iOS 18 Speculation Thread

[dannyyankou]

I doubt they would push things back to iOS 19, since iOS 19 is still most of a year away from public release.

But you know what’s interesting? Apple never said all the features would be coming with iOS 18. They just said they would be coming over the course of the year, so it wouldn’t even technically be pushed back because they never promised it on iOS 18 publicly. Maybe internal plans have changed, but that’s just based on assumptions and rumors.

 

[Kal Madda]

That page about Apple Intelligence was written months ago, before they supposedly had complications and needed to push things out. Apple doesn't always keep those pages up-to-date. (They finally removed the verbiage about CarPlay arriving in 2024 not too long ago.)

Their more recent press releases about the iPhone 16e and Apple Intelligence's April update only mention new languages coming in April. They don't mention anything new coming to Apple Intelligence (besides it being released in the EU and coming to the Vision Pro).

The last article does state the following, which I take to mean in the coming months after the April update.

They edited it the same day they announced the iPhone 16e, and the part about new Apple Intelligence features coming early April was something new they added.

Edit: I stand corrected, way back machine shows that part was there in December. Still, Apple’s site is right more often than not. 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

But you know what’s interesting? Apple never said all the features would be coming with iOS 18. They just said they would be coming over the course of the year, so it wouldn’t even technically be pushed back because they never promised it on iOS 18 publicly. Maybe internal plans have changed, but that’s just based on assumptions and rumors.

What? Every Apple Intelligence feature they announced at WWDC24 was announced as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15. Chances are extremely slim they would push back Apple Intelligence features all the way back most of a year, when the rumors indicate that if they’ve been delayed, they’ve been delayed to 18.5. Releasing the features in 18.5 would make far more sense than waiting all the way until late this year. It’s not as if iOS 19 is only a couple months away. It’s most of a year away. What would they do with 18.5, 18.6, 18.7, etc.? Would they just be twiddling their thumbs with those updates? I just see absolutely no reason to come to that conclusion, it makes zero sense.

 

[drak22]

With the release of the first public beta yesterday, I don't think we'll see a new beta of 18.4 this week.
We'll see a first beta of iOS 18.5 if the rumors that we'll see the two beta cycles simultaneously come true.

 

[LutzRFrank]

With the release of the first public beta yesterday, I don't think we'll see a new beta of 18.4 this week.
We'll see a first beta of iOS 18.5 if the rumors that we'll see the two beta cycles simultaneously come true.

I highly doubt that rumor. Two different builds in parallel make no sense in my eyes

 

[BigBlur]

They edited it the same day they announced the iPhone 16e, and the part about new Apple Intelligence features coming early April was something new they added.

No, the bit about new features coming in April was added in December, immediately after the release of 18.2.

Here's what that page looked like on December 11th.

 

[Kal Madda]

No, the bit about new features coming in April was added in December, immediately after the release of 18.2.

Here's what that page looked like on December 11th.

View attachment 2485915

Ok, I guess I thought the whole portion was new, but just the part specifying the languages and the “early April” were. Thanks for sharing that. More often than not, Apple’s website is correct though. The CarPlay thing is an outlier, and as I understand it, was mostly due to automakers not cooperating very well. Maybe Priority Notifications will be it as far as Apple Intelligence goes in 18.4. I’d be perfectly fine with that. I just think it’s interesting that it says features plural. I mean, thinking about it, I guess they could technically consider the Sketch style in Image Playground as a new Apple Intelligence feature, but I wouldn’t be shocked if we see some more things in future 18.4 betas. I’ll be happy either way, but I’m just saying it wouldn’t be the first time we see features that weren’t ready for the first beta drop in later betas for an iOS update.

 

[Stiille]

I highly doubt that rumor. Two different builds in parallel make no sense in my eyes

They did it at the beginning of iOS 18 betas, so it could be that they do it again

 

[Kal Madda]

They did it at the beginning of iOS 18 betas, so it could be that they do it again

Yeah, while I wouldn’t say I’m confident they will do that or anything, 18 has had quite a few departures from the patterns of beta cycles from prior years. They already have done this two betas overlapping thing twice in the 18 beta cycle. So I think it is a plausible idea, even if I’m unsure that it would be likely. 👍🏻

 

[LutzRFrank]

They did it at the beginning of iOS 18 betas, so it could be that they do it again

But wasn’t that to split AI capable and not-capable units?

 

[drak22]

But wasn’t that to split AI capable and not-capable units?

It was to test the AI, it didn't make sense to release a beta to devices that weren't compatible with what they wanted to test.
Now they're supposedly having problems making Siri smarter, I don't see why they don't start a beta process to test it, because it seems like it needs it.

 

[Kal Madda]

But wasn’t that to split AI capable and not-capable units?

No, I think it was to get the AI features more time for testing and to get the AI stuff out faster if I recall correctly. So similar could make some sense in this situation, though I’m not sure they’ll do that now at this point.

 

[dannyyankou]

What? Every Apple Intelligence feature they announced at WWDC24 was announced as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15. Chances are extremely slim they would push back Apple Intelligence features all the way back most of a year, when the rumors indicate that if they’ve been delayed, they’ve been delayed to 18.5. Releasing the features in 18.5 would make far more sense than waiting all the way until late this year. It’s not as if iOS 19 is only a couple months away. It’s most of a year away. What would they do with 18.5, 18.6, 18.7, etc.? Would they just be twiddling their thumbs with those updates? I just see absolutely no reason to come to that conclusion, it makes zero sense.

But even though they said Apple Intelligence is coming in beta in iOS 18, that doesn’t mean all the features are guaranteed in iOS 18. If you actually go to the Apple intelligence press release, there’s only a few Apple Intelligence features that they confirmed for sure in iOS 18.

And in the fine print it says “features are subject to change”. Case in point, next gen CarPlay.

 

[Kal Madda]

But even though they said Apple Intelligence is coming in beta in iOS 18, that doesn’t mean all the features are guaranteed in iOS 18. If you actually go to the Apple intelligence press release, there’s only a few Apple Intelligence features that they confirmed for sure in iOS 18.

And in the fine print it says “features are subject to change”. Case in point, next gen CarPlay.

As I’ve pointed out though, the CarPlay thing is the rare outlier, not the norm… Apple announced the Apple Intelligence features and enhanced Siri as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 at WWDC24.

And what’s the rationale behind this idea that Apple would push these features all the way back to a late this year release in iOS 19? How does that make any sense? They wouldn’t do anything with 18.5, 18.6, 18.7, etc.? This seems like an idea for the ideas sake with no clear rational or explanation for it.

It’s far more likely Apple would drop these features in future 18 updates rather than pushing back features they promised at WWDC24 to WWDC25. At the very least you have to admit that even if you don’t agree that they “technically” promised them for 18 (they billed them as iOS 18 features at WWDC24 in the presentation), that’s the way most would interpret it and they would face media flogging for pushing something like that back into iOS 19. What, are they going to “announce” these features again at WWDC25? With CarPlay, it’s more forgiving because it’s more of a minor thing that got a very brief mention, and it’s implementation is reliant on factors outside of Apple’s control: the cooperation of automakers. These Siri enhancements and Apple Intelligence features were some of the primary focus at WWDC25 and the biggest features that are slated for 18. If Apple pushed them back to 19, that would be really bad PR. I see no reason why Apple would choose to do that.

Again, this just feels like an idea for the sake of the idea. There is absolutely no reason to believe they would do that rather than drop these features in an 18 update like 18.5, 18.6, 18.7, etc. And let’s not forget there’s still a possibility they could appear in a later 18.4 beta. I don’t see any logic or reasons to believe this…

 

[dannyyankou]

As I’ve pointed out though, the CarPlay thing is the rare outlier, not the norm… Apple announced the Apple Intelligence features and enhanced Siri as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 at WWDC24.

And what’s the rationale behind this idea that Apple would push these features all the way back to a late this year release in iOS 19? How does that make any sense? They wouldn’t do anything with 18.5, 18.6, 18.7, etc.? This seems like an idea for the ideas sake with no clear rational or explanation for it.

It’s far more likely Apple would drop these features in future 18 updates rather than pushing back features they promised at WWDC24 to WWDC25. At the very least you have to admit that even if you don’t agree that they “technically” promised them for 18 (they billed them as iOS 18 features at WWDC24 in the presentation), that’s the way most would interpret it and they would face media flogging for pushing something like that back into iOS 19. What, are they going to “announce” these features again at WWDC25? With CarPlay, it’s more forgiving because it’s more of a minor thing that got a very brief mention, and it’s implementation is reliant on factors outside of Apple’s control: the cooperation of automakers. These Siri enhancements and Apple Intelligence features were some of the primary focus at WWDC25 and the biggest features that are slated for 18. If Apple pushed them back to 19, that would be really bad PR. I see no reason why Apple would choose to do that.

Again, this just feels like an idea for the sake of the idea. There is absolutely no reason to believe they would do that rather than drop these features in an 18 update like 18.5, 18.6, 18.7, etc. And let’s not forget there’s still a possibility they could appear in a later 18.4 beta. I don’t see any logic or reasons to believe this…

To the first bolded point, bugs. If you go back, you could actually find lots of examples of Apple delaying features. AirDrop transfers over internet, Apple Music collaborative playlists, live activities, iCloud shared photo library, SharePlay, universal control, and I can go on and on.

To the second bolded point, I’m not making any predictions. It’s just that until Apple announced a release date to these features, I’m going to have very low expectations. That worked out for me the past couple months. And hey, if they push the features out quickly, it’ll be a nice surprise.

I’ll tell you what though, the fact that they’re even having trouble with 18.4 on non-Apple Intelligence devices doesn’t make me too optimistic.

 

[Kal Madda]

To the first bolded point, bugs. If you go back, you could actually find lots of examples of Apple delaying features. AirDrop transfers over internet, Apple Music collaborative playlists, live activities, iCloud shared photo library, SharePlay, universal control, and I can go on and on.

To the second bolded point, I’m not making any predictions. It’s just that until Apple announced a release date to these features, I’m going to have very low expectations. That worked out for me the past couple months. And hey, if they push the features out quickly, it’ll be a nice surprise.

I’ll tell you what though, the fact that they’re even having trouble with 18.4 on non-Apple Intelligence devices doesn’t make me too optimistic.

I’m not sure that all of those things were delayed an entire update cycle. And even if they were, none of those were the headlining features of those update cycles. You’re suggesting that Apple would delay the headline features of iOS 18… There’s practically zero chance that happens…

 

[dannyyankou]

I’m not sure that all of those things were delayed an entire update cycle. And even if they were, none of those were the headlining features of those update cycles. You’re suggesting that Apple would delay the headline features of iOS 18… There’s practically zero chance that happens…

I hope you’re right. But if I had a nickel for each time you said something along these lines the past couple weeks… lol