iOS 17.6.1 and macOS 14.6.1 Are Out With Advanced Data Protection Bug Fix

Apple released yesterday iOS 17.6.1, iPadOS 17.6.1, and macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, which include a single yet important security fix. With these updates, Apple said that it addressed an issue that was preventing users from enabling or disabling the Advanced Data Protection feature that was introduced last year.

Advanced Data Protection is an optional iCloud feature that enables end-to-end encryption for the majority of users’s iCloud data. By default, iCloud encrypts a total of 14 sensitive data categories including passwords stored in the iCloud Keychain and Health data. When Advanced Data Protection is enabled, Apple turns on end-to-end encryption for 9 additional data categories, including iCloud Backup, Notes, and Photos.

Enabling or disabling Advanced Data Protection for iCloud can be done by going to Apple ID > iCloud on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. The feature also requires users to set up an account recovery method as Apple doesn’t have the encryption keys to help users recover their end-to-end encrypted data.

These software updates come just a week after the release of iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6, which brought undisclosed security fixes but no new features. macOS 14.6, however, improved multiple monitor support on MacBook Pro models with M3 chips released in the fall of 2023. Apple remains hard at work on the next major updates for its software platforms, and with the fifth developer betas for iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia released last week, Apple has finally made a subset of Apple Intelligence features available in preview.