Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

It looks like iOS 18’s most exciting feature has been delayed

By
Screenshots of Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.
Apple

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the most anticipated new feature of iOS 18 won’t appear when originally planned. Instead, Apple Intelligence is expected to see a delayed launch.

Apple Intelligence, announced at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, was supposed to be the centerpiece of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 Sequoia. Initially, Apple was expected to allow iPhone developers to begin testing at least some of the components of this all-encompassing AI feature in a future iOS 18 beta this summer. Now, however, Apple is pushing this off to iOS 18.1. As a result, the public may not see the first parts of Apple Intelligence until October or later.

Recommended Videos

This news means the public will see the first version of iOS 18 released in September alongside the new iPhone 16 handsets. Weeks later, iOS 18.1 will be released, including at least some Apple Intelligence features announced at WWDC.

Related

Gurman stated that Apple’s progress on Intelligence tools is slightly slower than anticipated. However, developers will soon get their first look at Apple Intelligence, as the first beta versions of iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 will be released sometime next week.

Examples of how iOS 18's home screen can be customized.
Apple

This is an odd release schedule, meaning there will be two beta versions of iOS 18.x in the wild — the latest beta version of iOS 18.0, and the first beta version of iOS 18.1.

The new iPhone 16 handsets, which are expected to include the regular iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, will almost certainly launch with iOS 18, not iOS 18.1.

Apple Intelligence will likely run on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 series when available. It contains AI tools for writing, focus, communication, and imagery. It also includes a more intelligent Siri, Apple’s voice assistant. It should be noted that parts of Apple Intelligence were never expected to launch with the first version of iOS 18.0, and some weren’t expected to be revealed until the beginning of 2025.

Software delays are not uncommon for companies like Apple. However, in this instance, it will be interesting to see how the delay of Apple Intelligence will impact early sales of the iPhone 16. Previously, we mentioned that Apple has high hopes for the new iPhone 16 series, expecting it to boost slowing iPhone sales from earlier in the year.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Bryan M. Wolfe
Bryan M. Wolfe
Mobile and A/V Freelancer
Bryan M. Wolfe has over a decade of experience as a technology writer. He writes about mobile.
Apple Intelligence arrives with iOS 18.1 next week
Apple Intelligence on the Apple iPhone 16 Plus.

Last month, Apple released iOS 18 right before the launch of iPhone 16. This update introduced several new features, but it did not include the most significant one, Apple Intelligence, which Apple had promised at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. That will change next week.

According to The Wall Street Journal and The Verge, which have examined Apple’s upcoming AirPods Pro 2’s hearing health features, iOS 18.1 will arrive sometime next week. Apple had previously said it would launch before the end of the month, and this seems to confirm that.

Read more
Tim Cook wants you to know he’s confident in Apple’s AI future
Apple's September 2023 event Tim Cook

If you own an iPhone 16 series, you likely purchased it to be among the first to use Apple Intelligence. However, a month after the latest iPhones were released, this highly anticipated AI suite from the largest company in the world has not yet been released to the public. Tim Cook thinks the wait will be worth it.

In a long-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Apple CEO defends his company’s speed at which it is introducing AI into its products. He also sees a bright future for Apple Vision, even though the first product in a likely series of alternate reality devices, the very expensive Apple Vision Pro, has largely failed to catch on with most users.

Read more
iPhone 17 ‘Slim’ leaks focus on sharp looks but modest specs
A render of the iPhone Air.

Apple is once again prepping to overhaul the iPhone portfolio next year, and it seems a lot of interesting upgrades are on their way. The most notable among those is apparently the introduction of a new iPhone 17 "slim" model, which some rumors are also referring to as the “Air” trim.

So far, leaks have focused on the phone’s dramatic aesthetic makeover. Specifically, it could be the slimmest iPhone ever made. Moreover, it will make a stark departure from the current design language at Apple. And if the renders floating around social media are to be believed, an all-metal build is on the horizon.

Read more