A new iOS 17.6.1 update is available
Apple has released iOS 17.6.1, alongside updates to iPadOS and macOS Sonoma, all believed to be a minor update concentrating on security, plus a bug fix for Advanced Data Protection.
It’s not fully clear what the entirety of the upgrades include. However, for iOS and iPadOS, there is a bug fix that addresses an issue that prevents enabling or disabling Advanced Data Protection.
Minor bug fixes are the main purposes of a “sub-point” OS update that doesn’t introduce significant new features — and this one comes as Apple is already testing the next major release. While iOS 17.6.1 has now become the current version for the iPhone, Apple is simultaneously beta testing iOS 18 and iOS 18.1.
On the same day that Apple released a second public beta of iOS 18, and the first developer one for iOS 18.1, it also shipped the most recent regular update. On July 29, Apple released iOS 17.6.
It is generally recommended to update to the latest version of iOS available. However, there have been issues before so it may be wise to either delay manually starting the download, or just wait for the iPhone to automatically do it.