It's the current iOS major version and apps will support this version for years to come.

Those who saved blobs with https://github.com/airsquared/blobsaver can freely switch between new and old iOS versions, e.g. if they have a use case which needs https://trollstore.org/:

  TrollStore is a tool that allows non-jailbroken iOS users to install and run IPA files without App Store verification. It works on iOS 15.5-16.6.1 and iOS 17.0, and supports automatic app refreshing and resigning.