APPLE is days away from unveiling iOS 18 - which is slated to be the 'biggest' iPhone update in the company's history.
The Silicon Valley giant will hold its annual WWDC Developers Conference at its California HQ next week, where it is expected to show off new iOS 18 features.
A new and improved Siri that uses generative AI is one of the most anticipated updates in iOS 18Credit: GettyiOS 18 won't officially land on iPhones until autumn.
But the beta version of the software - designed for a limited number of iPhone owners to test - will be unleashed on 10 June, according to MacRumors.
The next big iPhone update - codenamed Crystal - "will have ambitious changes all around," Apple’s head of software engineering, Craig Federighi told employees earlier this year, per a Bloomberg report.
R&B star Anita Pointer of The Pointer Sisters dies aged 74Much of those ambitious changes centre around new features powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
Apple is rumoured to have invested heavily in building its own AI features, as Android forges ahead with the Google Gemini chatbot and Samsung's Galaxy AI camera boost.
A new and improved Siri that uses generative AI is one of the most anticipated updates in iOS 18.
This is the same AI technology that is used in the likes of ChatGPT that allows the chatbot to respond to questions like it is a human.
In Apple Music, AI could also be used to create “auto-generated playlists”, according to the report.
RCS support
In October last year, Apple made the surprise bulletin that RCS Support is coming to iPhones sometime in 2024.
RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is the successor to SMS and MMS.
It will bring several iMessage-style features to texts between iPhone and Android users, including:
- Higher-resolution photos and videos
- Audio messages
- Typing indicators
- Read receipts
- Wi-Fi messaging between iPhones 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 inside text threads
These modern features are already available for blue-bubble iMessage users in iPhone-to-iPhone conversations.
However, they are not available when texting Android devices from an iPhone.
Ken Block’s craziest Top Gear stunts from biker race to drifting as star diesIs my phone eligible?
Apple typically gives iPhones five years' worth of updates.
But an anonymous account on X (Twitter), with a track record of accurate leaks, suggested that iPhones as much as eight years old could be compatible with iOS 18.
In a now-deleted tweet from February, the account listed 24 Apple handsets that could soon enjoy the new update.
Here's the full list:
- 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 (2nd generation)
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Read all the latest news, prices and rumours:
- iPhone 15
- Apple Watch 9
- Best iPhone apps and games of 2023
- Foldable iPhone rumours and leaks
- iPhone 16 rumours and release date
- iOS 18 features and rumours