Apple will reportedly ship iOS 14.5 today

News
By Oliver Haslam
published

iPhone automatic update option
iPhone automatic update option (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple will release iOS 14.5 to the public later today, according to reports.
  • The new update will enforce Apple's new App Tracking Transparency system.

Apple will release the much-tested iOS 14.5 to the public later today. That's according to a couple of reports, not least from the New York Times.

Mentioned almost in passing as part of a larger piece about Apple's App Tracking Transparency system that will go live alongside the update, the iOS 14.5 release date comes after the company had previously offered up a vague timeframe of this week.

On Monday, Apple plans to release iOS 14.5, one of its most anticipated software updates for iPhones and iPads in years. It includes a new privacy tool, called App Tracking Transparency, which could give us more control over how our data is shared.

That App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature is one that has Facebook and other advertising companies concerned that their business models will be impacted. Apps will need to ask users' permission before they can be tracked across apps, something that companies like Facebook have been doing routinely for years. Now that users will be asked to opt-in, companies are worried that they won't.

A big motivator, of course, was that the privacy setting could hurt Facebook's own business. If we choose not to let Facebook track us, it will be harder for the company to see what we are shopping for or doing inside other apps, which will make it more difficult for brands to target us with ads.

ATT has been in the works for months and Apple continues to expand the scope of the iOS 14 update. This move is one of the biggest Apple has made in a while and it's certainly one that has companies all riled up. Which probably means it's a very good thing for us!

Apple's iOS 14.5 will be compatible with all devices that can also run iOS 14. That includes iPhone 12, currently the best iPhone for most people.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.