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iOS 16.5: The New Features to Land on Your iPhone

Download the update now for these features and more.

Zachary McAuliffe Staff writer
Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him reading and drinking coffee or watching a TV series with his wife and their dog.
Expertise Web hosting, operating systems, applications and software Credentials
  • Apple software beta tester, "Helps make our computers and phones work!" - Zach's grandparents
Zachary McAuliffe
3 min read
iPhone 14 Pro

You can download the latest iOS update now.

James Martin/CNET

Apple released iOS 16.5 to the general public on May 18, almost two months after the tech giant released iOS 16.4. The latest iOS update provides some important bug fixes and security patches, brings a few new features to Apple News, and serves up some new wallpapers. 

However, some people have said the update drains their iPhone's battery faster than usual. Apple previously said this isn't unusual after an iOS update, and iPhones may need 48 hours to adjust to new features within an update. So if your battery does drain fast after this update, that should go away soon.

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To download the latest iPhone update, go to Settings > General > Software Update and follow the onscreen prompts. 

Below, you'll find the new iPhone features you get with iOS 16.5. You can also check out the important security patches and bug fixes included in the update.

Pride Celebration wallpapers

New Pride wallpaper section

New Pride Celebration wallpapers under the new Pride wallpaper section.

Zach McAuliffe/CNET

Apple added two new preloaded Pride Celebration wallpapers to a new Pride wallpaper section. That section is "designed with the colors of the Pride flag to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community," its description reads.

You can access the new section by tapping Settings > Wallpaper > +Add New Wallpaper.

Apple News gets some sports upgrades

The Apple News app launched in 2015, and iOS 16.5 brings a Sports tab to the app for the first time. The tab can be found in the toolbar across the bottom of your screen when you open the app. Before, the toolbar displayed tabs for Today, News Plus, Audio, Following and Search. The update gets rid of the Search tab to make room for the Sports tab.

With iOS 16.5, the My Sports scores and schedule cards in Apple News also get an update. Now when you tap the three dots (...) in the bottom right corner of one of these cards, you'll see an option for Go to Game. Tapping this option will bring up more details about that game.

Here are the release notes for iOS 16.5.

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

• A new Pride Celebration wallpaper for the Lock Screen to honor the LGBTQ+ community and culture.

• Sports tab in Apple News gives easy access to stories, scores, standings, and more, for the teams and leagues you follow.

• My Sports score and schedule cards in Apple News take you directly to game pages where you can find additional details about specific games.

• Fixes an issue where Spotlight may become unresponsive.

• Addresses an issue where Podcasts in CarPlay may not load content.

• Fixes an issue where Screen Time settings may reset or not sync across all devices.

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

For more, check out why you should download iOS 16.5 now and how iOS 17 might turn your iPhone into a smart home-esque display. And if you want to try new iOS features before other folks, here's how to become an Apple beta tester.

Watch this: iOS 16: Powerful Features You May Have Missed