Apple Drops iOS 27.0.1 to Squash iPhone 18 Pro Face ID Bug

Apple has just pushed out iOS 27.0.1, a bug-fix release that addresses at least two issues with its latest iPhone 18 Pro models and a third obscure glitch that had become a way to prank iOS 27 early adopters.

The most serious issue we’ve seen so far with iOS 27 appears to be a Face ID glitch affecting new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max owners. Within 24 hours of the new iPhone models going on sale earlier this month, multiple customers began reporting freezes and reboots when Face ID failed to authenticate.

After some folks exchanged their iPhone 18 Pro models with Apple Support only to find the problem recurring, it became clear this was a software issue. It wasn’t a universal problem, but it was widespread enough that Apple issued a statement to 9to5Mac that it was working on a fix, and now it’s here.

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However, it’s not the only issue that iOS 27.0.1 addresses. It seems there was also a camera problem with some new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max devices that could create “a color artifact” when photos were taken under specific conditions.

The third issue listed in Apple’s release notes wasn’t limited to the latest iPhone models, but it was also a fairly obscure issue. The right combination of swipe gestures, timed just right, could cause an iPhone to become partially non-responsive, requiring a reboot to restore normal operation.

It was hardly a set of circumstances most people would run into accidentally, but it began making the rounds as a viral prank, with posts on social media claiming these magic gestures could be used to “unlock a hidden feature.” Again, today’s iOS 27.0.1 update resolves that issue as well.

Apple’s use of the word “including” in the release notes suggests that iOS 27.0.1 may fix a few other bugs, but one thing this update doesn’t include, for a change, is any security fixes. According to Apple’s Security Release Notes, there are no published CVE entries for iOS 27.0.1, iPadOS 27.0.1, macOS Golden Gate 27.0.1, or visionOS 27.0.1, all of which came out today.

That said, folks who aren’t quite ready to take the plunge will want to check for updates anyway, as Apple has also released iOS 26.7.1, iPadOS 26.7.1, macOS Tahoe 26.7.1, and even macOS Sequoia 15.8.1.

It’s a single security fix that’s the same across all three updates, addressing an issue with CoreGraphics where “Processing a maliciously crafted file may lead to arbitrary code execution.” The security notes also add that this issue may have already been exploited, albeit in “an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals” — a statement that suggests it’s likely a loophole that was used by industrial-grade mercenary spyware such as Pegasus.

Those aren’t things that most of us should need to worry about, but it’s still better to be safe than sorry, and the good news is that sub-point releases are usually extremely focused on fixing specific bugs and security vulnerabilities, making it fairly rare for them to introduce new problems.