iOS 18
With iOS 18, Apple released hundreds of changes and new features to every iPhone that's newer than the iPhone X. This included bringing AI features in the form of Apple Intelligence. Though most of those features won't be available until iOS 18.1 rolled out in October 2024. With more features coming in each subsequent update. Apple's taking its time with AI, and it's clear that they were pretty far behind, since they spent so much time on the Apple Vision Pro instead.
iOS 18 is supporting every iPhone going back to the iPhone X. That phone launched six years ago, which makes it pretty incredible for Apple to still be supporting that phone with new features. However, it's not surprising, as Apple does typically support its iPhones for quite a long time.
Apple announced iOS 18 at its annual WWDC in June, as usual. With the first developer beta coming out that same day, and the Public Beta a month later. It began rolling out to everyone in September of 2024.
One of the bigger changes with iOS 18 is the added customization to Control Center. Before iOS 18, you could do quite a bit of customization with iOS 18, but with this update, you can now have separate pages, adjust the size of toggles, and even add duplicate toggles if you really wanted too. Speaking of customization, Apple also allowed users to move apps anywhere they want on their home screen, as well as having dark mode icons and the ability to tint icons. Quite a few customization updates with iOS 18 this year. And we're expecting even more with iOS 19 next year.
iOS 18.1 launched in October, with iOS 18.2 likely coming in December with even more Apple Intelligence features. This includes Image Playground, where you can create basically any image you want and even create your own Genmoji. The new Siri animation is already available with ChatGPT integration, but the fully updated Siri isn't expected to arrive until iOS 18.4 around March or April of 2025.