Coming soon, Apple will kick off its It’s Glowtime event (which you can watch here) to unveil its new iPhone 16 lineup. These phones will come with iOS 18 already installed, so there’s no need to upgrade when you buy them. Here’s when we expect to see the iPhone 16 models in stores: However, if you don’t get one of the new iPhones, you may find that the operating system on your older phone isn’t supported by Apple.
Typically, every year, some older iPhone models are removed from Apple’s iOS compatibility list. For example, last year the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X were removed from the compatibility list. This means that owners of these iPhones couldn’t update to iOS 17 and missed out on some notable features.
We’ll help you find out if your iPhone supports iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence, which is due to be released in about two weeks. Still not sure what the new update will bring? Here’s a rundown of the biggest news announced at WWDC, including a rundown of what iOS 18 will bring.
Which iPhones are compatible with iOS 18?
The good news is, if you had an eligible phone when it updated to iOS 17 last year, your device should still be compatible with iOS 18. According to AppleThis means you don’t need to buy a new phone to try out most of the new software features.
In other words, if you have an iPhone, 2017 and earlier models (iPhone 8 or iPhone X), you won’t be able to upgrade to the latest iOS, but your phone will still work without the latest features.
Is your iPhone compatible with Apple Intelligence?
Older devices will still support the latest iOS, but you may not have had a chance to try out the Apple Intelligence beta yet — unless you have the top-of-the-line 2023 iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max. iPhones are not eligibleIt seems likely that the new iPhone 16 models will be fully compatible with Apple Intelligence, but we’ll have to wait for official details to be announced at the September 9 event.
What to expect in iOS 18
Apple Intelligence is the biggest update yet Coming to iOS 18Its features will be released in a more piecemeal fashion over the coming months, and the more advanced features won’t be available on older iPhone models outside of the iPhone 15 Pro series. However, the rest of iOS 18’s features will be available on the devices listed above. Here are some of the highlights you can expect when you download Apple’s new software later this month:
Password App: Securely store all your credentials in one place, including passwords and security alerts that you can access directly within the app. (This feature is currently[設定]but moving to the new app will make it easier to find and access.)
Messages app improvements: The new iMessage experience adds options to make text bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough. You can also add animations to your text messages. The update also brings RCS to iPhone to better support Android compatibility.
Organized Photo Library: The Photos app has been redesigned, allowing you to create and pin your own collections within the app, for example “Wedding Photos” or “Trip to Aruba.” The current tabbed bottom will be removed in favor of a grid layout. The updated carousel view that was advertised at WWDC has been removed during the beta process.
Personalized home screen layout: You finally get the option to rearrange your apps. For example, you can leave the center space free for your home screen photos and instead place only apps on the screen borders. You can also change the look of your apps by tinting them in any color or making them larger.
There are plenty of other tweaks and improvements to keystone apps like Maps, Calendar, and Safari.Here’s Cherlynn Low’s picks for the best hidden features of iOS 18 and its sister Apple operating system updates, based on the betas released earlier this year.
Is there an iOS 18 beta?
Yes, you can download it now, but only if you can tolerate glitches and issues with beta software. If you haven’t downloaded it yet at this point, we recommend waiting for the official version to be released in a few days.
