Apple’s new iOS release version 12.1.1 comes with several fixes for serious problems (like a fix for the security hole in the lockscreen) from the previous release but it is not over yet. The new 12.1.1 iOS version comes with it’s own bugs and they seem to be quite nasty. We will talk about them in just a little bit.
First let’s take a look at what was actually addressed in iOS 12.1.1. The current version of iOS is compatible with all iOS 11 devices which means that you can install the update on the iPhone 5S or later, iPad mini 2 or later as well as on the 6th generation of the iPod touch or later releases.
Compatible devices will e automatically prompted to upgrade, as usual, but if you don’t see it you can perform a manual update by going into Settings->General->Software update.
The new features and most important bug fixes according to Apple are:
- Notification preview using haptic touch on iPhone XR
- Dual SIM with eSIM for additional carriers on iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max
- One tap to flip between the rear and front-facing camera during a FaceTime call
- Live Photo capture during one-to-one FaceTime calls
- The option to hide the sidebar in News on iPad in landscape orientation
In terms of security Apple’s official statement lists multiple fixes like the fix for the lockscreen vulnerability and they managed to address other 16 critical security holes from which 5 are in the iOS Kernel itself and 6 in Safari and its Webkit Core.
At first glance the iOS 12.1.1 seems like a solid release but here comes the fun part: several users have reported that after upgrading to iOS 12.1.1 something is killing their cellular data and the only way to use the internet is by connecting to a WiFi network.
Interestingly, the experience varies from country to country and the impact has a range from partial working mobile data but only in browser, and not at all in apps, to complete and absolute failure of mobile data connections.
Some apps like Twitter, Amazon seem to not work at all while all the Google related apps and WhatsApp! are working just fine. Clearly there is something wrong with the upgrade and we hope Apple will provide a fix soon, and by soon we hope ASAP.
So it looks like upgrading to the new iOS release is something of a gamble. Do we recommend it? Not at this time. If you want to take your chance sure go ahead, but don’t be surprised if your mobile data is not working at this time of the release. We recommend a little bit of patience until Apple addresses this issue.