybersecurity vulnerabilities) could allow local attackers to elevate their privileges and access data that they should not be able to get to. Apple says that it is aware of reports that this flaw was exploited on versions of iOS before iOS 16.6. The vulnerability was corrected by using improved checks.
The second vulnerability patched by the update deals with WebRTC which is an open-source project that is used by developers to allow real-time video, voice, and text communication between web browsers and mobile devices. CVE-2023-5217 could result in a buffer overflow leading to an arbitrary code execution. The latter might allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, compromise the system, and steal personal and sensitive data.
Even if your iPhone isn't warming up and becoming too hot to handle, it might behoove you to install the update for security reasons. Go to Settings > General > Software Updates and follow the directions.
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