The folks at Apple may like it if you buy the latest iDevice, but they're also pretty good when it comes to continuing to provide support for older products, too. Especially when it's important that they do so.
Case in point: Apple has released an incremental update to iOS 12, designed to support older iPhones and iPads which are unable to run the latest iOS 14 operating system. This update fixes a bug with the COVID-19 exposure notification feature.
An Update for Older Devices
The update in question is called iOS 12.5.1. Devices that it covers include the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, 6th gen iPod touch, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, and iPad mini 3. Those devices vary in age from 2013 for the iPhone 5s, iPad Air, and iPad mini 2 to 2015 for the 6th gen iPod touch.
The reason for updating these devices is to make sure that they are covered by the COVID-19 exposure notification tool Apple introduced last year. It's an effort to make this tool available to the greatest number of users possible, since previously it was only available to those who have a newer Apple device capable of running iOS 13 or iOS 14.
The feature uses Bluetooth to search for nearby iPhones and Android handsets with the exposure notification system enabled. If a person tests positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, they can anonymously share their diagnosis using the feature. Users can then tell if they have been in close proximity with a person who has had a positive test.
Apple and Google built the system with privacy in mind, so there is no identifying information shared as part of the process. Users who are notified that they have been exposed to a person with coronavirus are advised on the steps they should take, such as self-isolating.
According to Apple's release notes for the iOS 12.5.1 update, it "fixes an issue where exposure notifications could incorrectly display logging profile language."
Users are advised to update to this latest version as soon as possible.
iOS Adoption Figures
According to Apple'smost recent iOS adoption figures, the overwhelming majority of active iOS users have upgraded to iOS 14.
Just 10% of overall devices are currently running a version of iOS older than iOS 13. Among iPhones and iPads introduced in the past four years, that number is even lower---being between 2% and 3% in total.
The percentage of users who have upgraded to the newest operating systems, iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 is above 75%.
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