Apple Releases Minor iOS 11.3.1 Update for iPhone and iPad

Apple follows up its recent iOS 11.3 update with a new release targeting iPhone 8 devices with broken touch screens. There are also the usual bug fixes included.

In a follow up to iOS 11.3 released earlier this month, Apple published a minor update for its mobile operating system. Version 11.3.1 is quite small, but the update contains some important bug fixes and performance improvements. Apple introduced an assortment of fixes in the last update, but users will find this release mostly targets newer iPhones, such as the iPhone 8 and those serviced by third party repair shops using non-genuine replacement displays.

What’s New in the iOS 11.3.1 Update and Should You Upgrade?

If you replaced your iPhone 8 display recently through a third party using non-genuine or non-OEM parts, you might have gotten a surprise when you updated to iOS 11.3; the touch screen stopped working or did not respond accurately. This was partly due to a chip included in the new iPhones that disables core functionality such as touch when modifications have been made. Of course, even authorized experts (as Apple calls them) have been affected by this issue, which resulted in this week’s release.

Version 11.3.1 is really small, totaling around 34 to 49 MBs on some Apple devices.  I got the download installed within a few minutes. Users can download the update by launching Settings > General > Software Update. The update is available for iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, iPod touch 6th generation.

Here is a list of additional bug fixes and security updates in iOS 11.3.1:

Crash Reporter

Available for: iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, and iPod touch 6th generation

Impact: An application may be able to gain elevated privileges

Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved error handling.

CVE-2018-4206: Ian Beer of Google Project Zero

LinkPresentation

Available for: iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, and iPod touch 6th generation

Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted text message may lead to UI spoofing

Description: A spoofing issue existed in the handling of URLs. This issue was addressed with improved input validation.

CVE-2018-4187: Zhiyang Zeng (@Wester) of Tencent Security Platform Department, Roman Mueller (@faker_)

WebKit

Available for: iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, and iPod touch 6th generation

Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution

Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved state management.

CVE-2018-4200: Ivan Fratric of Google Project Zero

WebKit

Available for: iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, and iPod touch 6th generation

Impact: Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution

Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved memory handling.

CVE-2018-4204: Richard Zhu (fluorescence) working with Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative, found by OSS-Fuzz

Source

Now here comes the part you have been waiting for. Is it a worthy upgrade?

Drumroll…

Yup!

So far I have applied the update to an iPhone 6s and iPad Pro and they are working quite well. It’s a very small download, and it’s important to stay on top of security updates, even if you’re not affected by the display issue.

That’s basically it for iOS 11.3.1. Unless you are iPhone 8 user who made a change to your display, there is not much else to see.

As you can see, Apple is not quite done yet with iOS 11—the company is already working on its fourth point release, expected sometime in early May.  As always, let us know in the comments how the update went on your Apple device.