Look, this update is going to be about AI. Everything in the tech world is about AI now, so why shouldn’t iOS updates follow suit? iOS 17 was the first update Apple released post-ChatGPT, and while the company steered clear of using the phrase AI, they didn’t shy away from adding new features powered by artificial intelligence.
However, the tech world is hoping that iOS 18 will be the AI update that Apple enthusiasts have been waiting for. Apple has been playing catch-up internally when it comes to generative AI since the unforeseen fate of ChatGPT, and we got to see the final effects of those efforts in iOS 18. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s development team explored How to use your LLM (Large Language Models) with iOS, as well as the rest of your Apple software.
Siri, for example, could recently launch in iOS 18 with chatbot features similar to ChatGPT or Google Bard. You can find AI equipment to help you generate text in Pages, slides in Keynote, and playlists in Apple Music. It all depends on what Apple does, which really considers it to be prime time once WWDC takes place in June. Moreover, it’s conceivable that the AI features announced for iOS 18 will never make it out of beta testing. We still can’t, like the collaborative playlists on Apple Music, that even if they announced them as part of a first update, and I’m sure that will be the case with something as complex as AI.
However, regardless of what Apple does internally between now and June, rest assured that at least some of its AI exploits will make their way to iOS 18.
The question isn’t “if” yet “when” Apple will load RCS on iOS. Back in November, we learned that Apple was officially running to move beyond the SMS/iMessage dichotomy by uploading RCS into the mix, so that iPhone users can send text messages to their Android Friends without it being a depressing experience.
Here’s a quick rundown of the scenario if you don’t know: Unlike Android developers like Google and Samsung, Apple has refused to adopt the more modern RCS messaging protocol for iOS. On the other hand, they also keep iMessage closed only for Apple devices. This means that unless you’re using iMessaging with some other Apple user, you want to send text messages to the touch via SMS, an old, outdated, and insecure form of messaging. That’s why the organization’s chats are miserable, the photographs are of poor quality. And the texts are – breathless – green.
Apple will definitely adopt RCS this year, which means that iPhone and Android, regardless, will get along better. (RCS will most likely retain the green bubble, though. )It remains to be seen if it will be scaled back with iOS 18, but it would make sense for Apple to do so.
According to MacRumors sources, Apple is planning on adding accessibility upgrades to not just iOS 18, but macOS 15 as well. “Adaptive Voice Shortcuts,” for example, should allow you to set a custom phrase to trigger a specific accessibility shortcut. There’s not a ton of info on this one, but presumably, you could map a phrase like “Turn on VoiceOver” to enable VoiceOver.
Next up: categories for Live Speech phrases. Live Speech is a feature that enables your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to read phrases out loud in a voice of your choosing—including your own. The feature currently allows you to save commonly used phrases so you can access them quickly, and this year’s big updates will reportedly let you organize those phrases into categories. You’ll be able to pick from 20 different icons to attach to each category, too.
Finally, macOS 15 is rumored to bring adjustable text sizes to the Books, News, Stocks, Tips, and Weather apps. This feature will let you change the text size in specific apps, rather than change the text size for macOS as a whole. (The feature currently works in Calendar, Finder, Mail, Messages, Notes.)
Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.