The Stolen Device Protection feature in iOS 17.3 restricts access to your personal data in the event that someone manages to get their hands on both your iPhone and your passcode. When enabled, Apple order to access passwords in iCloud Keychain, disable Lost Mode, make payments through Safari using pre-stored payment details, and more, Face ID or Touch ID identity verification is required.
Certain functions, like changing an iPhone or Apple ID passcode, disabling Find My, and disabling Face ID, also need to be verified and have a one-hour wait time to access. See our post on protecting against stolen devices for more information.
In the event that someone manages to get their hands on both your iPhone and your password, the Stolen Device Protection feature in iOS 17.3 restricts access to your personal data. When enabled, it requires Face ID or Touch ID identity verification in order to perform certain functions, such as opening iCloud Keychain passwords, disabling Lost Mode, utilising saved payment credentials to make purchases through Safari, and more.
Other services like changing your iPhone or Apple ID passcode, disabling Find My, and disabling Face ID also need verification and have an hourly access wait. You may find more information in our post on protecting against stolen devices.
Collaborative Apple Music playlists, which enable Apple Music members to share playlists and create shared song lists, are another addition to the update. Emoji reactions are supported, collaborative playlists are easy to create, and may be shared via a link.
The update also includes a new Unity Bloom wallpaper for the iPad and iPhone.
There are additional release candidate versions of iOS 16.7.5, iPadOS 16.7.5, iOS 15.8.1, and iPadOS 15.8.1 that include security updates for older hardware.
Apple has announced that the release of iOS 17.3 and iPadOS 17.3 is scheduled for next week.