iOS 18 personalizes your iPhone experience in 2024. Customize your home screen and lock screen, enjoy greater messaging freedom with scheduling and satellite connectivity (iPhone 15 Series only), and relive memories with the revamped Photos app. Apple Intelligence on iPhone 15 Pro takes mobile assistance to a new level, understanding your needs and automating tasks across apps – all while keeping your privacy secure.

Apple iPhone IOS 18 Best Specs & Features

Apple’s iOS 18, released in 2024, brings a host of exciting features that personalize your iPhone experience and enhance communication. Take control of your home screen with customizable app placement and widgets. Craft unique lock screens with quick access buttons. Chat with friends and family even without cell service thanks to satellite connectivity on iPhone 15 models (availability may vary).

iOS 18 also boasts the biggest Photos app revamp ever, featuring smarter memories and powerful search functions. Apple Intelligence, exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro, utilizes cutting-edge tech to understand your needs and streamline tasks across apps. While iOS 18 itself doesn’t have specs, it’s optimized for iPhones released from iPhone 13 onwards, allowing you to leverage these features on your latest Apple device.

Apple is rarely first when it comes to emerging technologies. It still hasn’t launched a foldable phone, for example, and it only released its first mixed-reality headset in 2024 — almost a decade after the original Oculus Rift arrived. But iOS 18 could provide an early glimpse into Apple’s take on generative AI, underscoring the immediate and widespread impact the technology has already made in our everyday lives.  

Here are some Specs of Apple iPhone IOS 18

Customization:

• Home Screen Freedom: Arrange apps and widgets anywhere on the screen, ditching the rigid grid layout.
• Lock Screen Tweaks: Customize the buttons at the bottom for quick access to frequently used features.
• Control Center Expansion: Add more controls for faster adjustments to things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and accessibility options.

Communication Enhancements:

• Messages Makeover: Schedule text messages to go out at a specific time, a useful feature for sending birthday wishes or reminders.
• Satellite Connectivity (iPhone 15 Series Only): Send and receive messages even in remote locations without cellular service (feature availability may depend on region).
• RCS Messaging Support: Finally, iPhones can exchange high-quality photos and videos with Android devices through RCS messaging, replacing outdated SMS/MMS.

Photos App Revamp:

• Biggest Redesign Ever: A completely revamped Photos app with improved organization, search functionality, and a focus on memories.
• Smarter Memories: The app curates personalized memories with videos, music, and themes, making it easier to relive special moments.
• Enhanced Search: Search for photos based on location, date, or even the content within the image (e.g., searching for “beach” pulls up photos with beaches).

AI in iPhone IOS 18

Apple’s iOS 18 update is expected to be a significant upgrade over iOS 17, according to Bloomberg. And that’s largely because of AI. Bloomberg’s report suggests Apple’s upcoming iPhone and iPad software updates will be filled with new AI features, potentially making it one of the biggest updates in years. Apple’s software engineering team has reportedly been told to create as many AI features as possible for the new software.

It’s unclear which specific features Apple could be working on for iPhone IOS 18, but reports from Bloomberg may provide a clue. According to the outlet, Apple is planning to integrate AI into existing applications and iOS more broadly for tasks like summarizing notifications and Safari articles, as well as generating text. The outlet also previously reported other potential AI integrations Apple has been exploring, such as a more advanced Spotlight search tool and auto-generated playlists in Apple Music. 

The Information and Bloomberg have also said that Apple is working on a more sophisticated version of Siri. Apple may even upgrade its voice assistant with new capabilities that enable users to control iPhone apps with their voice, Bloomberg reported. Apple is also reportedly in discussions with Google and OpenAI about using their respective AI models to power new iPhone features, according to reports from Bloomberg, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. A newer Bloomberg report indicates Apple has formed a partnership with OpenAI to bring some new ChatGPT functionality to the iPhone in some way. 

A bigger upgrade than the iPhone 16

The iPhone 16 could be a minor upgrade over the iPhone 15 if rumors and reports turn out to be true, strengthening the argument that iOS 18 will be the iPhone update to watch this year. 

Among the biggest expected changes are the presence of a new dedicated button for capturing video, according to Bloomberg, and a tetraprism telephoto lens on iPhone 16 Pro, as TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports. (Apple currently only includes this type of lens on the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max). Apple’s next iPhones will likely have a new processor, with analyst Jeff Pu predicting all four models will have a new A18 chip, according to MacRumors. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max could also have slightly larger screens, says another MacRumors report. 

Those sound like relatively incremental changes, which would line up with reporting from Bloomberg’s Gurman, who said last year that there won’t be any major hardware upgrades on Apple’s 2024 iPhones. That could be reason enough to believe that iPhone IOS 18, with its expected AI improvements, will be more exciting than the iPhone 16. But there’s a bigger point to be made about the role of software versus hardware. While it’s true that one can’t work without the other, it’s the software that serves as your primary method of interaction. 

Major software shifts have the potential to completely change how we use our phones — for better or for worse. Remember when Apple made it possible to move Safari’s search bar in iOS 15? Or what about the customizable lock screen that arrived with iOS 16? These may seem like small changes, but they can have a big impact on how you use your phone. 

Apple typically releases its new iPhone software for older phones too, meaning iOS 18’s new features will be used more widely than whatever new tech Apple introduces with the iPhone 16. (Although, there’s a chance some of Apple’s new AI features could end up being exclusive to the iPhone 16 since they may require a new chip capable of more advanced on-device processing.)  

Why iOS 18 Could Be More Exciting Than the iPhone 16

Apple’s iOS upgrades always attract attention. And that could be truer than ever in 2024, since according to multiple reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company will be sprinkling more AI into its upcoming iOS 18 software. We’re expecting to learn more about iOS 18 during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off on June 10.

Apple is rarely first when it comes to emerging technologies. It still hasn’t launched a foldable phone, for example, and it only released its first mixed-reality headset in 2024 — almost a decade after the original Oculus Rift arrived. But iOS 18 could provide an early glimpse into Apple’s take on generative AI, underscoring the immediate and widespread impact the technology has already made in our everyday lives.  

It’s no exaggeration to say generative AI has created waves in the tech sector, prompting companies like Google and Microsoft to catch up to the seemingly overnight success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. More than 100 million generative AI smartphones, or smartphones that run native AI models and use AI to create content, are expected to ship in 2024, according to Counterpoint Research. A survey from McKinsey & Company illustrates generative AI’s broader reach beyond smartphones, saying that one-third of respondents are using the technology regularly in their organizations for business purposes.

Here’s What the iPhone 16 Needs From iOS 18 to Be Truly Great

Today’s the day for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC. The event goes live at 10 a.m. PT and we’re almost certainly going to hear much about the next major version of the iPhone’s operating system, which will likely be called iOS 18.

Last month, AI overshadowed everything else at Google’s I/O developer conference — including Android 15. But now it’s Apple’s turn to preview both AI and non-AI updates coming to the iPhone. And we have a bunch of ideas for features and fixes that Apple should include in its next major update to the iPhone.

For seven months, most of us have lived with iOS 17. There have been high points like the introduction of Standby Mode, Check-In and iMessage stickers. There have also been low points like the overheating software bug that hit iPhones running iOS 17, which has since been resolved. For months we’ve Journaled, Name Dropped and casually sworn in Messages without the fear of being Autocorrected.

More multitasking for the iPhone Pro Max

The Dynamic Island is a great start, but I wish Apple would find more ways to take advantage of the Pro Max’s large screen in particular. As I’ve written in the past, I’d love to see a version of Apple’s Slide Over feature optimized for its larger-size iPhone.

Slide Over lets you view a second app in a floating panel along the side of the screen. This feels more useful on a smartphone-size screen compared with a split view. If Slide Over were available on the iPhone Pro Max, you’d be able to dedicate most of the screen to a single app, while checking another. I could see this being useful for browsing through my email inbox while keeping an eye out for new Slack messages.

Make Siri more Capable

As a working mom, I almost always have a long to-do list, and a smarter Siri would truly help make my life easier. Right now, I turn to Siri for help with basic tasks such as setting an alarm, making a reminder or checking the weather. With rumors of large language model integration in Siri, I find myself envisioning a future in which an iPhone can get more complex tasks done. Things like reminding me to buy blueberries when I’m near a supermarket or locating nearby restaurants in Hong Kong that are both kid-friendly and dog-friendly.

Lucky for me, this doesn’t seem to be far-fetched. Large language models should not only allow Siri to understand more complex and nuanced questions but also enable it to answer those questions more accurately.

iOS 18 features I probably won’t use much

There were a bunch of features Apple announced at WWDC that I don’t think I’ll get a whole lot of use out of, but others might. 

New app privacy features

Keeping apps off your home screen feels redundant since you can already remove apps from your home screen and find them in your App Library. Locking your apps could provide an extra layer of security in case your iPhone gets stolen, but having to unlock your phone and then your apps might feel cumbersome. I could also see locking apps being useful for people with children who want to keep their kids out of certain apps, but then we wouldn’t get those fun videos of babies running around with their parent’s phone, and I’m not willing to give up those national treasures.

More Mail categories

I see the utility in having separate categories for your emails to keep newsletters, ads and other messages neatly organized, but I don’t get enough emails on a daily basis to make this a big deal for me. I could see this being useful for someone with a work phone, though.

Topographic maps in Maps

If I were a hiker, or lived in a hilly region, I’d probably be more excited about this. But the extent of my hiking experience is walking trails in Gatlinburg, Tennessee every few years, and my neighborhood is flat. Yeah, hiking is fun every now and then, but I like my home. It’s where my things are.

Revamped Photos app

I don’t take enough photos for this to affect me, but I’m also unsure if this was necessary. People can already create their own albums, the Photos app already creates memories around things like events and places you visit, and the app already organizes photos based on days, months and years. While Apple said it redesigned and retooled the app, it sounds like the company just rebranded the app’s features.

Apple Intelligence

I have no desire to use any of these features outside of trying them once to see what they do. Creating Genmojis sounds like a novelty. I don’t use Siri regularly nor do I anticipate using it more in the future, and why would I want my iPhone to summarize messages or generate a message to send? If my line of work didn’t give it away, I like reading and writing.