Apple is currently in the process of developer beta testing iOS 16.5, but it is said that the iPhone maker is also internally working on iOS 16.6, which will likely be the lats significant update to iOS 16 before the release of iOS 17 in the fall.
According to MacRumors, Apple is working on iOS 16.6, citing online web analytics which reveal logs including the unreleased software version, which will be made available in the period between WWDC23 in June and there release of iOS 17 in the fall, most likely bringing iMessage Contact Key Verification which is yet to be released after being announced late last year.
With iMessage Contact Key Verification, “users who face extraordinary digital threats” — such as journalists, human rights activists, and members of government — can choose to further verify that they are messaging only with the people they intend.
Conversations between users who have enabled iMessage Contact Key Verification will receive automatic alerts if an exceptionally advanced adversary, such as a state-sponsored attacker, were ever to succeed breaching cloud servers and inserting their own device to eavesdrop on these encrypted communications.
Although iOS 16.6 will likely be Apple’s last significant update before iOS 17, it is possible that Apple will release updates including iOS 16.6.1 and other minor iterations as the release of iOS 17 nears.