Apple Unveils iOS 18, iPadOS 18 with AI Upgrades, Customisation Options

The marquee addition is Apple Intelligence, the company's new on-device AI system.

At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 keynote, Apple announced the next versions of its mobile operating systems, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. The updates will introduce significant new artificial intelligence capabilities from Apple Intelligence, major improvements to system apps like Messages and Photos, and increased customisation options on iPad and iPhone. 

The Control Centre is will be more customisible with multiple pages and third-party controls. Siri is being redesigned with a new interface, contextual awareness, and typing input. The assistant will also gain on-device contextual awareness and the ability to operate apps directly, thanks to Apple Intelligence. 

Under the hood, iOS 18 takes advantage of Apple's powerful processors on supported devices with AI features such as automatic notification prioritisation, proofreading and summarising text across apps, and image creation with Apple Intelligence. The company's new in-house neural networks promise privacy-focused personalisation while keeping user data secure on-device. 

Messages gets long-awaited RCS support for higher-quality chats with Android users, and scheduled messages in iMessage. The Messages app also introduces "tapbacks" with any emoji and text formatting options. Satellite messaging is also coming to Messages on the iPhone 14 and above.

Maps gets topographic views for hiking, and there's also now a Game Mode to improve responsiveness while gaming. A new Passwords app makes it easier to manage credentials stored in a user's iCloud Keychain.

iPadOS 18 gets all the same changes and adds multitasking capabilities. The iPad is finally getting a native Calculator app with advanced equation solving. In addition to Apple Intelligence and the same redesigned Photos app, the tablet OS gains an Apple Pencil-powered Math Notes experience, floating tab bars for navigation, and SmartScript to digitise handwriting. 

The Developer betas are available today, with public betas coming in July and final releases this fall.