In today’s edition of Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman writes that users should expect updates to the iPhone home screen as part of iOS 18. Although light on details, he says iOS 18 will make the home screen “more customizable”. Update: MacRumors says one of the changes will mean that iPhone users will be able to place app icons freely on the grid, making gaps on the screen possible for the first time.
Apple apparently believes iOS 18 will be its biggest update ever. AI will be a key focus, with artificial intelligence powered features integrated across the operating system. Apple may also integrate chatbot functionality via Google’s Gemini.
Apple is keen to ‘catch up’ with other tech giants and present a cohesive AI strategy. Gurman says iOS 18 will include a plethora of AI features that “will help manage your daily life”.
Previously, reports have indicated Apple is working on things like Siri improvements, AI-generated playlists for Apple Music, AI document generation in iWork suite, smarter reply suggestions in Messages and more.
iOS 18 will be announced at WWDC in June, alongside other’s Apple operating systems: iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, visionOS 2, and the new version of macOS. Apple releases the first developer betas in June, ahead of a public release in the fall, probably alongside the new iPhone 16 lineup launch in September.
We are anticipating Apple will confirm the WWDC 2024 date in the next couple of weeks, as March or April is when Apple typically announces the event and sends out invites.
Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
