Apple
Apple plans to release the next versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS to the general public on September 16, the company announced on its website following its iPhone-focused product event earlier today. We should also see updates to tvOS and the HomePod operating system on the same date.
The new versions bring a number of new features and improvements to Apple's platforms: better texting with Android devices thanks to support for the RCS standard, iPhone Mirroring that lets you communicate with your iPhone through your Mac, more options for customizing the user interface for iPhones and iPads, and many more improvements.
What won’t be included in these initial releases is any hint of Apple Intelligence, the suite of generative AI and machine learning features Apple announced in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple is testing some of the Apple Intelligence features in beta versions of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1, updates scheduled for later this fall. When Apple Intelligence arrives, compatibility will be limited: It requires an iPhone 15 Pro or one of the just-announced iPhone 16 or 16 Pro models; an iPad Air or Pro with an M1, M2, or M4 chip; or an Apple Silicon Mac. Apple will also withhold Apple Intelligence from devices in the EU, at least for now.
The new operating systems will run on most hardware currently compatible with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, including the latest generations of Intel Macs from 2018, 2019, and 2020. But there are a handful of exceptions, like the 2018 MacBook Air and a handful of older iPads. Phones as old as the 2018 iPhone XR and XS can install and run the iOS 18 update.
Apple has been releasing multiple beta versions of each operating system since WWDC in June, and release candidate builds are expected to be pushed out to users and developers today. This will allow developers to get the final versions of their apps ready for launch day. Users who want to move to the new operating systems early will be able to do so as well. You can be fairly certain that most of the biggest bugs will be fixed in the summer betas. However, as always when installing major updates, make sure you have good backups of your data beforehand.
