What you need to know about iOS 18, Apple’s ‘biggest’ iPhone update ever

Apple’s annual worldwide developer conference begins on Monday — and the company is expected to release a beta version of iOS 18 for select iPhones.

While iOS 18 won’t be accessible to everyone until the fall, the first beta will reportedly be available to members of Apple’s Developer Program right after Tim Cook’s WWDC keynote with a public beta that will it follows in July, according to MacRumors.

The next big update, codenamed “Crystal,” features a lot of bold changes centered around artificial intelligence.

One of the most anticipated features in the latest update is an improved Siri that uses generative AI – the same technology used with ChatGPT that allows the platform to respond as if it were a human.

Siri will reportedly be able to have natural conversations and come up with personalized responses based on the user’s usage patterns.

AI can also be used to create “auto-generated playlists” in Apple Music, and RCS support is coming to the iPhone as well. RCS, Rich Communication Services, is the successor to SMS and MMS.

RCS support will introduce several iMessage features that are already available to blue bubble users in texts between iPhone and Android users, including:

• Higher resolution photos and videos
• Audio messages
• Typing indicators
• Read the bills
• Wi-Fi messaging between iPhone and Android devices
• Improved group chats, including the ability for iPhone users to leave a conversation that includes Android users
• Improved encryption compared to SMS
• Share location with people within text threads

While Apple typically allows updates for five-year-old iPhones, an anonymous account on X, formerly Twitter, hinted in a since-deleted tweet that iOS 18 might be compatible with phones that are eight years old.

According to MacRumors, these are the Apple products that may soon enjoy the new update:

• 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 (second generation)
• iPhone SE (third generation)

Other major updates that have been rumored or tested for iOS 18, according to MacRumors, include:

• Apple Maps: Custom roads and topographical maps.
• Apple Music: Auto-generated playlists and smarter song skips.
• Apple News: AI-generated roundup of news articles.
• Calculator: A sidebar listing recent calculations, an improved unit conversion interface, integration with the Notes app, and more. Finally, the application will be available on the iPad as well.
• calendar: Deeper integration with the Reminders app.
• CarPlay: New accessibility features, including voice recognition.
• Control Center: Updated interface, including a revamped music widget and improved controls for HomeKit accessories.
• fitness: The application will be “repaired”.
• Free form: A new “Scenes” feature.
• health: New AI-powered features – specific details still unknown.
• Home screen: Place app icons anywhere on the grid and change app icon colors.
• Headlines and Pages: AI-powered features for automatic slide generation in Keynote, faster writing in Pages, and more.
• magnifying: A new reader mode and the option to easily open discovery mode with the Action button on newer iPhone models.
• COMMUNICATIONS: Suggested responses to emails.
• posts: RCS support, per-word effects, suggested answers, custom emoji and new Tapback icons. The update will also include message summaries, generating a summary for all missed messages in a conversation so the user can understand the context without having to go back and read them all.
• endnoteS: An integrated audio recording tool, audio transcriptions and the ability to display mathematical notation.
• Notifications: Summary of AI-generated notifications.
• Photos: AI photo retouching, an AI object eraser and more.
• Safari: Browsing assistant that can summarize web pages and a Web Eraser tool.
• SETTINGS: A revamped interface with improved search and new accessibility features.
• Shortcuts: Automate complex tasks more easily.
• SYRIA: A smarter version of Siri inspired by ChatGPT with more per-app controls that can help with everyday tasks (in 2025).
• glisten: Smarter search results and improved ranking.
• Voice memo: Audio transcriptions.