The latest version of Apple's iPhone operating system, iOS 18.4.1, has been out for just over a week, and is widely considered a necessary update. But you might want to hold off.
The newest version fixes a pair zero-day security flaws and Apple warned that it provided other important bug fixes.
However, some iPhone owners are reporting that the iOS 18.4 update is bricking their phones.
iOS 18.4 is bricking some iPhones
Over on the r/iphone subreddit, there are several posts with redditors claiming that after installing the iOS 18.4.1 update their phones are refusing to turn on.
Even the generic "Apple releases iOS 18.4.1" post has a number of comments with responders saying their phones aren't working.
"Update bricked my cell service/ hardware on 15 pro. Cannot connect to cell service. Diagnostic says hardware issue," wrote one user.
What's causing this?
It's unclear what specifically in the iOS 18.4 update is causing issues. We have seen some claims that it's causing the iPhone to lose its IMEI number — basically the phone's identity.
Losing that number means the iPhone can't boot up because it can't verify the device. Some said that Apple service centers were unable to restore their phones.
Apple has not officially acknowledged any reports of bricked phones or issues with iOS 18.4.1, but if sentiment online is to be believed a lot of iPhone owners appear upset that iOS 18 updates appears to "add bugs" rather than fix them.
So far, it mostly seems to be affecting more recent iPhone 15 Pros or iPhone 16 models, some of the best iPhones.
This isn't even the first time that a new OS has bricked Apple devices in the last year. In September of 2024, there were reports that iPadOS 18 was bricking some M4 iPad Pros.
We have reached out to Apple for information about iOS 18.4.1 and what might be causing problems. We will update if the company responds.
Should you update to iOS 18.4?
We can't tell how widespread this issue actually is or how many people are getting borked iPhones.
The debate here is possibly bricking your phone or putting it at unnecessary risk due to the zero-day flaws, which could introduce other problems. But our advice is to hold off on updating until we know more about the issues iOS 18.4 is causing.
Here's what our Managing Editor of security, Anthony Spadafora has to say:
"The update does patch two zero-days but with iPhones, zero-days are normally only used in very targeted attacks against executives, politicians, etc, so holding off is probably the right guidance for now. It takes a while for these zero-day exploits to trickle down to normal users and a full fix that won't risk breaking your iPhone should be available before that happens."
We will update this story if we hear back from Apple.
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