iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 and macOS Sonoma finally have a release date. The OSes have been in beta testing since WWDC23 this year.
Apple announced the official release dates of the next major iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and macOS releases at its ‘Wonderlust’ event.
iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 release date
iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10 will be released to the public on September 18 i.e., Monday. The update will be out for all compatible iPhones and iPads. Below is a list of iPhones that are eligible to run iOS 17:
- iPhone Xs and XS Max
- iPhone Xr
- iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone SE (2020)
- iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max
- iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max
- iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone SE (2022)
- iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max
With iOS 17, Apple is dropping support for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X series.
Apple has so far seeded eight beta builds of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, with newer betas focusing on bug fixes and stability improvements. A release candidate was pushed out after the event today.
iOS 17 focuses more on minor new features than a major headline change. The upgrades include an enhanced Messages app, Contact Posters in the Phone app, video messages on FaceTime, smarter autocorrect, NameDrop, and improved AirDrop.
In 2022, Apple delayed iPadOS 16’s release by a month. This won’t be the case this year, with iPadOS 17 releasing on the same day as iOS 17. The OS drops support for the 5th gen. iPad. But barring that, it is compatible with the same set of iPads that could run iPadOS 16.
Do note that some iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 features won’t be available at launch. Many features won’t make their way to older devices as well.
watchOS 10 release date
watchOS 10 also drops on September 18, the same day as iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. The biggest upgrade to watchOS since its inception, watchOS 10 packs a plethora of new features. Many system apps have been revamped, widgets are now available on the platform with stacking, new features in Fitness+ and more.
Despite being such a major release, watchOS 10 does not drop support for any of the older Apple Watch models.
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- Apple Watch Series 6
- Apple Watch SE
- Apple Watch Series 7
- Apple Watch SE (2nd gen)
- Apple Watch Series 8
- Apple Watch Ultra
A release candidate of watchOS 10 was pushed out today.
macOS Sonoma release date
macOS Sonoma drops on September 26, a week later on Tuesday. Although Apple didn’t call out macOS Sonoma during the event, the website was updated to show the new date. macOS Sonoma brings in many popular features from other platforms: app widgets from iPhone and iPad and aerial screensavers from Apple TV. You can also make web apps that live in your Dock out of any Safari webpage and turn on Game Mode for better gaming performance.
Many iOS and iPadOS 17 features are coming to Sonoma as well, like video reactions, improvements to iMessage, stickers, PDF autofill, Safari profiles and linked notes.
macOS Sonoma is compatible with the following Macs:
- MacBook Pro, 2018 and later
- MacBook Air, 2018 and later
- Mac mini, 2018 and later
- iMac, 2019 and later
- iMac Pro
- Mac Studio
- Mac Pro, 2019 and later
Unlike iOS, iPadOS and watchOS, no release candidate for macOS Sonoma was pushed out to developers today.
D. Griffin Jones also contributed to this story.
