Apple's iOS 18 may be 'the biggest' software update in iPhone history, report says

Apple’s upcoming iOS 18 software update may be “the biggest” in the company’s history, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. iOS 18 is expected to be announced at Apple’s annual WWDC event in June.

“I’m told that the new operating system is seen within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates–if not the biggest–in the company’s history,” Gurman wrote in his latest Power On newsletter. “With that knowledge, Apple’s developers conference in June should be pretty exciting.”

The news comes a few months after Gurman reported that Apple was hoping for iOS 18 to be its most “ambitious and compelling” update in years.

Although the latest report doesn’t detail any specifics, Gurman has previously reported that Apple is planning to launch a newer version of Siri that leverages a new AI system. Apple is also expected to launch new features that improve how both Siri and the Messages app can auto-complete sentences and field questions. Plus, Apple Music is expected to get auto-generated playlists, which is something that Spotify introduced last year.

Apple is said to be looking at integrating generative AI into development tools like Xcode to allow developers to write new applications faster. In addition, Apple’s productivity apps, like Pages and Keynotes, should also be getting generative AI updates.

iOS 18 could also bring RCS support, as Apple revealed back in November that it plans to add support for the RCS standard on iOS in 2024. At the time, Apple said it believes that “RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS.” The major reversal follows public pressure on Apple to add support for RCS to iPhones. It’s worth noting that although Apple plans to adopt RCS, it has confirmed that messages sent from an Android user to an iPhone will still be displayed in green bubbles.

We’re still four months away from the big iOS 18 reveal, so we may learn more about the software update as we get closer to the official announcement over the next few months.

Apple to finally bring RCS to iPhones