iOS 18: Release date predictions, anticipated features, and compatible iPhones

iOS 18 is about to be unveiled in roughly two months' time during the upcoming Apple WWDC'24 developer summit. Widely believed to be one of the biggest software updates for iPhones as far as new features and functionalities are considered, the bar of expectations for iOS 18 is already set very high.

Although it's tempting to assume that iOS 18 will be a more timid software update in terms of new features, given how many novelties both iOS 16 and iOS 17 delivered, rumors claim that iOS 18 will actually ramp things up to eleven and go all-in on generative AI, which is all the rage these days. 

Tons of new AI features as well as improved customization and personalization are likely coming to iOS 18. Smarter AI-powered Siri might hopefully also make the cut. Generative AI has been the focus of Google's and Samsung's most recent software releases, so it's only natural for Apple to finally address the impending onslaught of artificial intelligence on mobile devices. 

iOS 18 will be unveiled on June 10, when Apple kicks off WWDC with an opening keynote. Aside to iOS, new versions of iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, and likely visionOS will be announced on stage. However, the biggest focus will be on iOS, as it could potentially be the biggest software update for the iPhone in more than a decade.  

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Apple's WWDC'24 has been confirmed to kick off on June 10, so that's when we will be seeing iOS 18 demonstrated on stage for the first time. 

A developer beta of iOS 18 should land shortly after, as is tradition. In fact, the very first developer beta of iOS 18 should be out shortly after Apple's WWDC'24 opening keynote concludes. This has been the case with previous iOS releases, so we have zero reasons to expect otherwise. 

An iOS 18 public beta, generally slightly more stable and bug-free, should arrive a month or so afterward.

iOS 18 will most certainly come to your iPhone in September 2024 along with the iPhone 16 lineup.

Software features rarely leak out, so don't expect too much to be known about iOS 18 before its official announcement at WWDC'24. Surely, chatter creeps around, but nothing as exhaustive as hardware and specs leaks about flagship phones. 

That said, we've heard that iOS 18 could bet heavy on artificial intelligence and machine-learning, as well as AI-driven features for its most popular apps. The consensus is that Apple is quite behind Google and other companies when it comes to AI, so it's normal to anticipate some major steps in the field with iOS 18. 

Code-named "Crystal", iOS 18 is already touted as the biggest update in iOS history by industry insiders, most importantly by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The analyst is convinced that AI improvements to Siri will constitute the brunt of the new features in iOS 18 (and just as we suspected). As Apple was caught a bit off-guard with the surprising boom of generative AI, iOS has lots to catch up, so the time is nigh.

Rumor also has it that Apple is spending lots on training its in-house LLMs (Large Language Models), reportedly dubbed Ajax internally, which could potentially be used to supercharge Siri. Additionally, source close to Apple claim that the company's own Ajax GPT language model might be performing better or at least on equal grounds with ChatGPT 3.5. This could show that Apple is making big internal strides into having a more competent AI framework at its disposal.

Of course, when most people hear "AI" and "iPhone", they surely make the association with Siri, Apple's smart assistant, which is a bit dim-witted these days and way behind the competition in most areas. Hopefully, the potential push towards AI will result in a smarter Siri as well. We don't really seem Apple supplanting Siri in favor of a new AI-powered assistant, but we do hope that Siri scores a major overhaul of its capabilities, which would make it a way more useful tool.

As per Gurman, Apple will follow Samsung and Google and process most of the AI requests on-device. Analyst and industry insider Jeff Pu, on the other hand, is also betting that iOS 18 will be the "generative AI" update that Apple needs. Pu claims that the company is currently heavily investing in AI servers and is slated to build a few hundred more in 2024 as well to act as the backbone of the AI push that's to come. 

As hinted by Windows Central, Apple is working on a large language model called Reference Resolution As Language Modeling (ReALM), which would allow Siri to understand the context of a conversation and even understand the content on screen. Researchers wrote a paper about how Apple plans to use AI to make Siri better. The smallest AI model that Apple may offer with iOS 18 has met the performance benchmarks set by OpenAI's GPT-4, which means that theoretically, Apple's AI model might outperform it by a large margin.

Rumors also have it that Apple is reportedly in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI and use it to power features on the iPhone and improve Siri. Apple is already collaborating with Google by making Google Search the default on iPhone for $20 annually, so another such licensing deal will certainly be closely examined by the Department of Justice. 

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes that iOS 18 will be a major update in terms of home screen customizability. According to the knowledgeable insider, iOS 18 could allow iPhone users to customize their home screens much more freely. 

The grid system that all app icons adhere to is likely staying, but we might get the native ability to add blank spaces, rows, and columns in-between the icons for a more aesthetic look. Currently, such changes can be achieved with the help of third-party apps, but that's inherently more cumbersome than a potential native adoption. 

With the Vision Pro released, some questionable rumors have surfaced, suggesting that Apple could revamp the visual aspect of iOS, which has generally remained vastly unchanged since the iOS 7 days. 

In particular, a flurry of hard-to-believe rumors claim that iOS icons might go circular in order to visually match the ones on the AR headset's visionOS. We doubt that Apple will go out of its way to change the icon shape so dramatically. 

Still, a visual change where needed will be more than welcome.

Apple confirmed that by March 2025 it will allow some users new default control for navigation apps. Essentially, this will let you to select your favorite mapping app as the default one natively. This feature could be limited to EU residents as Apple will have to comply with the DIgital Markets Act (DMA) that reigns supreme in the European Union. 

On top of that, iOS 18 will allow Apple Maps users to make custom routes for the first time ever. This has been one of the most-requested features that could potentially grace the default mapping app. 

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, iOS 18 will make the AirPods Pro that much more useful to people that are hard of hearing, as it will introduce a new hearing aid mode to Apple's wireless earbuds. Basically, the AirPods Pro Live Listen feature will use an iPhone's microphone to amplify sound and send it to a pair of AirPods. 

Apple could be looking to turn the AirPods Pro into an FDA-approved device, potentially helping millions of hard-of-hearing people. As noted, many won't wear a dedicated hearing aid due to the social stigma that goes along with it. On the other hand, AirPods are hip, are people are more open to the idea of wearing them in public.

When it comes to compatibility, we know what the majority of eligible iPhones are. Generally, the iPhone 11 series and newer are guaranteed to get iOS 18. 

However, the lower bracket is a bit mysterious, all things considered. Certainly, the iPhone XR, iPhone Xs, and iPhone Xs Max should be dropped from the supported devices list, but it's not historically uncommon for Apple to extend the support for some older iPhones beyond the usual five-year period. 

It's quite interesting to see how and if Apple would react to Google's recent commitment to seven years of software support for the Pixel 8 series. An equivalent policy for the iPhone would send ripples across the industry and pretty much force every other manufacturer to provide such a lengthy amount of support. 

So, to sum up, here's what devices will likely get iOS 18. It seems that despite the logical omission, the iPhone X series might actually receive iOS 18. As these are older than five years, it's usually safe to assume that Apple could be dropping support, but rumors has it we might get the new software on the aged models as well.