iOS 18: Release Date, Supported iPhones & Must-Know Features

The next update for the iPhone will be called iOS 18 and will be released in 2024. The new version of the software is described as one of the heaviest upgrades ever seen on an iPhone. It will include a number of significant AI capabilities, design changes, and new options for customization. This article gives an overview of what we already know so far about the upcoming features in iOS 18.

What to expect in iOS 18

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In November, Bloomberg claimed that Apple had taken a week-long pause from developing new features for its iOS 18 to fix bugs. This happened after they had finished creating their “first milestone” build of iOS 18. Ordinarily, once this occurs, Apple would then start working on the second milestone right away but this year, it took a week off to resolve early bugs and issues.

But this delay is highly unlikely to affect any notable aspects with regards to iOS 18’s release date or new features. Instead, it was simply an early break by Apple which helped enforce a more stable base for building up iOS 18 as much as possible on it.

When is iOS 18 coming out?

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WWDC 2024 in June (most probably first or second week) will likely be the announcement date of iOS 18. It will then be made available for beta testing to developers. Following that, a public beta could be expected in July, with a full release for the general public coming up in September.

Below are several recent release dates for iOS:

1. iOS 17: September 17th, 2023
2. iOS 16: September 12th, 2022
3. iOS 15: September 20th, 2021
4. iOS14: September16th, 2020
5. iOS13:September 19th, 2019 
6. iOS12:September 17th, 2018

iOS 18: What devices will it work with?

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Every year, a big question is which devices can operate the new iOS version. There is hope this year that iPhone owners are in for pleasant surprises from Apple. All the same devices which supported iOS 17 will maintain their compatibility with iOS 18, according to a nameless Twitter post.

1. iPhone XV
2. iPhone XV Plus
3. iPhone XV Pro
4. iPhone XV Pro Max
5. iPhone XIV
6. iPhone XIV Plus
7. iPhone XIV Pro
8. iPhone XIV Pro Max
9. iPhone XIII
10. iPhone XIII Mini
11. iPhone XIII Pro
12. iPhone XIII Pro Max A1200 (K90/P1)
13. Apple iPhone XII A2403 (M82/J1)
14. Apple iPhone XII mini A2409 (M96/CEV)
15. Apple iPhone XII pro A2410 (N74PAP/A)
16. Apple iPhone XII pro max A2411 (N79PAP/A)
17. Apple iPhone XI A2111 (IPHONE12,1) or A2223 (IPHONE12,5)
18. Apple iPhone XI pro A2215 or A2160 or A2217 (IPHONE12,3)

New features in iOS 18

Groundbreaking AI

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ChatGPT, Google Bard and Microsoft Copilot rise in 2021 took Apple by surprise. Therefore, the company is planning new AI features for iOS.

In fact, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook made promises of new AI features from Apple this year. When asked about Apple’s investment in artificial intelligence during the company’s recent earnings call, Cook said that “we have a major focus on artificial intelligence” and that the company was “really looking forward to telling everybody more about our work here later this year.”

In October, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman gave an in-depth rundown of some of Apple's objectives for AI in iOS 18. The report stated that "there is a mandate" within Apple and Craig Federighi's software group to pack iOS 18 "with functionality powered by the firm's extensive language model."

So here is what we did:

1. A smarter version of Siri that has more brains and can work with a new AI system that makes use of the GPT-3 language model
2. AI integration in the Messages app that can “field questions and auto-complete sentences”
3. New AI features for Apple Music to create “auto-generated playlists”
4. iWork apps, like Keynote and Pages, with generative AI features
5. Generative AI capabilities added to Xcode to allow developers “writing new applications more quickly”

Not all of these may be iOS 18 bound or ready for shipping as part of it. Nonetheless, Apple's seeming target is to make iOS 18 an amalgamation of as many AI functions as possible.

In addition, Bloomberg and The New York Times have stated that Apple is discussing with Google about the possibility of licensing its Gemini generative Ai set. According to Bloomberg, Apple wants to form a partnership for cloud-based generative AI models. But other functions will be based on Apple’s own on-device models.

RCS support

In October, Apple made an unexpected announcement: iPhones will support RCS in 2024. The latter is a follow-up communication service to SMS and MMS. It will bring several features similar to iMessage to text messages of iPhone and Android users.

Among other things, RCS will enable read receipts, typing indicators, and high-resolution images and videos for conversations between iPhones and Androids. Also, it offers the ability for users to share their positions with others within text threads. In contrast, standard SMS cannot be done on either mobile data or Wi-Fi.

According to Apple’s specific wording, “later next year” will see RCS available on the iPhone after a software update. Therefore, it may suggest that the feature could be integrated into iOS 18.

New customization options

https://www.macrumors.com

Apple is believed to be introducing more Home Screen changes for iOS 18 following the inclusion of Home Screen widgets along with iOS 14 during the year 2020. It was said twice that in iOS 18, there would be new customization for the iPhone’s Home Screen.

More specifically, it has been rumored that Apple will allow users to put app icons anywhere on their home screen for once. This implies that iPhone users can now move from a restricted Home Screen grid and thereby create widget gaps between them and app icons.

Smart and Subtle Siri

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Siri, iPhone’s on-device assistant will receive AI upgrade supported by Apple’s Large Language Model (LLM).

With this change, Siri will become Smarter and even more nuanced. This new system makes it capable of understanding very complicated questions you may have and undertake them cunningly!

Moreover, iOS 18 with these extra Artificial Intelligence traits is expected to be launched sometime in September. The initial developer beta is scheduled to arrive during the annual Apple WWDC conference held every June.

Apple Music: A Personalized Experience

https://www.apple.com

Personalize your music experience with Apple’s AI-backed music streaming platform that customizes playlists to match your mood and preferences.

iWork Apps for Content Creation

https://www.apple.com/newsroom

The iWork suite – Pages, Numbers, and Keynote – will change how we create documents and presentations by introducing generative AI. The software will also propose individual proposal designs on particular topics. As a result, this streamlines creativity and increases efficiency.

An Efficient Messaging App

https://www.infobip.com

Moreover, the Messages app will undergo a major AI transformation. This means that it could now serve users as a more talkative and effective tool by performing tasks like “answer queries” or “complete phrases”.

What else?

Bloomberg has described iOS 18 as being Apple’s most “ambitious and compelling” update in years. The update is reportedly considered “groundbreaking” inside Apple and full of “major new features and designs, in addition to security and performance improvements.”

As of now, it is not clear what else iOS 18 might entail. This is a significant discovery since adding in some main AI features will perfectly meet the descriptions of “ambitious and compelling” for iOS 18.

According to reports, Apple has referred to iOS 18 internally as possibly the largest ever iOS upgrade. There is said to be much more coming along with this than merely the already mentioned new AI features.

It must be noted that Apple will change their mind over what to include in September because they are still developing IOS 18 by June. Depending on the progress achieved during development, over the next three months, they will finalize plans for IOS 18. Some announcements may be made at WWDC 2024 but not technically launched until sometime after that via updates such as IOS 18.1 or IOS 18.2.

What are you hoping to see in iOS 18? 

Will Apple make up some ground on other companies through new AI functionality? 

Let us know below!