Apple spent two months and issued no less than 7 betas testing iOS 10.3, but just seven days later iOS 10.3.1 is here and it is dedicated to bug fixes and security patches. So should you be skeptical or is this an essential upgrade?

Here's everything you need to know…

Who Is iOS 10.3.1 For?

iOS 10.3.1 works on all iOS 10 compatible devices: the iPhone 5 or later, iPad 4 or later and the 6th generation iPod touch or later. You can manually trigger the update to iOS 10.3.1 by going to Settings > General > Software Update, but you should be notified automatically.

iOS 10.3.1 has one of the smallest file sizes in recent iOS history coming in at well under 30MB.

So What Do You Get?

Apple iOS 10.3.1 is a "minor point upgrade" which means no new features. In fact Apple didn't even include its customary release notes with this upgrade, only going so far as to say: "iOS 10.3.1 includes bug fixes and improves the security of your iPhone or iPad.”

Apple iOS 10.3.1 has a very small download size.

iOS 10.3 was pulled shortly after release for iPhone 5 and iPhone 5C handsets, and did not reappear. But given iOS 10.3.1 works well on both devices it appears that whatever the problem was has been addressed. Don't expect iOS support to continue much longer for these 32-bit iPhones though, as iOS is moving towards a 64-bit only future.

Apple iOS 10.3.1 Install Verdict: Cautious Thumbs Up

Coming off the back of the impressive iOS 10.3 upgrade which introduced the all-new Apple File System, iOS 10.3.1 is clearly a lot less exciting. If you work in a high security environment then you should update immediately given the exploits it fixes, but everyday users can afford to take another 24/48 hours and wait for the dust to settle and any potential show-stopping bugs to appear. You’re not missing any new features or functionality.

The Road Ahead

Apple is already testing iOS 10.3.2 and beta one is a week old. As another "minor point update" it also is expected to focus on fixes not features, so there’s hope it might finally address the WiFi and battery bugs which have plagued affected users for many months.