iOS 18 is the upcoming eighteenth major release of

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

operating system for the iPhone. It was announced on June 10, 2024, at the 2024

Worldwide Developers Conference The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in t ...

(WWDC). It is the direct successor to iOS 17 and was announced alongside iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11, visionOS 2, and tvOS 18.

System features

Artificial intelligence

The Apple Intelligence platform will be available in iOS 18 on the

iPhone 15 Pro The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. They are the List of iPhone models, seventeenth-generation flagship iPhones, succeeding the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro and iPh ...

and iPhone 15 Pro Max models. Apple Intelligence adds artificial intelligence capabilities and large language model integrations to

Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer ques ...

and other operating system functions, such as the

Photos A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

app.

Messages

iOS 18 will support Rich Communication Services (RCS) on supported conversations, including support for read receipts and higher-quality multimedia sharing across various platforms. As with

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

, it will be designated with green message bubbles and buttons to distinguish it from blue

iMessage iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. and launched in 2011. iMessage functions exclusively on Apple platforms: macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Core features of iMessage, available on all supported platforms, includ ...

conversations. Apple largely retaliated against adoption of RCS in iOS. In 2022, after being questioned about RCS potentially coming to iPhone to increase compatibility with Android, Tim Cook said that iPhone users weren't expressing interest in RCS and instead suggested that a solution would be to switch to iPhone to use iMessage. The person who asked the question followed up, explaining that they use an iPhone while their mom uses an Android phone, to which Tim Cook jokingly replied "Buy your mom an iPhone" to large controversy. The quote was later cited in an anti-trust lawsuit against Apple Inc. filed by the United States Department of Justice.

Photos

iOS 18 includes a significant redesign of the Photos app. Slideshows known as collections are now automatically generated and visible at the top of the screen.

Home screen

iOS 18 allows users to customize the icon color as well as the icon position and size on the home screen. Dark mode versions of first-party apps and many third party ones are also available. Previous iOS versions arranged icons on a preset grid, but now users can place them anywhere. App Widgets may now be resized in-place or reduced to a normal app icon as desired. In August 2024, new feature was introduced which enables users to edit the iPhone home screen through iPhone Mirroring, and is available in the latest betas of iOS 18 and iOS 18.1.

Control Center

iOS 18 comes with a redesign to the Control Center, allowing for multiple pages of controls, resizable buttons, and third-party controls.

Passwords

Apple introduced

Passwords A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple Inc., Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the lar ...

, a

password manager A password manager is a computer program that allows users to store and manage their passwords for local applications and online services. In many cases software used to manage passwords allow also generate strong passwords and fill forms. Pas ...

aimed at simplifying password management for websites, applications,

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio w ...

, and verification codes. This new app is heavily inspired by the Passwords section in Settings and syncs with it.

Locking/hiding applications

In iOS 18, applications that are visible to the user can be locked, or hidden. Locked apps require passcode/biometric authentication to run. Hidden apps are moved to a designated 'Hidden' folder in the App Library; accessing that folder requires passcode/biometric authentication. Hidden apps do not show in other places on the phone such as Siri Suggestions and the Settings app.

Supported devices

All iPhones that support iOS 17 support iOS 18. However, there are varying levels of support depending on the device's

system-on-chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memo ...

(SoC). The new Apple Intelligence functions require iPhones with an A17 Pro SoC or later, which are only available on the

and iPhone 15 Pro Max. iPhones with an

A14 Bionic The Apple A14 Bionic is a 64-bit ARMv8.5-A system on a chip (SoC), designed by Apple Inc. It appears in the fourth generation iPad Air and tenth generation iPad, as well as iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. ...

SoC, A15 Bionic SoC and A16 Bionic SoC have full support. iPhones with an

A12 Bionic The Apple A12 Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It first appeared in the iPhone XS and XS Max, iPhone XR, iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Mini (5th generation), 8th generation iPad and Apple TV 4K (2 ...

SoC and A13 Bionic SoC have limited support. iPhones that support iOS 18 are: * iPhone XS & XS Max *

iPhone XR The iPhone XR (stylized and marketed as iPhone Xʀ; Roman numeral "X" pronounced "ten") is a smartphone designed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It is part of the twelfth generation of the iPhone. Pre-orders began on October 19, 2018, with an ...

iPhone 11 The iPhone 11 is a smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 13th generation of iPhone, succeeding the iPhone XR, and was unveiled on September 10, 2019 alongside the iPhone 11 Pro at the Steve Jobs Theater in App ...

* iPhone 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max * iPhone SE (2nd generation) * iPhone 12 & 12 Mini * iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max * iPhone 13 & 13 Mini * iPhone 13 Pro & 13 Pro Max * iPhone SE (3rd generation) * iPhone 14 & 14 Plus * iPhone 14 Pro & 14 Pro Max * iPhone 15 & 15 Plus * iPhone 15 Pro & 15 Pro Max

Release history

References

{{Apple *18 2024 software Products introduced in 2024 Mobile operating systems Proprietary operating systems Applications of artificial intelligence