Three days from now, Apple will kick off its It is Glowtime occasion (you may watch it right here) the place it’s going to announce the brand new iPhone 16 lineup. These telephones may have iOS 18 already put in, so you will not must improve at buy — this is when the iPhone 16 fashions are anticipated to hit shops. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re not getting one of many new iPhones, you might discover that your older cellphone’s working system is not supported by Apple.
Typically every year, some older iPhone fashions are faraway from Apple’s iOS eligibility checklist. Final yr, as an example, the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X had been left off the compatibility checklist. That meant these iPhone homeowners could not replace to iOS 17 and missed out on some notable options.
We’ll provide help to discover out in case your iPhone will assist iOS 18 — which is predicted to develop into accessible in roughly two weeks — in addition to Apple Intelligence. Undecided what’s coming with the brand new replace? Here is a abstract of the largest bulletins from WWDC, together with an outline of iOS 18.
iPhones appropriate with iOS 18
We’ve excellent news: When you had an eligible cellphone final yr if you up to date to iOS 17, that system ought to nonetheless be appropriate with iOS 18, in accordance with Apple. Meaning you will not have to purchase a brand new cellphone to take a look at a lot of the new software program options.
Put one other approach, when you have an iPhone from the 2017 mannequin yr or earlier (iPhone 8 or iPhone X), you may’t improve to the most recent iOS, however your cellphone ought to proceed to work — albeit with out the most recent bells and whistles.
Is your iPhone appropriate with Apple Intelligence?
Whereas your older system will nonetheless be capable to assist the most recent iOS, likelihood is that you just will not get to strive the Apple Intelligence beta but. Until you have got an iPhone 15 Professional or iPhone 15 Professional Max — the top-end 2023 fashions — your iPhone is not eligible. It is a secure wager that the brand new iPhone 16 fashions can be totally Apple Intelligence appropriate, however we’ll must await the official particulars on the September 9 occasion.
iOS 18 new options to anticipate
Whereas Apple Intelligence is by far the largest replace coming with iOS 18, its options are going to be launched extra piecemeal over the following few months. And the extra superior options will not be accessible on older iPhone fashions apart from the iPhone 15 Professional sequence. However the remainder of the iOS 18 options will hit the handsets listed above. Listed here are simply among the highlights you may anticipate if you obtain Apple’s new software program later this month.
Passwords app: Securely retailer all of your credentials in a single place, together with passwords and safety alerts that you may entry instantly within the app. (Whereas this performance at the moment exists in Settings, shifting it to a brand new app ought to make it simpler to find and entry.)
Improved Messages app: A brand new iMessages expertise is bringing the choice to daring, italicize, underline and strikethrough your textual content. You may additionally be capable to add animations to your textual content messages. The replace can be bringing RCS to iPhones to raised assist Android compatibility.
An organized pictures library: The Pictures app is getting a redesign, which lets you create and pin your personal collections within the app — assume “wedding photos” or “trip to Aruba.” It removes the present tabbed backside and leans right into a grid structure. The up to date carousel view that was touted at WWDC was eliminated through the beta course of.
Customized residence display structure: You may lastly get the choice to rearrange your apps — as an example, you may depart the center area open to show your own home display photograph, and as an alternative have your apps alone the border of the display. You too can change the looks of the apps by tinting them with any colour, in addition to making the apps bigger.
There are many different tweaks and enhancements to keystone apps like Maps, Calendar, Safari and extra. Try Cherlynn Low’s selections for the greatest hidden options of iOS 18 and its sibling Apple working system updates, based mostly on the betas launched earlier this yr.
Is there an iOS 18 beta?
There’s, and you’ll obtain it now — as long as you are keen to stay with the glitches and challenges of beta software program. If you have not already downloaded it at this level, we might recommend simply ready for the true deal to be launched in just some days.
