The update has been described as “ambitious and interesting”, with many new features and design changes planned. In November, Apple took a one-week break from development to fix bugs in iOS 17, but now it must return to active work on the next version of the operating system.

What to expect from iOS 18?

Apple has reportedly been “derailed” by the sudden rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Microsoft Copilot. The company is currently working on a wide variety of new AI-powered features for iOS. In October, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman detailed some of Apple’s AI goals in iOS 18. The development team was tasked with filling those goals with “features that work across the company’s broad language model,” the report said.

Here’s a brief summary:

• An updated version of Siri that is smarter and can leverage a new AI system that includes broad language model technology.
• Artificial intelligence is being integrated into the Messages application, which “can ask questions and automatically complete sentences.”
• New AI features that enable Apple Music to create “auto-generated playlists.”
• Integration of generative AI into iWork apps, including Keynote and Pages.
• Generative AI features are being added to Xcode so developers can “write new apps faster.”
• There is also no doubt that the camera and gallery application will have many features.

Not all of these features need to be tied to iOS 18 or ready for release next year. But Apple’s clear goal is to equip iOS 18 with as many AI features as possible.

RCS support

In October, Apple made a surprise announcement: RCS support will appear on the iPhone in 2024.

RCS or Rich Communication Services is the successor to SMS and MMS. This technology will add a number of functions to the correspondence process between iPhone and Android users. This means that users with different operating systems and messengers can send messages to each other even without using the same services and devices.

• RCS unlocks features like reading indicators, writing indicators, and support for sending high-quality images and videos for communication between iPhone and Android devices.
• It will also allow users to share their location with others in their text feeds.
• RCS, unlike regular SMS, can work over mobile or Wi-Fi.

When will iOS 18 be released?

iOS 18 will most likely be announced at WWDC 2024, which will take place in the first or second week of June. It will then be made available to developers for beta testing. A public beta will most likely be released in July 2024, followed by a general public release in September with the launch of new iPhones. The company has released every new version of iOS since 2018 between September 12 and September 20.