In less than three weeks, Apple'sWorldwide Developers Conferenceis scheduled to kick off, on June 10. And the company is expected to release the next version of itsiPhone software: iOS 18.
Apple's iOS 18 could bring the "biggest" software update in the iPhone's history, according to a January edition of Mark Gurman'sPower On newsletter. In November, Gurman wrote that iOS 18 could bring "relatively groundbreaking" updates to the iPhone complete with "major new features and designs."
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Phone makers are increasingly bringinggenerative AIfeatures to their flagship smartphones, in a bid to take advantage of the hype cycle surrounding the emerging technology. Last fall, Google debuted its flagship Pixel 8 lineup with souped-up AI tricks, and in January, Samsung launched theGalaxy S24 seriescomplete withGalaxy AI. Apple is expected go in the same direction with the expected iPhone 16 and iOS 18. CEO Tim Cook said he expects Apple have to an edge in AI in a May earnings call, even though the company is widely seen as being behind in the AI race.
"We've got some things that we are incredibly excited about that we'll be talking about later this year," Cook said anearnings callin February in response to a question about generative AI.
To be clear, Apple already has AI tools on its iPhoneslike itsphoto duplication detectionfeature for instance, but we've yet to see how generative AI will factor into the iPhone and iOS in a major way. WithiOS 17, Apple included a slew of AI-powered features like the ability toclone your own voiceon the iPhone (which is a form of gen AI) and an updated keyboard with better autocorrect. But the company stopped short of unveiling generative AI products along the lines of Google's Gemini or OpenAI's Chat GPT. Still, the rumor mill points to meaningful changes in iOS 18. Here are the most credible ones.
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Notes App revamp
Apart from Siri, one of the bigger changes could appear on Apple's popular Notes App, according to reports byApple Insider. The Notes app is expected to gain the ability to record and transcribe audio. It could also gain the ability to generate AI-powered summaries. This feature is rumored to change the Voice Memo apps across the iPhone as well as on iPads and MacBooks. It will supposedly work similarly to the company'sLive Voicemail feature, which was introduced last fall in iOS 17.
Calendar app integrates with Reminders app?
With iOS 18, the iPhone's Calendar app will apparently include integration with the Reminders app. According to a MayAppleInsider report, the updated version of Calendar should allow you to schedule and organize reminders directly from it, without needing to launch the Reminders app. The report says you'll be able to view reminders within the Day, Week, and Month calendar views.
Smarter Siri
Siri has been around since iOS 5 in 2011, but with iOS 18 Apple's voice-activated assistant could get a lot smarter. Generative AI technology "should improve how both Siri and the Messages app can field questions and auto-complete sentences," according to Gurman.
Before his newsletter, a September report from the Informationsaid Apple plans to use large language models, a crucial part of generative AI, to make Siri smarter. An example detailed in that article explained how Siri can respond to simple voice commands for more complex tasks, such as turning a set of photos into a GIF and then sending them to one of your contacts. If that example is accurate, this represents a significant step forward in the capabilities of Siri.
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Improved texting with Android
Apple has said it will bring support forRCS, the cross-platform messaging standard, to the iPhone. According to a November report by 9to5Mac, an Apple spokesperson said it'll be coming to the iPhone "later next year" and will work alongside iMessage.
RCS support should improve the current messaging experience between iPhone and Android users by bringing iMessage-like features. Those upgrades include sending high-quality photos and videos to contacts, read receipt, typing indicators and, most importantly, end-to-end encryption, something SMS messaging lacks. In other words, if you have an Android phone and are texting someone with an iPhone, you'll be able to text each other over RCS instead of SMS. However, it's important to remember that iMessage will remain exclusive to the iPhone and other Apple devices. RCS will not bring iMessage to Android phones.
Read more:Google Should Push RCS Texting Further Than Just the iPhone
As mentioned earlier, details are currently sparse on Apple's plans and we don't yet know which iPhones will be compatible with iOS 18. We'll be updating this article as and when we get more details, so make sure to check back. Until then, you can get up to speed with iOS 17.
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On-device AI
A recent rumor points to how Apple's generative AI features could operate. According to Gurman, Apple's own LLM is set to anchor the generative AI features on the upcoming iPhone. The primary benefits of on-device AI include better privacy and faster response times, since the data doesn't have to be transmitted to the cloud. But this approach may also make Apple's AI tools less suited to certain scenarios that require a depth of knowledge, like how some chatbots are less useful than others because they don't have access to the open internet. But the iPhone-maker could compensate for these limitations by licensing technology from Googleand other AI service providers.
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