iOS 10.3 has been released to the public and is available for download. All iOS 10 compatible devices will be able to receive this update over the air. This includes iPhone 5 and later, iPad 3 and later, iPad mini 2 and later, and iPod touch (6th-generation) and later. The newest version of iOS introduces a fair amount of new functionality in existing iOS apps, as well as making significant back-end changes.
The release of iOS 10.3 warrants special mention due to its inclusion of a fix for a bug introduced in iOS 10.2. This bug replaced the root certificate in an 802.1x certificate chain with a self-signed certificate during negotiation, causing the connection to fail. In practical terms, this meant that systems running iOS 10.2 would be unable to connect to AirPennNet using the standard configuration.
With this new fix, standard AirPennNet configurations will function as expected, once more. Users, who have been on iOS 10.2, and have used the “workaround” profile that was in place for AirPennNet, will not have to change anything on their device. If you are coming from an older version of iOS, the same is true. From a user-perspective, no additional action is required, and no loss of connection should happen upon updating. Please note that this bug was also present in macOS 10.12.1-10.12.3 and has been fixed in the newly-released macOS 10.12.4 – an announcement will be sent out to Mac-NET regarding those changes.
ISC Recommendation:
Information Systems & Computing (ISC) believes that most University users can update their devices to iOS 10.3. It has been tested by ISC and others across the University throughout its beta period and functions as expected with AirPennNet, University email and groupware services, and other Penn-centric apps and services.
Key Features:
- Find My AirPods – Adds the functionality to the Find My iPhone app to now track AirPods, as well
- New File System – Now uses the new Apple File System (APFS) instead of HFS+, which is better optimized for NAND flash storage, and supports stronger encryption, improving user experience (speed) and security
- App Transition Animations – Transition animations, shown as apps open and close now have more rounded edges, but more importantly, seem to move faster, speeding up the UI
- Weather in Maps – Adds the ability to use 3D Touch a new weather icon in the Maps app to view a local forecast for the area
- Apple ID Profile – a new section has been added to Settings, giving access to much more of your Apple ID settings, including:
- Your full contact profile
- Security settings
- Payment info
- iCloud account details
- App Store settings
- Family Sharing settings
- A list of all devices you are logged into currently
- …and more
- iCloud Storage – within iCloud Settings, you can now view a breakdown of how your iCloud storage is allocated
- Voice Call Continuity for Verizon – iCloud voice calling is now supported if you use Verizon, meaning you can now send and receive calls via other iCloud connected devices (Mac, iPad, etc.)
- This feature has existed previously for users on other carriers
- Podcasts Widget – The Podcasts app now has a widget
Updating Your Device:
The iOS 10.3 update should not affect any data on the device being updated, but as with any update or upgrade, we strongly recommend performing a backup with iTunes prior to updating the device. ISC also strongly recommends that any devices being updated be plugged into a power source during the duration of the update process. It is important to note that you may experience longer than usual install times for this update, due to the conversion to the APFS file system.