iOS 18 SUPERGUIDE

What’s coming with the iPhone’s next operating system, and what can it do for you? Find out with our in–depth guide

- IAN OSBORNE

ARE YOU EXCITED? This year's update to the iPhone's operating system is iOS 18, and there are some major changes coming.

The most important update is the introduction of Apple Intelligence, which Apple describes as "the personal intelligence system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac". It's integrated into all three device categories, and it offers opportunities to create text and pictures right there on your iPhone.

The Home Screen and Lock Screen have been overhauled. with new ways of customizing your iPhone. You can even change the color of the app icons. Control Center also gets a boost, with opportunities to adapt it to your own needs. You can add far more controls, and spread them across multiple pages too.

The popular Photos app gets its biggest ever redesign, including a new Collections feature that organizes photographs into themes without you having to create albums manually. You can customize the text in Messages, and if your cellular and Wi-Fi connections are down, you can send a message by satellite. Look out too for enhancements to Mail and Safari, the introduction of Game Mode, a great new Passwords app and new features for AirPods, Home and Apple TV. It's all in this year's OS update!

Which iPhones can run iOS 18?

As you'd expect, the update to iOS 18 drops support for a few handsets. If you have an iPhone 8 or an iPhone X, you can't update. Some of the operating system's exciting Apple Intelligence features are limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and later too, as they require a lot of processing power. But even if you don't have the latest iPhone model, there's still a lot to enjoy.

Apple Intelligence for high-end iPhones