In late 2022, Apple publicly launched iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, and watchOS 9, providing users globally with a new iPhone lock screen, Stage Manager, and more. Since then, the company has further developed these operating systems by working on smaller, subsequent updates. These releases aim to fix leftover bugs and security flaws, while also introducing some of the new features that didn’t ship with the main X.0 versions.
iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, macOS Ventura 13.2, and watchOS 9.3 are now available to everyone around the world. Apple had been beta testing these versions for several weeks, and they have now reached the stability that users typically expect. While they don’t offer a ton of new visual changes and features, there’s still a lot to unpack here!
iOS 16.3
In terms of new features, iOS 16.3 is arguably the most packed compared to the other Apple OS updates we received today. For starters, potentially the most obvious change, we have a new Unity background that users can view or set by going to the wallpaper settings. While not exactly a huge addition, having more default background options to choose from is always a welcome change.
Another notable iOS 16.3 offering is FIDO security key support for Apple ID. This optional setting allows users to add another layer of security by requiring a physical key every time they sign into their Apple accounts on a new device. And speaking of security and privacy, iOS 16.3 also enables Advanced Data Protection for users worldwide. The optional feature, which was initially limited to the US, end-to-end encrypts even more iCloud data types, such as photos, notes and device backups.
Apart from the aforementioned changes, nothing much is new. Of course, as always, there are bug fixes too, including ones for the iPhone 14 Pro Max display issue and the Freeform app not syncing some elements properly on shared cards. You can read the full iOS 16.3 changelog below.
iPadOS 16.3
Unlike iOS, iPadOS 16.3 doesn’t come with that many changes. For those curious, the new Unity wallpaper is exclusive to the iPhone. So even if you update to the latest iPadOS version, you won’t be able to see or set it as wallpaper on your iPad. However, you do get support for FIDO Security Key for Apple ID, Advanced Data Protection if the feature isn’t already available to you, support for the new HomePod 2, and some bug fixes. You can view the official iPadOS 16.3 changelog below.
macOS Ventura 13.2
Moving on to macOS Ventura 13.2. Similar to iPadOS, you don’t get many new changes compared to iOS. Instead, you get the same FIDO security key and support for Advanced Data Protection. That’s, expectedly, in addition to Mac-exclusive bug fixes. The full macOS Ventura 13.2 changelog is available below.
watchOS 9.3
Finally, apart from bug fixes, the only obvious change in watchOS 9.3 is a new Unity Mosaic watch face. The new face is very minimalist and matches the aforementioned wallpaper included in iOS 16.3. However, it does not support any Apple Watch complications.
Now that this round of Apple OS updates has been rolled out publicly, we can expect the next developer patch to land as soon as this week. While it’s too early to tell, we hope iOS 16.4 introduces support for Unicode 15.0 emoji and the Apple Music Classical app. With the 2022 operating system starting to mature, we may not see many new and exciting additions until iOS 17 and macOS 14 make their developer debuts in June.
What is your favorite feature in iOS 16? Let us know in the comments section below.
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