With iOS 18.3 due for release in early December, Apple continues beta testing the OS. The third beta build is now out for developers, bringing some small changes and enhancements.
Below is a roundup of all the new features and changes in iOS 18.2 beta 3.
UPDATE: These became available to all beta testers on Tuesday. Just be aware that this is the only second round of public beta testing and the updates are labeled as such. Nevertheless, public beta 2 is the same as developer beta 3.
Anyone hoping to hack into an iPhone now finds it more difficult thanks to a change in iOS 18.1. Whether this is police, foreign espionage agents or criminal hackers, there’s now much less time to crack the security on Apple handsets because of a simple trick.
It’s another example of Apple being serious about protecting user privacy.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The first benchmarks for the M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pros come in amazingly good. And early reviews from the “access media” rave about the new Apple laptops, too. (What else did you expect?)
It might be time for Erfon’s long-overdue upgrade.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
iOS 18.2 brings exciting new Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, Visual Intelligence and ChatGPT integration. These flashy new tools let users create images and custom emoji, look up information using the iPhone’s camera and tap into one of the hottest AI chatbots around.
How well do they work? Keep reading or watch our hands-on video to see iOS 18.2’s new Apple Intelligence features in action.
iOS 18.2 could introduce a new feature that would tell how long your iPhone will take to charge. As of now, iPhones only show the battery percentage while charging and little else.
Almost all Android phones show the remaining time for a full charge on the lock screen when topping up their battery wired or wirelessly.
Apple apparently plans to release iOS 18.2 in early December, introducing several new Apple Intelligence features to the iPhone.
In an indication that iPhone users are eager to try out Apple Intelligence, the iOS 18.1 install rate is twice as high as iOS 17.1 was a year ago, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The AI features in iOS 18.1 provide a big impetus for people to update their iPhones, Cook said Thursday during a quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts.
The wait for Apple Intelligence is over. iOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1 and iPadOS 18.1 can all be installed now, and they all include Apple’s AI-powered features.
“Apple Intelligence introduces a new era for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, delivering brand-new experiences and tools that will transform what our users can accomplish,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release Monday. “Apple Intelligence builds on years of innovation in AI and machine learning to put Apple’s generative models at the core of our devices, giving our users a personal intelligence system that is easy to use — all while protecting their privacy. Apple Intelligence is generative AI in a way that only Apple can deliver, and we’re incredibly excited about its ability to enrich our users’ lives.”
But that’s not everything coming out of Cupertino today. watchOS 11.1, tvOS 18.1 and visionOS 2.1 went out, too — alongside upgraded iMacs powered by Apple’s M4 chip.
iOS 18.1 comes with a veritable boatload of big new features. The update, which is out now, brings Apple Intelligence, hearing aid support for AirPods, sleep apnea detection for Apple Watch, phone call recording and more.
Apple Intelligence features are being rolled out slowly with every new iOS update. The process is expected to take a while. This first update hits the ground running with 10 features. But that’s not all — there’s more in this update for those of us with an older iPhone or who live in the European Union.
Keep reading or watch our video on the new features in iOS 18.1.
iOS 18.1 will go out to iPhones everywhere next week, but you don’t need to wait. It’s possible to go ahead and install the final version this weekend when you have time to tinker with it. Plus, doing so lets you jump ahead of everyone else in requesting access to the cool new Apple Intelligence features.
Getting iOS 18.1 now won’t require doing anything dodgy or risky. You’ll download the final version of the upgrade straight from Apple … just a little earlier than scheduled.
UPDATE: This suggestion is now moot because iOS 18.1 launched on Monday.
iOS 18.2 beta 1, which went to developers on Wednesday, includes a new section in Settings that lets users specify which applications to set as their defaults for handling email, messages, phone calls and more. In some cases, setting this simply gets easier. In others, changing the default app previously wasn’t possible at all.
We already knew this change would happen in Europe, but Apple made it clear Wednesday that it’ll be available worldwide.
Apple seeded the initial beta of iOS 18.2, macOS Sequoia 15.2 and iPadOS 8.2 to developers on Wednesday, giving them their first opportunity to test the Image Playground app, Genmoji and more. Also on the list is perhaps the most controversial feature of Apple Intelligence: optional ChatGPT access.
Expect testing to end and the full launch before the end of the year.
Apple gave developers access to the release candidates of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 on Monday. This is the last round of testing before introducing them to the public, which means Apple Intelligence will finally launch in about a week.
Release candidates for tvOS 18.1 and visionOS 2.1 also went out. However, watchOS 11.1 RC is not yet available.
Apple’s AI efforts are significantly behind Google, Meta, and OpenAI. Reportedly, some inside the company believe it is “more than two years behind the industry leaders.”
Apple previewed Apple Intelligence at WWDC 24. However, the public will only get a taste of its AI efforts when iOS 18.1 drops later this month.
One of the highlights of the iPhone 16 is its longer runtime. However, numerous owners of Apple’s latest iPhones are reporting significant battery drain issues.
Most users report “horrible standby battery life,” with their iPhones losing most of their charge when idle.
Apple added several nifty new features to Safari in iOS 18. The iPhone’s redesigned web browser boasts an all-new Page Menu. Plus, two big new features help surface what you’re looking for on the web.
The last big Safari redesign for iPhone, which arrived three years ago, moved the address bar to the bottom of the screen by default. It also shoved several useful features into a menu in the address bar, which made it difficult to discover them. Apple tries to reverse that second problem in the new Safari.
Here’s what’s new in iOS 18 in Safari on iPhone — keep reading or watch our video.
iOS 18 is getting a bunch of cool new accessibility features this year, including bringing eye tracking to the iPhone for the first time. You also can feel haptic music, control your phone with custom voice commands, use your phone in the car without suffering from motion sickness, and improve the accuracy of Siri and dictation.
Check out our video to see it in action or keep reading below.
With Hurricane Milton taking aim at nearly the entire Gulf Coast of Florida, with a probable late Wednesday landfall, evacuees and others might want to make sure they download iOS 18 — specifically to get the new Messages via satellite capability.
That way, if power, Wi-Fi and cellular coverage all get knocked out, you can still communicate via satellite on your iPhone with family and friends. And of course you’ll also have the option of using the related Emergency SOS via satellite if you need to reach emergency services.
Apple continues beta testing iOS 18.1 ahead of its potential public release on October 28. Besides Apple Intelligence, iOS 18.1 will pack several other changes and improvements.
Below is everything new in the latest iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 beta 6.
Apple’s big step into artificial intelligence is scheduled for this month, and a prediction from a generally reliable source may have just named the release date: October 28. This will reportedly be when new iOS, macOS and iPadOS versions usher in Apple Intelligence.
These AI capabilities were unveiled in June at the company’s developers conference and have been in public beta testing for weeks, so it’s now a waiting game for the full launch.
Apple Intelligence makes its debut with 10 new features — and some of it is fantastic. Apple Intelligence has some genuinely impressive new features, and some of it will have a big impact on daily life.
Apple Intelligence is the name for Apple’s next-generation AI and machine learning-powered features that are coming to iPhone, iPad and Mac. These first 10 features are available in iOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 right now. Some of the biggest features like Visual Intelligence, Image Playground and the all-new Siri aren’t here (and might not ship for a while) but Apple has still managed to make a good first impression.
Here’s what you can expect. Keep reading or watch our video to see it in action.
Apple released iOS 18.0.1 on Thursday to fix an annoying bug that made the touchscreen unresponsive on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. The new iPadOS 18.0.1 corrects several problems, too, including one that bricked some M4 iPad Pro units when installing the original iPadOS 18 version.
In addition, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 and visionOS 2.0.1 also arrived Thursday with minor bug fixes.
In iOS 18, Apple adds several handy new features to the iPhone’s Notes app. These upgrades will help you create better, easier-to-follow notes while significantly speeding up the overall process of creating said notes.
AI-powered summaries should make it easy to review long notes, while Smart Script will help make handwritten notes legible. For those who want to convert transcript to notes AI seamlessly, these enhancements will make the process even more efficient. Below are the top new features coming to the Notes app this year.
If you want to make your iPhone easier to use, you can customize its Control Center to gain faster access to the buttons and toggles you rely upon to perform frequent tasks. Plus, you can remove all the junk you never touch from the iPhone Contol Center, putting the vital controls you actually use front and center.
Keep reading to find out how and why you should customize the iPhone Control Center to make the device your own.
In iOS 18, Apple’s Messages app gains five great new features that will make texting all the more fun. New message effects let you bold text in iMessage and animate it for extra emphasis. If you’re the forgetful type, you can schedule your messages to send later — automatically. You can reply to a message using any emoji you like. Finally, texting will get easier with your friends on Android — and in the middle of the Gobi desert.
Watch our video or keep reading to see the best new Messages features after you upgrade to iOS 18. (You can find the new iPhone operating in Settings > General > Software Update.)