At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 keynote, the company revealed the next major iteration of iOS for your iPhone. The company’s iOS 18 update is one of the most significant in years, and it has cool new features like more home screen and control center customizations, RCS support in Messages, scheduled messages, and a slew of features powered by the all-new Apple Intelligence.
At the “it’s Glowtime” event, Apple announced the iPhone 16 series and finally told us when others can download iOS 18 on their supported phones.
Here are all the details about when you can get iOS 18.
When will iOS 18 be released?
Apple officially released iOS 18 to the general public on Monday, September 16. Like every iOS release, it supports most iPhones, but not all. This time, the minimum requirement is that your iPhone must have an A12 Bionic chip or later installed. Unfortunately, you’re out of luck if you have an iPhone with an A11 Bionic chip and older.
The Apple iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max ship with iOS 18 installed, so aren’t included on the list below.
To be able to get the update, you’ll need one of the following models:
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
That’s a comprehensive list, similar to last year’s list of devices supporting iOS 17. However, there are two points to note.
First, not all iOS 18 features will work on every phone mentioned in the list. For example, Apple Intelligence, which is set to be introduced in iOS 18.1 and later versions, will only be compatible with the iPhone 15 Pro models and the iPhone 16 series and no others.
You may want to consider upgrading if you have an older phone and want to use Apple Intelligence. Apple and carriers offer significant trade-in discounts, making it an ideal time to upgrade.
What does iOS 18 offer?
Significant updates are included in iOS 18 beyond the introduction of Apple Intelligence. Some key features include enhanced customization tools that allow for a higher level of personalization. These tools offer new ways to customize your Home Screen, Control Center, and other user interface parts.
The update also brings improved communication and sharing features, especially in messaging, FaceTime, and AirDrop. Users can add dynamic, animated effects such as “Explode” and “Ripple” to individual letters, words, phrases, or emojis to liven up conversations in the iMessage app.
The update introduces iMessage scheduling, allowing users to schedule messages for a specific date and time. RCS support also comes to Messages in iOS 18. RCS, which stands for Rich Communication Services standard, means iPhone users can now experience enhanced messaging features when communicating with Android users. Additionally, users can apply bold, italics, underline, and strikethrough formatting to specific text within messages for better clarity and emphasis. The expanded Tapback reactions allow for responding with any emoji or sticker, providing numerous ways to express yourself. Multiple Tapbacks on a single message bubble are now displayed more clearly, showcasing the most recent additions.
A new feature for iPhone 14 and later models uses satellite connectivity to send and receive text messages, emojis, and Tapbacks, even without cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. This feature ensures that users stay connected with loved ones when in remote areas or in the case of emergencies.
The Photos app in iOS 18 has been updated with new features. Improved search now includes better object recognition for finding things in photos and videos. You also have more control over search filters, such as date, location, and people, and you can even search for text within images. The app also has better sharing options, allowing you to create shared albums with more control over permissions. Collaboration on editing and annotating photos and videos within shared albums is also improved. Additionally, the app has better integration with social media and messaging apps. The Photos app is now more closely connected to iCloud and the Maps app and works better with Siri.
The Mail app in iOS 18 gets new organization features, such as categorization tools and email summaries for quickly viewing messages. And iOS 18 also brings a variety of enhancements to its core apps, making them more intuitive and powerful. For example, Safari now includes enhanced privacy, redesigned tab groups, and an improved Reading List.
The Maps app gets immersive 3D views, enhanced transit directions, and real-time weather overlays. The Wallet now includes expanded Pass support, enhanced security, and Tap to Pay. The Notes app includes enhanced collaboration, visual note-taking support, and smart folders, while the Journal app now includes personalized prompts to help you write and mood tracking.
What about Apple Intelligence?
That might seem like an exhaustive list, but it doesn’t include anything about Apple Intelligence. Usually, this is when we tell you about the new features in a post like this. We will do that, but with the understanding that none of these features are arriving with iOS 18 because they aren’t ready yet. Instead, Apple plans to release these features in various software updates, including iOS 18.1, iOS 18.2, and subsequent ones. Some of these features might not be released for up to six months from now.
With that being said, here’s what to expect from Apple Intelligence eventually:
Apple Intelligence is advertised as a proactive and contextually aware companion that learns your habits, understands your needs, and anticipates your next move. By leveraging your data — emails, calendar events, messages, and app usage — it surfaces the correct information at the right time, automates tasks, and empowers you to be more productive and creative.
The most significant initial features of Apple Intelligence will focus on improving Siri by adding more profound language skills and app awareness and giving you more writing tools. With the latter, you’ll get tools to help you proofread, rewrite, and summarize text. Apple Intelligence also focuses on the ability to generate original images and custom “Genmojis”. It helps create memory movies in the Photos app that rely simply on providing descriptions like “images of beach trips with Sam.”
Apple promises that all your data will be secure through private cloud computing. This will be achieved through on-device processing, Private Cloud computing for complex information requests, and end-to-end encryption. These advanced security measures mean that only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 series will support Apple Intelligence.