After more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 18.3 to the public Monday. Unlike the last two point updates, iOS 18.3 is light on big additions. However, it brings minor new features and some usability improvements. Check them all out below.
All the new features in iOS 18.3
Typically, major point releases of iOS introduce notable changes or features. For instance, with iOS 18.1, Apple rolled out Apple Intelligence, while iOS 18.2 introduced more AI features alongside improvements to the iPhone 16 lineup’s Camera Control.
In comparison, iOS 18.3 hardly brings any changes. Perhaps the biggest change is that it enables Apple Intelligence by default for all compatible iPhones.
You can install iOS 18.3 on your iPhone by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
Table of contents: All the new features in iOS 18.3
- Visual Intelligence improvements
- Apple Intelligence enabled by default
- Tweaks to notification summaries
- Sudoku gets better in Apple News+
- Small improvement in the Calculator app
- New Black Unity wallpaper
Visual Intelligence gets smarter
Photo: Apple
Apple continues improving Visual Intelligence, the AI-powered lookup tool on the iPhone 16. With iOS 18.3, you can point your iPhone 16’s camera to plants and animals to identify and get more information about them. You also can quickly add an event to your calendar from a poster.
Apple Intelligence enabled by default
iOS 18.3 (and iPadOS 18.3) open the Apple Intelligence floodgates, enabling the AI suite of features for all users upgrading to it. (Note: This only applies if Apple Intelligence is available in your region and language.)
Below is what Apple says about this change:
“For users new or upgrading to iOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence will be enabled automatically during iPhone onboarding. Users will have access to Apple Intelligence features after setting up their devices. To disable Apple Intelligence, users will need to navigate to the Apple Intelligence & Siri Settings pane and turn off the Apple Intelligence toggle. This will disable Apple Intelligence features on their device.”
If you did not previously enable Apple Intelligence, this change should cause your iPhone’s system storage usage to increase by 5G to 7GB.
Tweaks to notification summaries
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Following backlash from the news industry and annoyed users, Apple tweaked how AI-powered notification summaries work in iOS 18.3. After the update, Apple Intelligence will not generate notification summaries for news and entertainment apps. (Apple plans to reenable this feature in the future.)
iOS 18.3 also lets you jump into notification summaries settings directly from your iPhone’s Lock Screen with a left swipe. And to better distinguish AI-generated summaries from regular notifications, they now appear in italicized text.
Sudoku gets better in Apple News+
The newest iOS 18 release brings a minor but nice usability tweak to the Sudoku game in Apple News+. A highlighted number will remain highlighted after you enter a number in the puzzle. This makes it easy to fill the puzzle if you take a number-by-number approach.
Small improvement to the iPhone’s Calculator app
iOS 18.3 brings a useful improvement to the Calculator app. Tapping the “=” sign a second time will repeat the last mathematical function.
New Black Unity wallpaper
Photo: Apple
iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 add a new Black Unity wallpaper to the iPhone and iPad. Similarly, watchOS 11 adds a new watch face “inspired by the rhythm of humanity.”
Bug fixes and more
Besides the above new features and enhancements, iOS 18.3 packs the following bug fixes as noted by Apple in its official release notes:
- Fixes an issue where the keyboard might disappear when initiating a typed Siri request
- Resolves an issue where audio playback continues until the song ends even after closing Apple Music
Check out Apple Intelligence features
If you will be using Apple’s AI features for the first time after updating to iOS 18.3, check out our guide to using Apple Intelligence Writing Tools and how to make AI images using Image Playground to get started.
