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   Apple Releases iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, and macOS 13.2 Ventura with Hardware
                              Security Key Support

   Adam Engst

   Apple's engineers have been hard at work since the holiday break, since
   it has been barely a month since the last non-trivial update to the
   company's operating systems (see '[1]Apple Releases iOS 16.2, iPadOS
   16.2, macOS 13.1 Ventura, watchOS 9.2, and tvOS 16.2,' 13 December
   2022). The company has now released [2]iOS 16.3, [3]iPadOS 16.3,
   [4]macOS 13.2 Ventura, and [5]watchOS 9.3 with one new feature, a new
   wallpaper and watch face for Black History Month, a collection of bug
   fixes, and a dose of security updates. Apple said nothing about updates
   to tvOS or HomePod Software.

   The most notable change in iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, and macOS 13.2 is
   Security Keys for Apple ID, a feature that allows you to strengthen the
   security of your account by requiring a physical security key to log
   in. I'll admit a complete lack of experience with such hardware keys,
   but the name I hear most frequently is [6]YubiKey, the umbrella name
   for a variety of hardware keys from Yubico. They're not particularly
   expensive, and some even let you authenticate with a fingerprint, just
   like Touch ID.

   Using a security key to protect an Apple ID is overkill for the vast
   majority of Apple users, but for anyone who's a high-value target, it
   could be a welcome addition. Remember, high-value targets aren't just
   politicians, high-ranking executives, journalists, and activists'they
   also include anyone with access to key systems, which could include
   lower-level IT support staff.

   Apart from the addition of Security Keys for Apple ID and support in
   iOS and iPadOS for the second-generation HomePod (see
   '[7]Second-Generation HomePod Supports Spatial Audio,
   Temperature/Humidity Monitoring, and Sound Recognition,' 18 January
   2023), these are largely maintenance releases. iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3,
   and macOS 13.2 all fix a bug in the Freeform digital whiteboard app
   that blocked some drawing strokes created with a finger or an Apple
   Pencil from appearing on shared boards. Plus, iOS and iPadOS both
   address an annoying issue that prevented Siri from responding properly
   to music requests.

   You should know about two other iPhone-specific changes. First, to
   prevent inadvertent emergency calls, Emergency SOS calls now require
   holding the side button with the up or down volume button and then
   releasing. It's not quite clear how this differs from the previous
   behavior, and I don't dare test this for fear of actually calling 911.
   Nevertheless, visit Settings > Emergency SOS, verify your settings, and
   read the help text. Second, a new Unity wallpaper honors Black history
   and culture in celebration of Black History Month.

   Beyond those changes, iOS 16.3 fixes bugs that:
     * Caused the wallpaper to appear black on the Lock Screen
     * Temporarily displayed horizontal lines while waking up an iPhone 14
       Pro Max
     * Blocked the Home Lock Screen widget from accurately displaying Home
       app status
     * Prevented Siri requests in CarPlay from being understood correctly

   watchOS 9.3 supposedly gets 'new features, improvements and bug fixes,'
   but the only thing Apple is willing to describe is a new Unity Mosaic
   watch face to honor Black history and culture in celebration of Black
   History Month.

   Sadly, it doesn't appear that Apple has changed the requirement to
   enter a passcode every time an iPhone or iPad tries to back up to a
   Mac, as we outlined in '[8]iPhones and iPads Now Require a Passcode on
   Every Backup/Sync' (11 January 2023)

   All the operating systems receive security updates as well. As far as
   Apple is saying, none of the addressed vulnerabilities have been
   exploited in the wild.
     * iOS 16.3 and iPadOS 16.3: [9]12 security vulnerabilities
     * macOS 13.2 Ventura: [10]22 security vulnerabilities
     * watchOS 9.3: [11]11 security vulnerabilities

   Given that the scope of the changes in these updates is quite small and
   none of the fixed security vulnerabilities are being exploited in the
   wild, you can take a few days or a week to update'there's no huge
   hurry.

References

   Visible links
   1. https://tidbits.com/2022/12/13/apple-releases-ios-16-2-ipados-16-2-macos-13-1-ventura-watchos-9-2-and-tvos-16-2/
   2. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213407
   3. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213408
   4. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213268
   5. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213436
   6. https://www.yubico.com/
   7. https://tidbits.com/2023/01/18/second-generation-homepod-adds-spatial-audio-temperature-humidity-monitoring-and-sound-recognition/
   8. https://tidbits.com/2023/01/11/iphones-and-ipads-now-require-a-passcode-on-every-backup-sync/
   9. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213606
  10. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213605
  11. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213599

   Hidden links:
  12. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2023/01/yubikeybiocfido-computer.jpg
  13. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2023/01/iOS-16.3-changes-scaled.jpg

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