28 MACWORLD DECEMBER 2021
iOSCENTRAL i OS 15: UPDATE NOW OR WAIT?iOS 15: WHY YOU SHOULD
U PDATE N OW
Obviously, the biggest reason to update
right away to iOS 15 is to get all those cool
new features (fave.co/2SFPnb8). There’s a
lot of new stuff in FaceTime, including
different microphone focus modes, a new
layout, and links for others to join your
FaceTime conversation from the web on
other devices. There are new “Shared with
You” sections in apps to show content that
people send you in Messages, Focus
modes to limit distracting notifications,
Safari improvements, the ability to scan
text (fave.co/3nMj0Dd) and translate text
(fave.co/3w2UhhH) almost anywhere...the
list goes on and on.
Perhaps one of the biggest
improvements is that Safari will process
many requests entirely offline. If you don’t
need an internet connection for the
function (like getting a sports score or
weather report), Siri processes the request
entirely on the device. This makes it a lot
faster and more secure.
Depending on how you use your
iPhone, any one of these features could
completely change your smartphone life.
Combine that with all the under-the-hood
improvements to security that Apple makes
with every release, and it’s pretty hard to
argue against upgrading. There’s a heap of
improvements to your phone, they’re totally
free, and you’re not going to take them?
Of course, some iOS releases have
been riddled with bugs in their first
release. We’ve seen everything from
frequent crashes to battery drain problems
in earlier iOS releases. And some releases
actually made things worse—who can
forget the Apple Maps fiasco of iOS 6?
Fortunately, Apple has a better testing
system in place these days, and as we
approach the finish line we’re finding the
iOS 15 beta to be quite stable and
pleasant. There are never any guarantees,
but the early signs point to iOS 15 being a
relatively trouble-free release.
There is a final reason to update right
away: Apple’s somewhat controversial
new method to scan for Child Sexual
Abuse Material in images uploaded to
iCloud has been delayed until later in the
year (fave.co/3nGt808). If you want iOS 15
but were wary of the method Apple is
using to find this sort of troubling material,
you should get the update before Apple
adds it in a future update.iOS 15: WHY YOU SHOULD
WAIT A WHILE
As great as it may be to get a bunch of
free new features for your iPhone, it could
also make sense to wait a few weeks,
even a few months, before you update to
iOS 15.
If you have an older iPhone, iOS 15 is
still an improvement, but some of its