iOS 18 just started rolling out to iOS 18 compatible devices on September 16th, but Apple is already preparing to release its next major update, iOS 18.1.
These decimal updates are typically more incremental than revolutionary, but Apple’s first post-launch iOS update this year will be bigger than iOS 18 itself. Yes, it’s finally happening. Apple Intelligence is coming to compatible iPhones as part of iOS 18.1.
Of course, this isn’t the only change coming in Apple’s next software update. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Garman, the update is scheduled to be released on September 28th. We’ve rounded up five of the biggest new features below.
Apple intelligence features
This is important. Apple Intelligence debuts on compatible iPhones as part of iOS 18.1. A full list of eligible devices can be found in the Apple Intelligence Compatibility Guide, but for iPhone, specifically iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or iPhone is required. . 16 Pro Max.
Unfortunately, not all Apple Intelligence features are available in iOS 18.1, and availability is limited to US English for now, but many of Apple’s core AI features will debut in the coming weeks. It’s planned. Some of them are highlighted below.
- Siri: Apple’s new and improved Siri assistant is more natural, more contextual, and overall much smarter than before. For questions you can’t answer on your own, you can pass queries to ChatGPT (with your permission), and when you invoke Siri, it triggers a pretty neat glow animation across your device.
- writing utensils: Apple’s suite of AI-powered writing tools helps you proofread your text, rewrite it in your chosen tone of voice, and quickly reply to messages and emails.
- Features of the photo: For the Photos app, Apple Intelligence introduced a cleanup. This allows you to erase unnecessary people and objects from your images. Memory Movie creates image slideshows based on written prompts. and natural language search.
- overview: Apple Intelligence can provide summaries (i.e., easy-to-read digests) of emails, phone calls, voice recordings, and even notifications.
Regarding Apple Intelligence features that will not be included in iOS 18.1, Apple is reportedly planning to release Image Playground and Genmoji in a future iOS update. The former allows users to create generated images in various iPhone apps like Messages and Notes, while the latter is essentially a custom emoji generator.
Moving on to non-AI (and non-device-only) features, iOS 18.1 opens up features on the iPhone. NFC We are making our chips available to third-party developers for the first time. What exactly does this mean?
This essentially allows non-Apple developers to enable contactless transactions within their apps. apple’s wordsin-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transportation, corporate badges, student IDs, house keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and perks, and event tickets. Government ID will be available at a later date ” In other words, your iPhone could soon replace your wallet.
Naturally, developers interested in accessing the NFC chip mentioned above will need to “enter into a commercial agreement with Apple.” […] But given the number of contactless iPhone owners around the world, I don’t think they’d hesitate to do so.
Upgraded iPhone mirroring
iPhone mirroring – which lets you control your iPhone from your MacBook’s screen as long as it’s running macOS Sequoia and iOS 18 – was one of the features that got us most excited at WWDC 2024, but iOS 18 Early functionality was limited.
Thankfully, iOS 18.1 adds the ability to seamlessly drag and drop files between your iPhone and MacBook (works both ways in iOS 18.1 beta), making iPhone mirroring an even more useful tool. . We hope Apple improves this feature further by adding audio input passthrough in a future update.
Control Center minor upgrade
iOS 18 introduced the ability to customize your Control Center, but if you get creative, you’ll be happy to know that iOS 18.1 adds a “Reset Control Center” option to the Settings app (Apple’s That’s the best way).
Another small but welcome Control Center tweak. According to MacRumors, iOS 18.1 will allow you to add separate Control Center buttons for Wi-Fi and VPN. All connection switches are currently bundled into one widget.
Camera-controlled selfie options
Last but not least, for iPhone 16 users only, iOS 18.1 makes the camera control button compatible with the selfie camera.
To switch to the selfie camera using camera controls, open the camera app, tap the camera control button twice, and then[カメラ]You need to go to options and scroll all the way to the left. There you’ll find a new selfie option.
