All the iOS 18 Rumors We Know So Far

iOS 18 Will Be a "Groundbreaking Update"

As we mentioned, iOS 18 is getting ready to be a huge update, even bigger than we might think.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the iPhone's next update will be "groundbreaking." Unfortunately, he didn't explain exactly what will make this update so amazing, so we'll still need to wait for more information.

However, it seems Gurman isn't the only one who thinks so. According to some leaks, many inside of Apple are calling this update "ambitious and compelling."

Again, we don't yet know what this means, but it definitely sounds exciting.

We Might See a Huge Redesign

It's been years since Apple changed the overall design of iOS, but it seems another big change could be coming in 2024.

According to many rumors, including Bloomberg's Gurman, Apple will bring a lot of new designs in iOS 18.

As of right now, there aren't any details that explain what this new design might look like, but there have been speculations that Apple will try to replicate the user interface from its Vision Pro headset that we've seen in videos to keep a similar design across multiple platforms.

With that said, we'll still have to wait and see what Apple shows us in iOS 18 during next year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)

Siri Is Going to Be Way Better in iOS 18

Siri is great, but it's not really as smart as it should be. There are many times when you want Siri to help you with a simple task, only to receive a message saying it can't understand you.

Fortunately, this might change in iOS 18. One of the biggest aspects that makes us think that iOS 18 is going to be so big is that Apple is going to integrate artificial intelligence into Siri.

We've known for months now that Apple is working on Generative AI, which is the same type of artificial intelligence ChatGPT uses. So it's highly likely that we'll see the first version of "Apple GPT" in iOS 18.

This means Siri will be smarter and better at handling prompts. Not only that, but it'll be able to do many more actions with other Apple apps.

Shortcuts Will See Some Improvements as Well

Another rumor that sounds too good to be true is a huge improvement to the Shortcuts app.

With the help of AI, rumor has it that Siri will be able to take control of your shortcuts like we've never seen before. Not only would you be able to trigger shortcuts with the help of Siri, but you would be able to ask Siri to create new shortcuts for you.

You can already create any shortcut you want in iOS 17. But unless you have experience or are a developer, creating sophisticated shortcuts is more challenging.

In theory, iOS 18 will let you ask Siri to create a shortcut and tell it exactly what you want the shortcut to do, and Siri will create it without you doing any of the hard work.

Again, this might seem too good to be true. AI will definitely be able to do these things in the future, but it might still be too soon for Apple and iOS. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

RCS Messaging Is Finally Coming to iPhone Next Year

Unless you've been living under a rock the last few weeks, you've probably heard that Apple confirmed that it would finally bring RCS messaging to the iPhone in 2024.

RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is an open standard for instant messaging between smartphones. Think of it like using iMessage or Whatsapp across multiple platforms without having to download an app.

For a long time, Apple fought really hard not to have RCS on the iPhone. After all, iMessage is one of the biggest selling points for having an iPhone, and this would bridge the gap between Android and iPhone just a little bit more.

Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it — Apple will implement RCS on the iPhone in 2024. It's highly likely that we'll see it with the introduction of iOS 18.

When RCS Messaging is available on iPhone, you will be able to send messages to Android users over Wi-Fi, easily create or leave group chats with Android users, and send videos and photos of higher quality. Again, it'll be like using iMessage but with Android phones.

Apple Might Fix a Lot of Bugs With iOS 18

Every year, Apple tries to fix as many bugs as possible with its software updates. However, the more features the company adds, the more bugs appear. It's an endless cycle that Apple wants to end with iOS 18. Or at least, that's what rumors are saying.

Rumor has it that one of the biggest focal points of iOS 18 is going to be bug fixes. The company might fix a lot of issues that have been around seemingly forever. 

This rumor might actually be true. After all, Apple finally fixed a privacy issue that existed since 2020. It's not a good look for a trillion-dollar company, so it makes sense that Apple will focus on fixing bugs in 2024 — and ensuring that iOS 18 introduces as few new ones as possible.

We Might Finally See Sideloading

Europe has really been focusing on Apple as of late. First, it forced the company to adopt USB-C on all its devices, and now it's also asking for Apple to allow sideloading apps on the iPhone.

In case you don't know, sideloading is the act of installing an app into your phone using a third-party platform. So, instead of just relying on the App Store, you would be able to go to any website, download an app, and install it. This would also open the doors to third-party app stores.

While this will give users more freedom to install whatever they want from any app store, it's also a potential security risk for people who don't know what they're doing.

Still, the EU is forcing Apple to adopt sideloading and allow third-party app stores to be available to iPhone users, which might come in iOS 18 — or even sooner depending on how the laws go; the new EU laws take effect in March 2024, and code to support sideloading has already been found in the latest iOS 17.2 betas.

Granted, Apple is fighting the legislation and will likely try to find ways to make sideloading hard to do. Some have speculated that the company might only allow sideloading in Europe, and while that feels like a stretch at the moment, it wouldn't be the first time it's geographically restricted some features on its devices.

Will We See More VR Features?

More than a rumor, this is a bit of speculation on our part. But given the recent news that Apple will launch the brand new Apple Vision Pro, a virtual and augmented reality headset, in 2024, it is highly likely that the company will find ways to make the most out of it.

In fact, Apple has already introduced a really cool VR feature this year. Apple is already adding Spatial Video recording to the iPhone 15 Pro in iOS 17.2 to let you shoot 3D videos with your iPhone cameras that can be played back on the new headset when it arrives.

This, of course, is so you can relieve your best memories in 3D with the help of the Apple Vision Pro, making it a big selling point for some users.

Given the fact that a lot of people didn't like the Apple Vision Pro's $3,499 price tag, Apple will surely find more new ways and add features that could make the headset more enticing.

iOS 18 Support: Which iPhones will Get the Update?

With many new software updates, Apple drops support for older iPhones. Unfortunately, some new features are just too much for the older hardware to handle.

While it's too early to know for sure, it seems iOS 18 will be another exception to this rule, meaning you'll still be able to use it on some fairly old iPhones.

According to current rumors, iOS 18 will be available for the same models as iOS 17, which goes as far back as the 2018 iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. That means Apple will continue to provide updates to six-year-old iPhones, which is great for users with older devices.

Get Ready for iOS 18

Whether all of these rumors are true or not, there's no doubt that Apple will surprise us with iOS 18.

The company always does a good job of providing new features and apps with every software update, and 2024 won't be any different.

With that said, iOS 17 was considered a huge update for some of us, so the company will need to step its game up if it wants to provide the best iOS software update yet.