Update: Our iOS 18 review is live, which includes a preview of Apple Intelligence.
At last week's big Glowtime launch event, Apple finally announced when we can expect iOS 18 to go live. But while iOS 18 will be released to the public on Monday, September 16, we still have another month to wait until Apple's latest AI-powered features become available on the best iPhones.
That's because Apple doesn't plan on rolling out Apple Intelligence features until the release of iOS 18.1 in October, with future updates like iOS 18.2 and beyond expected to bring even more. You'll need an iPhone 15 Pro model or the newly announced iPhone 16 series to use Apple Intelligence features as well as have your device and Siri language set to U.S. English.
While there's still a lot we don't know about Apple's planned rollout of Apple Intelligence, we do have a pretty clear idea of Apple's roadmap based on Apple's website, what we've seen in the iOS 18 public beta, and leaks so far, per a new report from MacRumors.
Apple Intelligence features coming with iOS 18.1
Apple promised a substantial AI overhaul to its Siri virtual assistant during WWDC 2024, including improved understanding for follow-up requests and when users tip over their tongues.
In our testing during the developer beta, Siri still struggled hard with basic follow-up questions about Apple stock prices and football line-ups for upcoming games. Of course, Apple's had time to fine-tune Siri more since then, and perhaps ChatGPT will be able to fill in some of those gaps once it arrives on iOS 18.
There are plenty of other AI-powered features in the iOS 18 beta as well, including notification summaries and suggested replies for Messages, Mail, and other apps; writing tools that proofread your draft or generate a rewrite for specific audiences; articles summaries when using Reader Mode in the Safari app; AI-generated phone call recordings and transcriptions; the option to type a description to create a Memories movie in the Photos app; and a new focus mode that automatically places only the most important or urgent notification at the top of the pile.
There's also an AI photo editing tool called Clean Up, essentially Apple's version of Android's photo eraser tech, that can easily touch up your images with a couple of taps without ever leaving your image gallery.
What's new with iOS 18.2
Earlier this month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that two more Apple Intelligence features that were previewed this year will make their debut on iPhones with iOS 18.2
The first is Image Playground, a default app that lets you use AI to create images of yourself and others. Users will also be able to tell Siri what they want to see, and Image Playground will craft the image based on the description.
The second is Genmoji, which uses AI to generate emojis based on inputted text or based on someone from your Photos library.
Apple has had iOS 18.2 in the works for at least a few months now, and it's not likely to see the light of day until at least December, Mac Rumors reports. That's also around when Apple has said it plans on rolling Apple Intelligence out in more English-speaking countries. With iOS 18.2, we could see Apple Intelligence expand to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. for the first time.
What's new with iOS 18.3
As for iOS 18.3, it's easily the least exciting of the bunch. Based on MacRumors' report, it's shaping up to be a minor update pushed out ahead of the holiday, and it remains up in the air whether any new Apple Intelligence features will be added.
What's new with iOS 18.4
Last week, Gurman on X (formerly Twitter) once again claimed that Apple's plans for a more personal-sounding Siri, as revealed at WWDC 2024, aren't expected to go live until iOS 18.4 in March. That's when users can expect Apple's promised AI-powered upgrades for more personal context, on-screen awareness, and additional in-app controls from Siri.
This update could also add more languages to Apple Intelligence, which Apple said it plans to roll out sometime next year. It's possible these additional languages, like Chinese, Japanese, French, and Spanish, could come with iOS 18.3, but given how minor an update that seems, it's more likely to come with iOS 18.4.
