Update June 10: Apple’s WWDC 2024 is live now. Follow along for all the big Apple event news at our WWDC 2024 live blog!
iOS 18 is now official, although we still haven’t seen some big rumored features just yet. But since WWDC 2024 is ongoing, we may not have seen every new piece of software that will be arriving on iPhone this year just yet.
Check our WWDC 2024 live blog for the latest news, but stick here for a summary of iOS 18 information as it comes in.
iOS 18 cheat sheet: Biggest upgrades
- Home screen: App icons and widgets can now be placed freely rather than in the left-to-right and top-to-bottom, and can use specific dark mode icons and other custom tints.
- Control Center: You can now use multiple pages of controls, which are all accessible by swiping and holding from the top right corner. A Controls Gallery now lets you customize the interface freely with Apple-made and third-party options.
- Lock screen: Your two on-screen shortcuts can be changed from the default flashlight and camera combo. Same goes for the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro.
- Privacy: “Lock an app” lets you lock an app behind Face ID, Touch ID or a password, and hide information from on-device search. “Hide an app” meanwhile lets you conceal apps in a locked folder in the App Gallery. Your Contacts can now be kept from apps rather than giving blanket permission, and connecting Bluetooth devices can now use a new security-forward interface.
- Messages: Tapbacks (message reactions) can now work with any emoji or sticker, while Send Later lets you schedule messages and improved formatting lets you italicise, underline, bold or strike-through messages. Text effects have also arrived to make your messages more lively, with automated or manual options available. Apple’s also allowing iPhone 14 and later models with satellite connectivity to send messages via satellite too, be it iMessage or SMS texts.
- Mail: On-device categorization (a feature coming later in the year) helps you filter emails automatically, such as keeping newsletters or sales receipts away from personal messages. A new summary view shows you all messages from a specific contact to get a high-level view of what you need to know.
- Maps: Topographic maps with walking routes have been added (with offline access available).
- Wallet: Tap to Cash lets you send money by bringing your iPhone next to someone else’s. Apple Pay now works with loyalty points etc., and digital tickets now have a refreshed look.
- Journal: A newInsights view to show stats, search to help you find old entries
- Game mode: This is designed to minimize background activity to keep performance high and latency with controllers and wireless headphones.
- Photos: A fresh look for this crucial app keeps your grid and library on the same screen, with filter and time scale options offered to help navigate. The Collections view shows specific sets of photos with screenshots and other uninteresting images filtered out to make an attractive collage. The People and Pets section now supports specific groups, and a newly-added Trips view collates images from a specific vacation or outing. All of this can be re-ordered in-app depending on what you want to see. A carousel of favorites and featured photos takes pride of place at the top of the app to surface your best shots.
iOS 18: Expected release date
Though Apple doesn’t release a schedule for its iOS updates, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the iOS 18 launch given the company’s predictable track record of scheduling iPhone software updates.
A developer beta for iOS 18 will likely get released during WWDC 2024; a public beta should follow a few weeks after that. Past iOS beta programs have run all summer-long in the past with frequent updates for bug fixes and new features. There are reports that the first beta releases of iOS 18 could be more buggy than usual.
It should all culminate just before the start of fall when a full version of iOS 18 becomes available to download right as the iPhone 16 models arrive in stores. Usually, that occurs around mid-September.
iOS 18: Supported devices
There’s no official word on which current iPhones will be able to run iOS 18 and which will see the end of support. For iOS 17, Apple dropped support for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus — all devices that came out in the fall of 2018. That’s in line with Apple’s habit of providing five years or so of software and security support for its phones.
Should Apple stick to that five year window, that would place phones released in 2019 on the chopping block for iOS 18 support. As of this fall, the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will be hitting that five year mark, meaning they’re the most likely to be cut off from future iOS updates.
However, a post on X — the website that used to be known as Twitter — listed iPhone models likely to feature iOS 18 support, and it included those 2019 phones. Likewise with a more recent leak, which names the iPhone XS and iPhone XR as the oldest iOS 18-compatible models. If true, that would mean the same phones that can run iOS 17 will be able to upgrade to iOS 18.
As with past iOS releases, older phones may not support some features. And a new report suggests that on-device AI will require an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max — or presumably an upgrade to one of the new iPhone 16 models arriving in the fall. We’d assume that other iPhones will turn to the cloud for AI feature support.
We really won’t know which phones are definitely supported until Apple announces it. That usually happens amid the iOS preview during WWDC.
iOS 18: Home screen
After a decade and a half of fixed home screen app layouts, Apple’s finally allowing you to place icons freely on the home screen grid. This way you can keep certain parts of your home screen app-free so you can admire your wallpaper, or create fun patterns of apps that you couldn’t do before.
The icons themselves can now be customized too. A dark mode option now lets the icons blend-in when the rest of the interface goes into blackout at night, but you’re also free to add your own coloring to your icons. An auto option will pair them to the colors found in your current wallpaper, but you can set them manually too.
iOS 18: Control Center
The menu of key iPhone options accessible with a swipe from the top right of your screen just got a big overhaul. Controls can be freely added and removed from a gallery, similar to adding widgets to your home screen, and can be placed on multiple pages as you like.
Developing story…
iOS 18: AI features
Since the first iOS 18 rumors started, it’s become pretty clear that artificial intelligence will be a major focus of the update. That’s why a number of Apple sources have told reporters that iOS 18 figures to be one of the more important releases in Apple’s history.
While other companies have made big splashes with AI — Samsung and Google have been the most notable in the smartphone space — Apple has stayed on the sidelines for the most part, but that’s about to change. Specifically, Apple is said to be investing heavily to develop conversational AI, according to a report in The Information. The idea is that iPhone users would be able to automate tasks that involve multiple steps using simple voice commands. Think of it as a smarter version of Siri, the built-in digital assistant on your phone.
In fact, Siri figures to be the centerpiece of Apple’s AI efforts, according to a report released ahead of WWDC. The digital assistant will tap into large language models (LLM) as part of a major revamp that allows it to respond more naturally and care out complex tasks. Basically, Siri will give you another way to interact with apps in iOS 18, with the ability to carry out tasks and retrieve info that you’d normally have to launch the app to get.
You’d expect that will require a lot of processing power to handle those tasks on-device — something Apple prefers from a privacy standpoint. And it sounds as if the iPhone 16 models and iPhone 15 Pro models have the processing power to carry out those AI features on the device itself. While on-device AI may be key to Apple’s plans, subsequent reports suggest that more intensive features may get off-loaded to the cloud, at least for older iPhones.
An extensive AppleInsider report gave us more details about the kind of AI-powered features for iOS 18 Apple may be working on. The update could let iPhone and iPad users summarize long text messages using AI, similar to the Humane AI Pin’s “Catch me up” command, as well as generate simple text responses. To that end, it’ll be able to communicate with the Calendar app and take into account events when drafting a response. But while Apple’s on-device AI will be able to generate simple text-based responses, more advanced replies or summaries will still need server-side processing, according to AppleInsider.
A more detailed report on iOS 18 AI features arrived just before WWDC from Bloomberg. Highlights include summary features for notifications, AI-powered retouching tools for photos, suggested replies for emails and texts, and the ability to create emoji with generative AI. Siri’s also getting an update that should make conversations more natural with Apple’s virtual assistant.
Another last-minute report confirms many of the AI features reported on elsewhere, while adding more details about generative AI with images. Specifically, a Clean Up feature that sounds a lot like the Magic Eraser tool on Pixel phones will supposedly let Photos uses remove unwanted objects from Photos. A rumored Generative Playground tool would let users create and edit images with generative AI.
Apple won’t introduce its own chatbot in iOS 18, but will turn to a partner to provide some AI features. There had been talk that Google might bring Gemini AI models to the iPhone, but now it appears that OpenAI has inked a deal with Apple to use ChatGPT on the iPhone. A report in Bloomberg has specifics on how the Apple/Open AI arrangement will work, including the possibility that you’ll have to opt in to using ChatGPT.
It’s possible that AI features will carry a “preview” label in the iOS 18 beta and possibly once a full version of iOS 18 comes out in the fall. The idea is to temper expectations and to indicate that AI on the iPhone remains a work in progress.
iOS 18: App improvements
Apple has already confirmed one feature coming to the iPhone this year, and most people seem to think it will be part of iOS 18. Last November, Apple confirmed that RCS support was coming to the iPhone via a future software update sometime in 2024. We expect that to come to Messages in iOS 18.
RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is a texting protocol used by Android messaging apps. Apple has made it clear that its own iMessage platform isn’t going anywhere — it remain the way that iPhone users communicate with one another. What is changing is support for texting from your iPhone to Android users. While the green bubble/blue bubble divide that currently exists will remain, it should mean improved inter-platform communication. It’s assumed that features like typing indicators and read receipts will now be supported when texting with Android devices.
Apple’s pledge to support RCS is an about-face for the company, with Apple previously telling Android users who wanted less clumsy texting experiences with iOS devices to “buy an iPhone.” Apple’s change of heart may be inspired by the possibility of regulation in Europe, much like how EU rules drove Apple to adopt USB-C connectivity for the iPhone 15.
The iPhone Notes app may get a significant upgrade. One source claims it’ll be able to make recordings that can be embedded in individual notes (and be shared between your devices via iCloud), and offer better support for mathematical notation.
A report claims there will be tighter integration between the Calendar and Reminders apps in iOS 18. Specifically, AppleInsider says that you’ll be able to create and organize reminders from within Calendar in the software update.
Safari is in line to get several improvements, according to rumors, with most of the new features powered by AI. An Intelligent Search feature will reportedly offer summaries of web pages, while Web Eraser can apparently remove parts of a web page such as ads or images.
The iPhone has had a Calculator app from the get-go, but that’s been missing from the iPad. Reportedly, iPadOS 18 — a modified version of iOS 18 for Apple’s tablets — will change this, adding a native Calculator app for the iPad.
It appears that Apple will release updates for several core apps that will allow the on-board AI to transcribe and summarize audio clips, with these features included in the Voice memo and Notes app.
In addition to auto-generated playlists courtesy of AI, the Music app could feature a new Smart Songs Transitions feature that will improve the crossfade effect in music playback for a seamless tranisition between songs.
One app that isn’t quite an app — iCloud Keychain — will be getting a significant upgrade in the form of a proper Passwords app, according to one source. This will make looking after your passwords much more like a third-party password manager, rather than having to fiddle around in weird parts of the iPhone’s settings menus.
In related security news, a late iOS 18 rumor claims that you’ll be able to secure some apps in iOS 18 using Face ID to unlock them.
Here’s a look at some of the other rumored updates coming to built-in apps in iOS 18.
iOS 18: Accessibility features
Separate reports point to Apple adding new accessibility features while also enhancing some existing ones introduced in previous iOS versions.
The most extensive news on this subject comes from Mac Rumors, citing industry sources. The report claims Apple is focusing on some accessibility improvements in the coming versions of both iOS and macOS. Specific features include:
- Adaptive Voice Shortcuts, where you can create a spoken phrase that ties into an accessibility setting, effectively controlling that setting with your voice.
- LiveSpeech improvements, which will take the feature introduced in iOS 17 and add the ability to create categories for better organization.
- An extension of the Adjustable Text feature that adds support for changing text sizes in Books, News, Tips, Weather and Stocks.
Separately, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that iOS 18 is adding a Hearing Aid Mode to the AirPods Pro Gen 2 earbuds. This new feature would build on the Live Listen capabilities introduced in iOS 12, that transmit audio captured by the iPhone’s microphones to the earbuds.
Subsequent reports have claimed that a Vocal Shortcuts feature will let you use voice commands without summoning Siri first. Apple has already confirmed that CarPlay is getting new accessibility features tied to iOS 18, including voice control, sound recognition to help drivers with impaired hearing, and a color filters tool that assists colorblind drivers.
iOS 18: Redesign
Another likely iOS 18 change has emerged, and it stems from another Mark Gurman column at Bloomberg. The Apple watcher has claimed a redesign could be in the works for Apple’s iPhone software, though additional details aren’t really provided. All Gurman has said is that the new look for iOS 18 won’t draw on the Apple Vision Pro’s visionOS software for inspiration.
That said, an iOS 18 leak published at MacRumors reportedly shows off a redesigned camera app for the upcoming software update. And it looks a lot like what you’d get from Apple’s visionOS.
What Gurman has teased is that Apple will be improving home screen customization. We hope this means you’ll be able to put apps where you like within the grid, rather than having everything trying to auto-align upwards and leftwards. You’ll also apparently be able to change the color of app icons, letting you group apps by color, if you prefer.
Apple also plans to overhaul the iPhone Control Center, Gurman claims. As part of the new design, the Control Center is getting a “new music widget” as well as improvements to how it interfaces with the HomeKit smart home controls. The Settings app is also “getting revamped with a cleaner interface, better organization and much-improved search,” Gurman said — an update that should extend to macOS users too.
iOS 18 outlook
Even with some details still missing, iOS 18 sounds like a very significant update that will deliver plenty of new capabilities to your iPhone — even current models. We’re eager for more details to emerge about the update and the next several months leading up to WWDC 2024 on June 10, particularly how Apple intends to expand the AI-driven capabilities of its phones.
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