Apple has announced it will release an update for specific iPhones today — and announcing this in advance is pretty much unprecedented.

If you're the owner of an older iPhone running iOS 18 and are concerned about a dangerous new hacking tool, Apple has a surprising solution.

Typically, after Apple introduces a new major version of its operating system, it stops pushing out the old version to compatible phones. Older phones that are incompatible with the new version continue to get security updates, but newer phones have to jump to the newer operating system to get them.

As DarkSword spreads, Apple tells WIRED it will enable iOS 18-specific fixes for millions of iPhone owners who remain on that iOS version rather than force them to update to iOS 26.

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The move highlights just how serious the DarkSword threat is and that there are enough users sticking with iOS 18 for Apple to address it.

Apple releases urgent iOS 18.7.7 update to protect older iPhones from DarkSword exploit capable of stealing sensitive personal data globally.

Apple has published a new support document that encourages customers to update to the latest iOS versions in order

Apple has released iOS 18.7.7 to protect iPhones running older iOS versions from the dangerous DarkSword exploit capable of stealing user data.