iOS 18: Release date, new features, and compatible iPhones
Apple's latest major iOS release, iOS 18, was initially unveiled on June 10 at the Apple WWDC'24 developer summit with many new features, enhanced customization, and complete overhauls to core iOS apps and experiences. iOS 18 was released on September 16, 2024, to all eligible iPhones (iPhone Xs and up).
iOS 18 comes along with improved customization, revamped stock apps (Messages and Photos), a new customizable and paginated Control Center, and finally, mostly free-form app icon placement and app icon color tinting.
The most intriguing new part of iOS 18 is AI, which stands for both "artificial intelligence" and "Apple Intelligence". It's essentially Apple finally hopping on the AI train and sprinkling some However, Apple Intelligence did not launch with iOS 18; instead, as Apple was aiming for a staggered release, the first wave of features arrived with iOS 18.1 in late October 2024.
iOS 18.2 with Image Playground, Genmoji, Visual Intelligence, and ChatGPT integration inside Siri arrived as a developer beta in late October 2024. This one will likely be officcially released in December 2024.
iOS 18.3, on the other hand, will possibly arrive in early 2025 and feature a much more capable Siri, which will be able to execute multistep commands.
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Also read: iPhone 17 release date expectations, price estimates, and upgrades
iOS 18 release date
iOS 18 was introduced on June 10, 2024, at the opening keynote for WWDC'24 and is already available as both a developer and a public beta release.
The software update was released on September 16, 2024, a few days ahead of the iPhone 16 release on September 20.
iOS 18.1 with the first Apple Intelligence wave is out now. iOS 18.2 is available as developer beta and will launch sometime in December 2024.
iOS 18 personal impressions
All of our current impressions of iOS 18 are summarized in the dedicated review linked down below.
iOS 18 new features
Revamped stock apps and more customization
iOS 18 allows you to place icons anywhere on your home screen and apply a coat of paint to all of them. There's also an optional new dark mode appearance.
If you enable Dark Mode on your device, the icons will automatically get tinted with a darker background so that they adhere to the device's overall theme. You can also force either light or dark mode on them if you prefer one over the other.
You can tint app icons with any color you want with a new Customize Sheet, but it didn't look great when it was shown off on stage. iOS 18 also features a redesigned Control Center that takes a page out of Vision OS as far as overall appearance is concerned.
iOS 18 puts the cherry on top of customization, Messages are fresher than ever and will support RCS, while Photos has been redesigned from the ground up
You can tint app icons with any color you want with a new Customize Sheet, but it didn't look great when it was shown off on stage. iOS 18 also features a redesigned Control Center that takes a page out of Vision OS as far as overall appearance is concerned.
The Control Center is now multi-paged. You can create different pages with different toggles, but if you wish, you can default to a single page, which can now be filled with customizable toggles (size and position).
Let's summarize the gist of it. Don't worry, you will still access Control Center as you normally would––a swipe down from the top-right corner. Unlike the old Control Center, the new iOS 18 one allows you to select what toggles to display inside, as well as alter their position and sizing.
Not only that, but you can go beyond a single Control Center page! That's right, if you want all of your media playback controls to be on a separate page, you can create one. More power to you!
Each toggle can be customized in terms of size and position, similarly to widgets, but the toggles are a bit difficult to move around as they follow the now-old iOS icon placement policy of "no free spaces". Moving one toggle around can severely mess up with your toggle placement.
Meanwhile, the Settings app has been cleaned up. The long list of apps at the bottom has been minimized and tucked away, while many other essential menus inside Settings have scored minor fixes and updates that provide additional useful tidbits of relevant information.
Apple Intelligence rollout
While Apple Intelligence will eventually arrive on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 series, it's currently rolling out in stages. Prominent insider Mark Gurman says we should expect the following iOS 18.1/Apple Intelligence features at the following time windows:
- iOS 18.1 (Currently out): This initial update will bring the first round of Apple Intelligence features, focusing on email and message management, writing tools, photo editing, and call recording/transcription.
- iOS 18.2 (Early December): Users can expect marquee features like lock-screen notification prioritizing, Image Playground, Genmoji, and the initial integration of ChatGPT with Siri. This update will also expand Apple Intelligence's localized English support to several new countries.
- iOS 18.3 (Late December): Primarily a bug-fix update for iOS 18.2, this release may also include some new Siri features, such as Personal Context and deeper app integration.
Apple Intelligence features
iOS 18.1
Here's what Apple Intelligence features arrived with iOS 18.1 for the iPhone 16 series and iPhone 15 Pro/iPhone 15 Pro Max:
- Writing Tools––Enabling you to proofread and rewrite text natively in almost any app. You can review the suggested edits one by one or apply them all at the same time. Also lets you summarize given text in a table or bullet points, make a list, and so on. Probably one of the most useful new features that will go live with iOS 18.1
- Siri––While the more capable Siri is coming in early 2025, the current iteration is scoring a new look, giving a glowing overlay when Siri is activated (this works on iOS, macOS, and in CarPlay). Still, the iOS 18.1 iteration of Siri lets you type commands instead of having to always talk to it. The assistant will reportedly also score better context-awareness and will be able to follow along if you start changing your query mid-sentence.
- Mail––The default email app will let you summarize emails and issue quick-tap responses thanks to a feature dubbed Smart Reply. If Apple Intelligence deems a certain email as high-priority, you will be notified of it with priority.
- Messages––The Smart Reply feature arrives in Messages as well, allowing you to quickly send adequate responses.
- Photos––Aside from a big redesign, the stock photo app also gets some AI features, namely Memory Movies. This functionality lets you type in a prompt and have Apple Intelligence sift through your photo library, creating an appropriate movie. The Photos app also scores a Clean Up tool that lets you remove unwanted objects from your images.
- Focus Modes––A new Reduce Interruptions focus mode will rely on Apple Intelligence to only notify you of important notifications.
- Notifications––You will be presented with an AI summary of your notifications on the lock screen. This feature works with most apps out there, but you will most often see it with messaging apps, email, and other apps that can deliver multiple notifications in a relatively tiny amount of time.
- Phone––iOS 18.1 will let you record phone calls and automatically transcribe them straight to the Notes app.
- Safari––The stock browser gets a summarize feature as well as the ability to remove distractions like ads and banners.
IOS 18.2
iOS 18.2 is currently available in the developer beta channel and comes with the second wave of Apple Intelligence features. It is expected to get released to the public this December. The new features include:
- Image Playground––Lets you create custom images based on text description. Just describe what you want, choose a style, and flick through the results that Apple Intelligence has generated for you.
- Genmoji––This one will let you create unique emoji based on a text prompt.
- ChatGPT integration in Siri––Apple's smart assistant can now tap into ChatGPT's powers when you ask it to, giving you the full array of AI capabilities of the most popular AI chatbot out there (you can also log with your own account information)
- Additional Writing Tools options––"Compose" and "Describe your change" have been added to the Writing Tools suite.
- Visual Intelligence for iPhone 16 users––By pressing the new Camera Control button, iPhone 16 users can now snap a picture and search the web for information about what's captured.
Think of this as Apple's take on Google's visual search.
- Image Wand––This new feature lets you turn your rudimentary sketches into complete graphics
- Redesigned Mail app––The stock Mail app now has categories, intelligently sorting your mail and keeping it well organized
Other iOS 18 features
- RCS messaging:iOS 18 now finally supports RCS for a better messaging experience between iOS and Android devices. Here's what this means.
- Lock and hide apps: iOS 18 now allows you to lock apps with Face ID so that nobody else can snoop into your private data. You can also hide apps, which will now appear in a new "hidden" folder at the bottom of your App Library, unlockable only by Face ID.
- You will be able to continue playing music while using the camera app, finally! This way, you will be able to create superb stories for your social media stories.
- iPhone Mirroring to macOS: One of the cool new features of both iOS 18 and macOS is iPhone Mirroring, which lets you control your phone from your computer. The feature isn't currently available in the EU. We took it out for a spin, exploring all its capabilities and limitations. Check iPhone Mirroring in action here. iPhone Mirroring now also supports drag and drop between iPhone and Mac.
- Safari: The stock iOS browser gets a new Highlights feature, which lets you collate relevant information on the sites you visit. With the help of machine intelligence, Safari can quickly show you only a summary of the key aspects of a webpage, like the rating of a venue, the essential contact details, its location, and more. An improved Reader mode is also here.
- New Passwords app: Keychain gets promoted to Passwords, a hub containing all your passwords, passkeys, verification codes, and passwords you've shared with your iCloud family.
- Messages: Other iOS essentials like Messages and Mail are also getting some love. Messages, in particular, scores revamped tapbacks (the reactions you can apply to incoming messages) with colorful icons. You can also react with any emoji. Messages also gets the ability to schedule texts. There are cool new effects that will allow you to express your messages in a better way. Apple has additionally incorporated additional formatting options to Messages, such as of strike-through and underlined text.
- Mail: The stock email client scores a visual redesign and a new Categorization feature, which automatically sorts incoming email in different categories depending on the content. Aside from the Primary tab, by default you'll also have access to dedicated tabs for promotions, transactions, and updates.
- Game Mode: With iOS 18, the iPhone scores the Mac's dedicated Game mode, which aims to minimize distractions and prioritizes the running game. Once you open a game, you will no longer be bothered by app notifications. Of course, this feature can be disabled.
Extra accessibility settings
As part of World Accessibility Day 2024, Apple preemptively announced several accessibility features that will be coming to iOS 18 later this year. Here are the new features that will make it into iOS 18 as officially revealed by Cupertino:
- Vocal Shortcuts: Users will be able to designate unique custom phrases to Siri, which will be used to trigger existing shortcuts. For example, you can set up Siri to turn on low-power mode by saying, "I'm running out of juice."
- Atypical speech recognition: This one will allow users with cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or stroke to be better understood by their iPhone and more easily control the device with their voice.
- Eye tracking: Another feature that aims to help people with speech issues, Eye Tracking will essentially enable you to navigate your device with your eyes only. Using the front-facing camera, Eye Tracking is set up and calibrated in seconds and all the machine learning required for this tool is kept on-device and is not shared with Apple. No additional hardware or accessories are needed, and the feature works across iOS and iPadOS apps. Users will be able to employ their eyes to press physical buttons, swipe the screen, and make other gestures.
- Music Haptics: Apple Music and other music-streaming apps will eventually play taps, textures, and refined vibrations in sync with the music you listen to, which should benefit people who are hard of hearing.
- Vehicle Motion Cues: Reading on your phone while inside a moving vehicle is one of the fastest ways to score a headache. No more, says Apple, and announces a brand new Vehicle Motion Cues feature, which displays dots across your screen that move to the opposite side in relation to the vehicle movement. For example, if the vehicle swerves left, the dots move to the right and vice versa; if the vehicle accelerates, the dots will move backwards, if the brakes are applied, the dots will move upward. This will offset the detrimental effects of motion sickness.
All of these accessibility settings are available on the iPhone
iOS 18 compatible devices
Here's a list of all iPhone that will get iOS 18. Note that despite our expectations, the iPhone Xs family did not get dropped from the list, which is great news for all those rocking these older devices.
iPhone generation | Market release date | iOS 18 support |
---|---|---|
iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 | September 2024 | Yes |
iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 | September 22, 2023 (8 months ago) | Yes |
iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 | September 16, 2022 (1 year and 8 months ago) | Yes |
iPhone SE 3rd Gen | March 18, 2022 (2 years and 3 months ago) | Yes |
iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini | September 24, 2021 (2 years and 8 months ago) | Yes |
iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini | October 23, 2020 (3 years and 8 months ago) | Yes |
iPhone SE 2nd Gen | April 24, 2020 (4 years and 2 months ago) | Yes |
iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 | September 20, 2019 (4 years and 8 months ago) | Yes |
iPhone Xs Max, Xs, iPhone XR | September 21, 2018 (5 years and 8 months ago) | Yes |
iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone X | September 22-November 3, 2017 (6 years and 8/7 months ago) | No |
Conclusion
So far, iOS is shaping up to be a great update that will inevitably act as a landmark moment for iOS: in a few years' time, we will be talking about the "before" and "after" of the Apple Intelligence update. It's not only major because of the traditional changes that it brings to core experiences, but also due to the scope of potential improvements that Apple Intelligence will enable for future updates.
That's all about the future, though. As of now, only a few interesting features that were showcased on stage during WWDC'24 are still not yet available in the iOS 18 beta.
One universal complaint for iOS 18 and some of the more exciting Apple Intelligence feature in particular, is the fact that the latter has extremely high-performance requirements, which greatly limits the number of people that will be able to benefit from it this fall.
Of course, there are perfectly good reasons for that are logical: as most of the processing is done on the device, a powerful device like the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max is required.
What's more, Apple Intelligence and the new Siri are not a one-off exercise: Apple will most certainly build upon the foundation laid by iOS 18 with future iOS updates, and as people inevitably upgrade to newer and faster iPhones, they will eventually get access to all the potential features and functionalities of Apple Intelligence.