We recently reported that Apple has been internally testing iOS 18.2.1, which is expected to have a build number of 22C161. The software update's presence in our analytics logs continues to ramp up, so it should be coming soon.
iOS 18.2.1 should be a minor update that fixes bugs and/or addresses security vulnerabilities, but it is unclear which specific issues might be resolved.
iOS 18.2.1 will come ahead of iOS 18.3, which is currently in beta testing. Only minor changes have been discovered in iOS 18.3 so far, which is typical for Apple software updates that are in beta testing during the holiday season. iOS 18.4 should be a bigger update, with several new Apple Intelligence features for Siri expected.