Get your iPhone ready: Apple’s new iOS 18 software update is out.
The updated version of Apple’s mobile operating system is packed with new features and improvements.
All in all, the update gives you more ways to customize your iPhone’s home screen and settings than ever before.
As usual, it is available as a free download that you can install on the Internet. Here’s how you can get iOS 18.
iOS 18 was released on September 16th, just in time for the iPhone 16’s September 20th on-sale date.
iOS 18 will let you customize your iPhone’s home screen with new app colors
Apple
If you want to get the update as soon as possible, you may need to manually check for an update on your iPhone.
Head to the Settings area, then select General. Tap Update Software and follow the on-screen prompts to download and install the iOS 18 update.
What about Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence is a completely new system powered by AI that works on its platforms (Apple)
The main feature that Apple has promoted for iOS 18 is a powerful new suite of generative AI tools, branded as Apple Intelligence. These new tools can create weird and wonderful emojis on the fly, summarize emails and rewrite them, prioritize notifications, and remove people and objects from photos.
There’s just one problem: Apple Intelligence won’t be available with iOS 18 at launch later today. Instead, the new features will be gradually rolled out over the coming weeks and months as part of future updates, starting with iOS 18.1 in October.
Meanwhile, the generation of emoji (or Genmoji as Apple calls it) may not arrive until iOS 18.2 in December. And, you may have to wait until next spring to get the new and improved Siri, which boasts better natural language skills (bringing it closer to ChatGPT).
The iPhone 16’s new visual intelligence feature, which turns the phone’s camera into a visual search engine, is one of several AI features that won’t be available at launch.
Apple
However, there are several other non-AI iOS 18 features that make the update worth downloading. Here’s what you can expect:
Icon customization and home screen
- Ability to tint app icons with a single color to match your home screen or favorite shade.
- Option to automatically change icons to a dark look in dark mode.
- Place apps and widgets anywhere on the home screen, not just rigid grids.
Redesigned control center
- Swipe through different pages of Controls including main, smart home, and media playback.
- Third-party apps can create custom controls in a new controls gallery.
- Rearrange layout and resize icons for controls.
- Replace the camera and flashlight icons on the lock screen with custom controls.
lock screen customization
- Replace the torch/camera icons in the background with other app icons or controls.
- Lock apps behind Face ID for privacy when giving the phone to others.
- Schedule messages to be sent later.
- React with any emoji via tapbacks.
- Text formats including bold, italic and underline.
- Animated text effects.
- Send encrypted messages via satellite when there is no mobile signal.
- Single view grid with recent photos on top.
- Automatic organization into collections such as trips, people and animals.
- New carousel view with featured/favorite photos.
- Filter screenshots and view them by month/year.
- Tap to cash for payments between friends and family in the Wallet app.
- Game mode for higher frame rates and improved AirPods audio on iPhone.
Which iPhones support iOS 18?
The iPhone 16 will come with iOS 18 pre-installed when it is released on September 20.
Apple
Apple has confirmed that iOS 18 can be downloaded on the following iPhone models:
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone SE (second generation or later).
Before diving into all the shiny new features that iOS 18 has to offer, it’s essential to make sure your iPhone is ready for the update.
If you regularly update your iPhone, the download for this latest package should be around 4GB.
To make room for it, start checking your storage by going to Settings>General> iPhone storage. Now, delete those old apps or photos that you no longer need.
How to backup your iPhone for iOS 18
It is also recommended that you backup your device to iCloud or your computer before downloading a major update. To do that, follow these steps:
This method can be done automatically or manually:
- Connect to Wi-Fi
- Go to settings > your name > iCloud
- Tap iCloud Backup
- Toggle the switch to enable automatic backups
- To force a backup, tap Back Up Now
- To view backups, go to settings > your name > iCloud > manage account storage > backups.
Make sure you have enough storage and backup space on your iPhone before downloading iOS 18
Apple
To back up your iPhone to a computer, you can use Finder (for macOS Catalina and later) or iTunes (for Windows PC and earlier versions of macOS).
Backup with Finder (macOS Catalina and later)
- Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.
- Open Finder, and your iPhone will appear under “Locations” in the sidebar.
- If asked, enter your device passcode and tap “Trust”.
- Click on your iPhone in the Finder sidebar.
- In the “General” tab, select “Back up all data to this Mac.”
- To encrypt your backup, check “Encrypt local backup” and set a password.
- Click “Back Up Now” and wait for the process to finish.
Backup with iTunes (Windows PC or macOS Mojave and earlier)
- Make sure you have installed the latest version of iTunes.
- Connect your iPhone to your computer with a USB cable.
- Open iTunes, and if asked, enter your device passcode and trust the computer.
- Select your iPhone by clicking the device icon near the top left of the iTunes window.
- If you want to encrypt the backup, check “Encrypt local backup” and set a password.
- Click “Back Up Now” and wait for the process to finish.
If you are wary of bugs, it may be wise to wait a few weeks before updating. Like previous versions, iOS 18 could put more strain on your battery, especially if you have an older iPhone. Holding allows you to wait for a patch, so you can enjoy a smoother experience.
In addition to iOS 18, Apple also announced that new software updates for iPad, Mac and Apple Watch devices will be released on September 16.
iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia and watchOS 11 should be available for your other devices now.
This is a departure from Apple’s usual practice, as Mac software updates usually arrived a week after the iPhone and iPad in previous years.