Consumer Alert: Do you have an Apple device? Install the security patch now!

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Do you have an apple device? If the answer is yes, you’re at risk.

Apple has announced that their devices have a security flaw that can put your device at risk of hackers installing spyware on your device even if you do nothing.

If you read my daily consumer alerts, you know I often warn you about the dangers of clicking on a link from an unknown source. But with this security flaw, hackers can sneak in and steal your data even if you didn’t open the door.

So here’s what you need to do if you have an Apple device.

• First, make sure you’re connected to Wi-Fi.
• Go to settings and tap general.
• Tap software update.
• You’ll need to plug in your device or make sure it has at least 50 percent battery life.
• Tap "install now."

You may have your phone set to install updates automatically, but I found that I still had to install this security patch manually. The time it takes is largely dependent on your internet speed. Ours is pretty fast here at the station and on one of my iPhones, the update took 45 minutes and it was a half-hour on the other. But keep in mind you can use your phone during the installation.

Now to the much anticipated, celebrated, at times the exaggerated release of the new iPhone 13.

Apple unveiled that new phone Tuesday. The iPhone 13 actually looks like the iPhone 12. The biggest changes you’ll see are some camera upgrades. Your pictures at night will look better. And your video will have some cool cinematography features like to rack focus. Rack focus is shifting focus from an object to another behind the first object.

But is it worth your money?

For answers, I reached out to the experts at CNET.

“I think for folks that follow this year after year, this might not be the most mind-blowing phone,” said Robert Cheng, executive editor of CNET News.

“But I do keep in mind that for folks looking to upgrade, they’re usually doing that from a phone they’ve had two or three years, for folks like that this is probably a significant upgrade. There are a lot of bells and whistles for them. But if you follow the annual launch of these things, you’re probably not as impressed as you normally would be.”

Cheng went on to say if you have an iPhone 11 or 12, the changes in 13 may not be enough to shell out $700. That’s the price of the iPhone 13 mini. The regular one is $800. The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max are $1,000 and $1,100 respectively.

The phone will be in stores on Sept. 24, but you can pre-order your new phone on Friday, Sept. 17.