iOS 18 Speculation Thread

[gwhizkids]

Now that we’ve experienced the dramatic release of a Release Candidate, let’s do some proper speculation: what will 18.3 bring?

My guess is that it brings further refinements and enhancements to the various Apple Intelligence tools, just like we saw Writing Tools gain some new capabilities in 18.2.

So I expect the following possible things:

- A dramatic improvement to Visual Intelligence (which for 18.2 could have been called Visual Dumbth)

- More refinement of Writing Tools (hopefully a bit more aggressive than it has been thus far for proofreading)

- improvements to Playgrounds. Hopefully making it easier to do people and more customization options.

Things I’d like to see:

- better sketching capability for Image Wand

- Gemini integration (supposedly it’s coming next year, but 18.3 will be “next year”)

- more ease of use for Genmoji

 

[Benz63amg]

I signed in. But I may sign out to see if the experience is any different

Same here. I just signed out to see what difference it makes. I don’t notice any difference as of yet, please let me know if you spot anything and whether having it one way or the other has a significant advantage. Do you think it’s less resource intensive on the iPhone when signed out? ( signed in vs signed out?)

Loving 18.2 and the AI features so far, great update

 

[Kal Madda]

I’m watching to see if iOS 18.3 beta will add additional options to the “Default Apps” section. I’m guessing they will eventually add options for default apps to open specific file types. I’m also thinking that the Control Center may gain some additional system control options. And I’m sure that Siri Shortcuts will probably gain some improvements and some new actions, though 18.4 will probably be a bigger update for Shortcuts judging by the rumors. Also, maybe this is unlikely, but I’d still like to see it anyways: AirPlay Receiver that allows me to cast my iPhone’s display to my iPad. I can’t believe they still don’t support this. We’re so close, but so painfully far away. I can Facetime with someone else and control their device’s display, but I can’t even mirror my display from one device to another? This is so agonizing. Hopefully in iPadOS 19 they bring iPhone Mirroring. Maybe in iPadOS 18 they can sneak in an upgrade to the already existing AirPlay Receiver that allows it to mirror the iPhone…

Beyond that, I’m guessing that the Apple Intelligence features will likely receive several improvements. We may even get some brand new Apple Intelligence or Apple Intelligence adjacent features as well.

 

[JCCL]

Did the guys that pre-order Androids canceled their orders?

Apple released the RC just as I was to check out with my S24 ultra in Amazon. They realized I wasn’t bluffing

 

[Stiille]

I hope they will add standard reminder app for the standard apps section with 18.3 or later.
That would be neat!
Using things3 right now and love it, but don’t love that I have to say „in things remind me of…“
Instead of „remind me…“

 

[Benz63amg]

Is anyone else on 18.2 seeing

“Your network settings prevent content from loading privately.“ when trying to view emails in the mail app?​

 

[gwhizkids]

Gurman about to get Community Noted on X

 

[Kal Madda]

Gurman about to get Community Noted on X

“My guess was completely off, but I’ve decided it was due to Apple delaying the release…” - Mark Gurman 😂🤣

 

[Kal Madda]

“The future I predicted didn’t come true because someone stubbornly decided not to do what I predicted they would do…” - Mark Gurman 😂🤣

 

[john991]

So… iOS 18.3 beta 1 Tuesday. 😁 now for @gwhizkids prediction of what’s in 18.3 I’ll add possibly a ‘smarter Siri’…

 

[gwhizkids]

“My guess was completely off, but I’ve decided it was due to Apple delaying the release…” - Mark Gurman

Precisely.

 

[gwhizkids]

So… iOS 18.3 beta 1 Tuesday. now for @gwhizkids prediction of what’s in 18.3 I’ll add possibly a ‘smarter Siri’…

I hope a somewhat smarter Siri is in 18.3 but I’m not going to hold my breath. I think 18.4 will be the big update. That’s the one I’ve been waiting for, as much for the features as for what it says about the ability of Apple to deliver on the more complex areas of Apple Intelligence.

 

[Realityck]

I hope a somewhat smarter Siri is in 18.3 but I’m not going to hold my breath. I think 18.4 will be the big update. That’s the one I’ve been waiting for, as much for the features as for what it says about the ability of Apple to deliver on the more complex areas of Apple Intelligence.

Don't be shocked by anything Mark Gurman is wrong about with AI rollout. He generalized Siri changes were part of 18.4 against spring time, but really Apple can roll it out anyway they want until WWDC 2025 shows up, and iOS 19 supposedly is way more into concurrent AI processing.

 

[Kal Madda]

I hope a somewhat smarter Siri is in 18.3 but I’m not going to hold my breath. I think 18.4 will be the big update. That’s the one I’ve been waiting for, as much for the features as for what it says about the ability of Apple to deliver on the more complex areas of Apple Intelligence.

Yeah, it sounds like 18.4 will be a big update from all the rumors! I’m expecting some mild improvements in 18.3, but 18.4 will likely include a lot of the bigger changes. It sounds like Siri Shortcuts will get a big update in 18.4. I’m really hoping they’ll also continue to improve some of the non-Siri stuff, like the aforementioned AirPlay Receiver setting. I have a little bit of hope, since iOS 18 now supports screen sharing and control via FaceTime. I really wish they wouldn’t have limited it to only the Vision Pro in the first place. How much harder would it have been to include support for iPhones and other iPads? Perhaps Macs as well, though Macs already have SideCar. Maybe this will be one of the quiet improvements made in iOS 18, or maybe it will be addressed in iOS 19. I really hope that iPadOS 19 includes iPhone Mirroring. I think there’s technically a way to FaceTime your own devices, but I forget how exactly it works, and I think it requires an internet connection, where AirPlay Receiver just requires WiFi. Oh well, for now I’m thinking I will get a capture card and lightning to HDMI cable to get a similar result.

 

[Pearsey]

At some point I just want the image playground app icon redesigning… it feels so childish.

 

[teeshot44]

At some point I just want the image playground app icon redesigning… it feels so childish.

IMHO the entire app is childish and is relegated to being buried in the app library.

 

[Realityck]

I really hope that iPadOS 19 includes iPhone Mirroring.

What are you expecting using a fixed screen region (split screen) to allow an app that mirrors to work? On the Mac everything is floating windows centric with pull down windows. You can resize mirror representation to be smaller or larger than actual size. You likely would have to use it only in a landscape orientation, along a keyboard that uses function keys that iOS/IPadOS virtual keyboard lacks. On the Mac you also can use pulldown menus. Considering a lot of iOS/IPadOS apps don't run on a Mac guess it's a fair approach to giving each OS some advantages.

 

[Kal Madda]

What are you expecting using a fixed screen region (split screen) to allow an app that mirrors to work? On the Mac everything is floating windows centric with pull down windows. You can resize mirror representation to be smaller or larger than actual size. You likely would have to use it only in a landscape orientation, along a keyboard that uses function keys that iOS/IPadOS virtual keyboard lacks. On the Mac you also can use pulldown menus. Considering a lot of iOS/IPadOS apps don't run on a Mac guess it's a fair approach to giving each OS some advantages.

And they can’t have some black space around the mirrored screen in the app window to adjust for the difference in aspect ratio? That’s what my TV does when I use AirPlay from my iPhone to TV. And FaceTime does this as well, it can mirror and control other people’s iPhone in an app window on the iPad. Why is it possible to mirror and control someone else’s iPhone, but not my own? Why couldn’t they make a version of iPhone Mirroring that would work on iPadOS? The fact a similar feature works in FaceTime proves that this wouldn’t be impossible to replicate on iPadOS. It could add black padding around the mirror on iPads without Stage Manager, and then replicate nearly the exact same kind of window behavior on iPads with Stage Manager enabled. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not crazy upset about the absence of iPhone Mirroring on iPadOS, but I do hope they eventually add it. And I see no reason why they couldn’t add it.

PS, if they’re not going to add iPhone Mirroring to iPadOS (which I think would be pretty silly considering I can mirror and control my friend’s phone from across the country), then they should at least allow us to have simple screen mirroring via AirPlay Receiver. It’s already there, it’s just currently limited to only the Vision Pro, which doesn’t do me any good…

 

[Realityck]

PS, if they’re not going to add iPhone Mirroring to iPadOS (which I think would be pretty silly considering I can mirror and control my friend’s phone from across the country), then they should at least allow us to have simple screen mirroring via AirPlay Receiver. It’s already there, it’s just currently limited to only the Vision Pro, which doesn’t do me any good…

iPhone Mirroring system requirements​

iPhone Mirroring can be used with only one Mac and one iPhone at a time. Your devices must meet these requirements.

• Your computer is a Mac with Apple silicon or Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip and is using macOS Sequoia 15 or later.
• Your iPhone is using iOS 18 or later.
• Your iPhone and Mac are signed in to the same Apple Account using two-factor authentication.
• Your iPhone and Mac have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on.
• Your iPhone is locked and near your Mac. It can also be charging and using StandBy.
• Your iPhone is not sharing its cellular connection (Personal Hotspot is not in use).
• Your Mac is not sharing its internet connection or using AirPlay or Sidecar.

Note this is clearly an example of closeness of the two devices be utilized, not something that works long distance. You have to be able to have the iPhone fairly close to the Mac being used. You connect from the Mac then have to authenticate via log in to the iPhone, then you lock it. Note what can't be done with remote connectivity.

source

 

[Kal Madda]

iPhone Mirroring system requirements​

iPhone Mirroring can be used with only one Mac and one iPhone at a time. Your devices must meet these requirements.

• Your computer is a Mac with Apple silicon or Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip and is using macOS Sequoia 15 or later.
• Your iPhone is using iOS 18 or later.
• Your iPhone and Mac are signed in to the same Apple Account using two-factor authentication.
• Your iPhone and Mac have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on.
• Your iPhone is locked and near your Mac. It can also be charging and using StandBy.
• Your iPhone is not sharing its cellular connection (Personal Hotspot is not in use).
• Your Mac is not sharing its internet connection or using AirPlay or Sidecar.

Note this is clearly an example of closeness of the two devices be utilized, not something that works long distance. You have to be able to have the iPhone fairly close to the Mac being used. You connect from the Mac then have to authenticate via log in to the iPhone, then you lock it. Note what can't be done with connectivity.

source

I know it’s different from the FaceTime feature, but none of those things should be any more resource taxing or impossible for iPadOS than the FaceTime feature. My point exactly is that if iPadOS can allow me to mirror and control someone else’s iPhone from long distance via FaceTime, there shouldn’t be any reason I can’t mirror and control my own iPhone from short distance. I’ve used iPhone Mirroring between my Mac and my iPhone. I see absolutely no reason why it couldn’t be implemented similarly in iPadOS, albeit with a full-screen app window with padding when in full screen or on an iPad with Stage Manager turned off. Otherwise, it could be nearly identical. There’s just zero reason to believe that iPhone Mirroring is impossible to add to iPadOS…

I’m guessing they didn’t include it with iPadOS 18 because they didn’t have the time to develop both a Mac and iPad version simultaneously, so they incorporated part of the functionality into FaceTime, while they work on creating a fully polished version of local iPhone Mirroring for iPadOS. At least that’s my hope.

 

[Realityck]

So… iOS 18.3 beta 1 Tuesday. 😁 now for @gwhizkids prediction of what’s in 18.3 I’ll add possibly a ‘smarter Siri’…

Usually it’s 6 days to the public release going by 16.x/17x release history, but nothing is written in stone with 18.x. Maybe 18.3 beta on Thursday Dec 12th.

 

[HylianKnight]

I suspect iOS 18.3 might see a half cooked implementation of LLM Siri

 

[Realityck]

I suspect iOS 18.3 might see a half cooked implementation of LLM Siri

I always suspected that Siri 2 would be a slow adoption of point releases similar to Universal Control adoption ended up arriving for iPadOS/MacOS by March.

From Sept speculation about 18.3

• The potential inclusion of some Siri enhancements originally planned for iOS 18.4

The 18.4 speculation is mostly Mark Gurman's concerning expectations/delays with upcoming point 18.x releases.

Apples comment is stealthy as usual

Some features will become available in software updates in the coming months

I rather see everything as a work in progress with 18.3/18.4/18.5 for devs/pb testers and remain not fully activated for public releases till it's ready.

 

[Paddle1]

Gurman about to get Community Noted on X

It really happened.

 

[HylianKnight]

It really happened.

View attachment 2459656

Ahh X… The the brightest dumpster fire on the space x launch pad.