iOS 18 rumours and release date: Everything we know so far about Apple’s ‘biggest’ iPhone update ever

APPLE’S iOS 18 – the software that will arrive hand-in-hand with the iPhone 16 – is slated to be the ‘biggest update in company history’.

It will be jam-packed with features powered by artificial intelligence (AI), as well as a much smarter version of Siri, according to reports.

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iOS 18 is expected to be announced at Apple’s WWDC, which typically occurs in the first or second week of June[/caption]

In a new report today, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said Apple sees iOS 18 as “one of the biggest iOS updates — if not the biggest — in the company’s history.”

 “Apple’s head of software engineering, Craig Federighi, told employees last year that the OS — codenamed Crystal — will have ambitious changes all around,” Gurman reports.

What AI features will be in iOS 18?

One of the most anticipated updates in iOS 18 is a new-and-improved Siri.

Gurman expects Apple to inject its beloved voice assistant with what’s known as generative AI.

This is the same AI technology that’s used in the likes of ChatGPT that allows the chatbot to respond to questions like it is a human.

It means Siri – like ChatGPT – will be trained how to communicate with large language models, which include a billion or more pieces of language data.

Generative AI technology “should improve how both Siri and the Messages app can field questions and auto-complete sentences,” according to Gurman, who has a strong track history with Apple leaks.

A separate report from The Information said this feature is expected to be released in an iPhone software update coming in 2024, which would likely be iOS 18.

Apple has also reportedly explored generative AI features for other apps, including Apple Music, Pages, Keynote, and Xcode.

In Apple Music, AI can be used to create “auto-generated playlists”.

Will iOS 18 include RCS Support?

In October, Apple made the surprise bulletin that RCS Support is coming to iPhones sometime in 2024.

RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is the successor to SMS and MMS.

It will bring a number of iMessage-style features to texts between iPhone and Android users, including:

• Higher-resolution photos and videos
• Audio messages
• Typing indicators
• Read receipts
• Wi-Fi messaging between iPhones and Android devices
• Improved group chats, including the ability for iPhone users to leave a conversation that includes Android users
• Improved encryption compared to SMS
• Share location with people inside text threads

These modern features are already available for blue-bubble iMessage users in iPhone-to-iPhone conversations.

But they are not available when texting Android devices from an iPhone.

When will iOS 18 be released?

iOS 18 is expected to be announced at Apple’s WWDC, which typically occurs in the first or second week of June.

The timeline from announcement to release varies.

After its official unveiling, the sparkly new operating system be released to developers for beta testing.

A public beta will likely be released in July 2024, followed by a release to the general public in September.

When it goes live in September is another mystery.

But here’s a rundown of recent iOS release dates for inspiration:

• iOS 17: September 17, 2023
• iOS 16: September 12, 2022
• iOS 15: September 20, 2021
• iOS 14: September 16, 2020
• iOS 13: September 19, 2019 
• iOS 12: September 17, 2018