Apple thinks iOS 18 might be the ‘biggest’ iOS update ever

January 29, 2024

2 min read

iOS 18 is slated to be announced at WWDC in June, and it’s shaping up to be a big update with a ton of new artificial intelligence features. In a new report today, Bloomberg once again says Apple sees iOS 18 as “one of the biggest iOS updates — if not the biggest — in the company’s history.”

What to expect from iOS 18?

Back in November, Bloomberg reported that Apple was hoping iOS 18 could be its most “ambitious and compelling” update in years. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter published today, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that sentiment hasn’t changed.

In addition to the major new AI features, Gurman says “there’s a lot more” coming to the iPhone with iOS 18. “Apple’s head of software engineering, Craig Federighi, told employees last year that the OS — codenamed Crystal — will have ambitious changes all around,” Gurman reports.

“I’m told that the new operating system is seen within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates — if not the biggest — in the company’s history. With that knowledge, Apple’s developers conference in June should be pretty exciting.”

Gurman has previously reported that Apple is planning a number of new AI integrations throughout iOS 18:

A revamped version of Siri that is more intelligent and able to take advantage of a new AI system that incorporates large language model technology
AI integration in the Messages app that can “field questions and auto-complete sentences”
New AI features for Apple Music to create “auto-generated playlists”
Integrating generative AI into iWork apps, including Keynote and Pages
Adding generative AI features to Xcode to let developers “write new applications more quickly”

There aren’t any additional details on new features in iOS 18 right now. Still, it seems clear that Apple has a lot planned beyond its array of new AI features.