iOS 16.3 Update

Should I Update my iPhone to iOS 16.3?

We celebrate the month of February as Black History Month. Apple’s new iOS 16.3 software brings a new Unity wallpaper. It honors the history of people of color, and it’s their way of participating in the celebrations. The wallpaper is in honor of Black History Month and Unity.

iOS 16.3 Update is Now Available

The iOS 16.3 update went live to all supported iPhones on 23rd January 2023. Developer betas began in late December, so nearly a month of testing is involved. This update brings new ways to secure your Apple ID and also makes some changes to emergency SOS.

ios 16.3 out

The iOS 16.2 update in December 2022 added Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, a form of end-to-end encryption. It introduced the new FreeForm app, Apple Music Sing, and lock screen widgets.

Reasons Why You Should Update to iOS 16.3

iOS 16.3 brings some new features and several bug fixes.

1. New unity wallpaper for Black History Month. You can set it after long-pressing your lock screen, adding a new page, and then choosing a new wallpaper from the “Unity” section.

New unity wallpaper

2. The update has significant security updates. You can make the security of Apple ID much better. Now, you can use physical keys as part of two-factor authentication whenever you want to sign a new device into your Apple ID.

security of Apple ID

3. Emergency SOS is a great feature, but too many unnecessary and accidental calls went off. So, Apple had to change it; you now have to hold the side button with the volume up or down button to trigger Emergency SOS.

4. iPhones now support pairing to the new 2nd generation HomePod.

5. iOS 16.3 promises several bug fixes. Glitches in the Free Form app are now fixed; there were many reports of stroke issues. The problem with blank wallpapers on the lock screen, especially on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, is now officially fixed.

When waking up the 14 Pro models from sleep, some people occasionally had horizontal lines appear. iOS 16.3 addresses this problem, along with bugs with the Home app and widget inconsistencies. Siri music request issues were patched up, too. This update also solves bugs with Siri CarPlay requests.

Unfortunately, it does not officially address serious bugs like display problems and flicker. The update didn’t mention Wi-Fi disconnection issues or AirDrop functionality problems.

iOS 16 didn’t have a smooth launch since there were way too many app crashes, UI lag and stutter, frame drops, display problems, signal reception issues, and much more. iOS 16.1 and 16.2 addressed some of those, but it’s far from a stable and reliable experience.

How to Install iOS 16.3?

All iPhones compatible with iOS 16 are also compatible with iOS 16.3. This includes all iPhones released in and after 2017. All models, from the iPhone 8 to the latest 14 Pro Max, will receive the update.

To update your phone to iOS 16.3, you must go to Settings, find the General tab, and search for software updates. If nothing shows up, try restarting your device and following the same steps again.

Once you’ve finished downloading and installing the update, the phone should prompt a restart. After you restart, you’ll see iOS 16.3 on your device.

iOS 15.7.3 is out for phones that don’t support iOS 16, and 12.5.7 is out for devices that don’t support iOS 13 and up.

iOS 16.3 Review: Should you update?

We’ve tested the version for a good few hours on the iPhone 13, and there are no ground-breaking bugs so far. The Wi-Fi disconnection bug didn’t show up, and there are no reports of app crashes or UI stutter at the moment.

Battery went down from 80% to 60% in about 2 hours. The phone lost 2% on a standby time of one hour. These are pretty stable results and nothing to complain about.

Considering that there are no major bugs and the battery drain is also stable, there’s no reason to stick to an older iOS version now. That’s unless some specific apps necessary for your workflow don’t support it.

Since iOS 16.3 fixes many annoying bugs, updating your device will improve your experience. We’ll update you via our iOS 16 bug tracker if any significant bugs are worth reporting. Also, beta tests for iOS 16.4 should begin soon. Developers may keep an eye out for that.

About Sudhanshu

Sudhanshu, a tech writer at DealNTech, is a tech enthusiast who loves to experiment with the latest gadgets and software, especially mobile devices and operating systems. He shares his findings on mobile technology in informative and engaging articles. Email: [email protected]

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