Apple Releases iOS 26.5.1 to Fix Wired Charging Bug on iPhone Air and iPhone 17
Apple releases iOS 26.5.1 with a fix for a wired charging bug that could prevent iPhone Air and iPhone 17 users from charging a nearly drained battery. Here's what you need to know.
Apple has released iOS 26.5.1, a focused point update that addresses a single but frustrating hardware-adjacent bug: a wired charging failure that left a small number of iPhone Air and iPhone 17 users unable to revive a nearly dead iPhone.
The update arrives just three weeks after iOS 26.5 launched on May 11 and comes ahead of WWDC 2026 on June 8, where Apple is expected to preview iOS 27. This one is short on new features — it's entirely about squashing a charging bug that had been making the rounds since the 26.4.x cycle.
iOS 26.5.1 (23F81) iPhone 17 Series and Air Only.
Wired Charging Fix for iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Models
iOS 26.5.1 is a targeted release. Apple's release notes are explicit that this fix applies to "iPhone Air and iPhone 17 models" specifically, not all iPhones — so if you're on an older device, this update doesn't address anything relevant to your hardware.
The bug itself: when an iPhone Air or iPhone 17 drains completely, plugging in a USB-C cable may produce no response at all. No battery icon, no charging animation, just a black screen that won't budge no matter how many cables or outlets you try. We covered this when it first started surfacing — your iPhone isn't bricked, but Apple should probably fix it — and now the fix is here.
The issue stemmed from a software-level failure in how the charging subsystem initializes after a full battery depletion. The phone wasn't dead; it was locked out of the charging handshake process. A workaround was to attach a MagSafe or Qi2 battery pack to the back to provide just enough wireless power for the device to boot into a state where wired charging could resume.
If you have an iPhone Air or iPhone 17 and have run into this, update via Settings > General > Software Update. If your phone is currently unresponsive to a cable, try the wireless charging workaround first to revive it, then update from there.
macOS 26.5.1 (25F80)
Unexpected Shutdown Fix for M5 Macs in Enterprise Environments
On the Mac side, macOS 26.5.1 addresses an issue where M5-chip Macs could unexpectedly shut down when using certain content filtering network extensions. Per Apple's release notes, this is scoped to enterprise users running that type of network extension configuration.
Content filtering extensions are common in managed environments where IT departments route traffic through security or compliance tools. The unexpected shutdowns would have been disruptive in those contexts, making this a meaningful fix for anyone running M5 hardware in a managed deployment.
macOS 26.5 had already addressed a separate round of enterprise-specific issues in May, including Macs booting to a black screen after a software update and certain MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models restarting unexpectedly when mounting SMB shares. This continues that pattern of Apple working through the edge cases that turn up in business environments.
To update, go to System Settings > General > Software Update. If you're running an M5 Mac in a managed environment, this one is worth prioritizing.