Apple today released the third beta of watchOS 11 to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to give the new features a try ahead of when the software launches this fall. The third beta comes two weeks after the second beta.
watchOS 11 can be downloaded after signing up on Apple's beta software website and upgrading your iPhone to the public beta version of iOS 18. You'll need to open up the Watch app on iPhone, go to General, select Software Update, and choose the watchOS 11 Public Beta option under Beta Updates.
With watchOS 11, Apple added a new Vitals app that can be used to give you a daily overview of your health metrics, letting you know if anything is out of the ordinary. It compares information collected at night like heart rate, sleep, respiratory rate, and oxygen level to your levels over the previous weeks.
Smart Stack has new widgets like Translate and Shazam, plus it's smarter because it is able to suggest widgets based on time, date, location, and daily routine. Interactive widgets let you access app features from the Smart Stack, and it also supports Live Activities.
Training Load is a new way of measuring how the intensity and duration of workouts impact the body over time, with Apple providing an effort level for cardio-based workouts to help you know when to rest and when to push harder.
You can now customize your Activity Ring requirements for different days of the week, and Apple added support for rest days. Taking a break from activity will no longer ruin a streak because you can pause for a day, a week, a month, or more.
Other new features include more workout types, Check In for Messages, a revamped Photos watch face, improvements to Double Tap, and more, with additional information available in our watchOS 11 roundup.
Apple today released the third public beta of tvOS 18, giving the general public a chance to try out the new features ahead of the software's fall launch. The third beta comes a week after the second beta.
Public beta testers can download the tvOS 18 beta by opening up the Settings app on Apple TV, choosing the Software Updates section under System, and then toggling on the Get Public Beta Updates option. Signing up on Apple's public beta website is required to get the option to show up.
tvOS 18 isn't as feature rich as some of Apple's other updates, but it brings a new InSight feature to the Apple TV app. InSight is similar to Amazon X-Ray, providing real-time information about actors, music, and more in Apple TV+ shows and movies.
The Enhanced Dialogue feature uses computational audio and machine learning to better boost vocal clarity over background noise and music, plus it works with built-in TV speakers, AirPods, and other Bluetooth devices. Subtitles have been tweaked to show up automatically when relevant, such as when the TV is muted.
Apple added new screen savers and made it easier to swap between them, plus there's 21:9 aspect ratio support for projectors and an option for Live Captions during FaceTime calls.
Apple Vision Pro users can now explore an immersive SpongeBob SquarePants-themed environment with the Paramount+ app.
The new experience debuts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the iconic animated series. Upon launching the Paramount+ app on the device, users can select the new environment, which takes them to the familiar setting of Bikini Bottom featuring locations such as SpongeBob's pineapple house, Patrick Star's rock, and Squidward Tentacles' house.
When users start streaming content on Paramount+, the environment adapts. The sun sets in Bikini Bottom, and the screen moves to a position near SpongeBob's house. The character himself appears, sitting down with popcorn.
The update to the Paramount+ app also introduces an interactive game where users can catch jellyfish. By looking at jellyfish and tapping their fingers together, users can catch them with a net that appears on the screen.
Yesterday, Disney+ introduced a new Iceland environment in collaboration with National Geographic, and Apple itself recently added a Lake Vrangla environment, with a Bora Bora option slated for release later in 2024 as part of visionOS 2.
Apple is preparing to release a minor iOS 17.6.1 update for the iPhone, according to a post shared today by an anonymous leaker on X, formerly known as Twitter. The leaker has a private account, so we are not identifying it or linking to it, but they have proven to be a consistently accurate source for upcoming iOS updates.
MacRumors can independently confirm that Apple is internally testing an iOS 17.6.1 update, which is present in our analytics logs.
Nothing is known about iOS 17.6.1, beyond the leaker claiming that the update will have a build number of 21G93. However, the update will almost certainly be a minor one, especially given that Apple is focused on iOS 18 and iOS 18.1 beta testing. iPhone users still running iOS 17 can expect the update to include bug fixes and/or security patches.
It is unclear when iOS 17.6.1 will be released to the public, but updates revealed by this leaker typically become available within a few weeks after they post on social media. The update will likely be released in the first half of August.
Some of the prompts used to direct Apple Intelligence reveal how Apple is attempting to avoid hallucinations and ensure accuracy in its AI features.
A Reddit user discovered the pre-prompt instructions embedded in Apple's developer beta for macOS 15.1, offering a rare glimpse into the backend of Apple's AI features. They provide specific guidelines for various Apple Intelligence functionalities, such as the Smart Reply feature in Apple Mail and the Memories feature in Apple Photos. The prompts are intended to prevent the AI from generating false information, a phenomenon known as hallucination, and ensure the content produced is appropriate and user-friendly.
For the Smart Reply feature, the AI is programmed to identify relevant questions from an email and generate concise answers. The prompt for this feature is as follows:
You are a helpful mail assistant which can help identify relevant questions from a given mail and a short reply snippet. Given a mail and the reply snippet, ask relevant questions which are explicitly asked in the mail. The answer to those questions will be selected by the recipient which will help reduce hallucination in drafting the response. Please output top questions along with set of possible answers/options for each of those questions. Do not ask questions which are answered by the reply snippet. The questions should be short, no more than 8 words. The answers should be short as well, around 2 words. Present your output in a json format with a list of dictionaries containing question and answers as the keys. If no question is asked in the mail, then output an empty list. Only output valid json and nothing else.
The Memories feature in Apple Photos, which creates video stories from user photos, follows another set of detailed guidelines. The AI is instructed to generate stories that are positive and free of any controversial or harmful content. The prompt for this feature is:
A conversation between a user requesting a story from their photos and a creative writer assistant who responds with a story. Respond in JSON with these keys and values in order: traits: list of strings, visual themes selected from the photos; story: list of chapters as defined below; cover: string, photo caption describing the title card; title: string, title of story; subtitle: string, safer version of the title. Each chapter is a JSON with these keys and values in order: chapter: string, title of chapter; fallback: string, generic photo caption summarizing chapter theme; shots: list of strings, photo captions in chapter. Here are the story guidelines you must obey: The story should be about the intent of the user; The story should contain a clear arc; The story should be diverse, that is, do not overly focus the entire story on one very specific theme or trait; Do not write a story that is religious, political, harmful, violent, sexual, filthy or in any way negative, sad or provocative. Here are the photo caption list guidelines you must obey.
Apple's AI tools also include a general directive to avoid hallucination. For instance, the Writing Tools feature has the following prompt:
You are an assistant which helps the user respond to their mails. Given a mail, a draft response is initially provided based on a short reply snippet. In order to make the draft response nicer and complete, a set of question and its answer are provided. Please write a concise and natural reply by modifying the draft response to incorporate the given questions and their answers. Please limit the reply within 50 words. Do not hallucinate. Do not make up factual information.
Apple Intelligence is set to begin officially rolling out in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 later this year, with new features expected to trickle into updates through to 2025.
Amazon today has discounted the Beats Studio Pro headphones down to a new all-time low price of $173.95, from $349.95. These headphones come with two years of AppleCare+, further increasing the savings on the accessory.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
You can get this deal in Black, Navy, and Sandstone, and the headphones should be delivered between August 8 and August 11. This new deal beats the previous record low price by about $7, and is the first notable discount we've seen on the Beats Studio Pro since Prime Day.
There are a few other Beats discounts on Amazon today, including the Beats Solo 4 headphones for $129.95, down from $199.95; the Beats Fit Pro for $159.95, down from $199.95; and the Beats Studio Buds for $99.95, down from $149.95. Many of these are matches for all-time low prices on these headphones.
Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.
Apple today stopped signing iOS 17.5.1, preventing iPhone users from downgrading to that version of iOS. The update is no longer being signed after the July 29 release of iOS 17.6.
Apple often stops signing an older version of iOS, usually within a week or two after a new version is released. When an update is no longer signed, it can't be installed on an iPhone due to a server-side software verification check.
This policy encourages users to keep their operating systems up to date, ensuring they have the latest security enhancements.
iOS 17.5.1 addressed a corruption bug that could cause deleted photos to reappear on an iPhone. There were no notable features in the iOS 17.6 update, with Apple adding unspecified bug fixes and security updates.
Earlier this year, Apple added the last MacBook Pro with a CD/DVD drive to its obsolete products list, and now it looks like Apple's aging external USB SuperDrive might not be all that far behind.
As noted by 9to5Mac, it's no longer possible to buy a USB SuperDrive online via the official Apple Store in the US. The product listing for the $79 device says that it's "Sold Out," rather than "Currently Unavailable." Apple's Canada online store also lists the device as sold out, and given that it was introduced alongside the original MacBook Air in 2008, Apple is unlikely to make additional units to play what many Mac users would consider to be legacy optical media.
Stock remains available on some of Apple's regional stores, such as the UK, and the USB SuperDrive can still be found elsewhere online at merchants like Amazon, but bear in mind that you'll need a USB-A to USB-C adapter to use it with a modern MacBook. Also, it doesn't play Blu-ray discs. Here's how Apple describes the product:
Whether you're at the office or on the road, you can play and burn both CDs and DVDs with the Apple USB SuperDrive. It's perfect when you want to watch a DVD, install software, create backup discs and more.
Only slightly bigger than a CD case, the Apple USB SuperDrive slips easily into your travel bag when you hit the road, and takes up little space on your desk or tray table when you’re working.
While the majority of Apple's product lineup has been updated over the past few years, there are still a handful of devices and accessories that are quite old and still available on the Apple store.
Apple TV users will soon be able to AirDrop web links in the menu interface to their iPhone or iPad, thanks to a new feature included in the latest tvOS 18 developer beta.
As Apple TV owners will know, it is not possible to browse the web on the set-top box, so web links are not something you traditionally come across in the tvOS interface. That looks set to change with tvOS 18.
In the Apple TV app, Apple is promoting Immersive Videos for Apple Vision Pro, and these include a new button in the description screen that when pressed AirDrops a web link to the user's nearby iOS device. The feature was discovered by Sigmund Judge in the fifth beta of tvOS 18 that was released to developers on Monday.
In a Threads post, Judge shared a video of the feature in action, saying that it "gives a preview for some potentially pretty special integrations including the ability to distribute related media like books, soundtracks and AR experiences to iPhone and iPad."
Apple has yet to use the link sharing button elsewhere in tvOS, but it's easy to see how it could provide a variety of useful functions, such as the ability to handoff content for viewing on other devices.
Coming this fall, tvOS 18 will bring a range of additional new features to Apple TVs, including an InSight feature in the TV app that is able to provide real-time information about actors, music, and more in Apple TV+ shows and music. Other new features include 21:9 aspect ratio support for projectors, new screen savers with improved controls, and support for Live Captions during FaceTime calls through an iPhone or iPad.
According to Gurman, it is "sounding increasingly likely" that the next-generation Apple Watch SE models will use a rigid plastic material instead of aluminum. Plastic can keep costs down, and could appeal to parents who are looking for an Apple Watch for their children.
Apple in July launched a new website that encourages parents to purchase a cellular Apple Watch for their children. The "Apple Watch For Your Kids" campaign highlights the benefits of Apple Watch for younger wearers, such as location tracking, options for calling parents, and activity tracking. Adults can set up watches for their kids with their own iPhone, and there are features for keeping it from being used during school.
With plastic, Apple could also offer the Apple Watch SE in a range of fun colors that are not possible with aluminum. Apple used to sell a plastic iPhone 5c, for example, and it came in vibrant blue, yellow, pink, and green colors. Plastic would also better differentiate the Apple Watch SE from the standard Apple Watch models as the current Apple Watch SE is basically a modified version of the aluminum Apple Watch without the latest features.
The current Apple Watch SE models sell for $250, but shifting to plastic may allow Apple to offer the device at a lower price to better compete with companies that offer more affordably priced smart watches.
The Apple Watch SE could be refreshed as soon as this year.
The wallpaper has not been officially released, and it is not a selectable option from the Wallpapers interface in the Settings app. Instead, it is tucked away in the system files, as noted by Mr. Macintosh.
Mr. Macintosh has the wallpaper available to download on his website, but it can also be found in macOS Sequoia beta 5 in the /System/Library/Desktop Pictures/.wallpapers folder if you want access to it early. The file is hidden, so Shift + Command + Period has to be used to display hidden files. There is a dynamic .mov version with subtle movements as well, but there is no Dark Mode version.
After you pull the image from the system folder or download it, you can right click and choose Set Desktop Picture to use it as your wallpaper.
That the wallpaper has been showing up for some users suggests that it is going to be added in full in a later beta. Right now, users who do see it after installing the latest macOS Sequoia update cannot select it and it is displayed with an "unknown" label. Not all users are seeing the wallpaper after installing the macOS Sequoia update.
With the fifth beta of iOS 18 that came out today, Apple added some notable new features, even though it's getting later in the beta testing process. There are design updates to the Photos app and a whole new Safari option, along with several smaller changes.
Photos App Changes
Apple responded to tester feedback about the Photos app, and there have been some changes to streamline the design. The carousel that allowed users to swipe through different Collections from the main Photos grid has been removed entirely, making the app less confusing and repetitive.
The Photos app still has a unified one-screen design, opening up to the photo grid where you can see all of your photos. With the update, more grid images can be seen at once, and you can scroll down to get to Collections.
Users who have multiple albums will see their albums higher up in the Photos app, and Recently Saved content is now integrated into the Recent Days collection. The order of Collections can be customized, as customization tools remain. You can decide what you want to see in the Photos app and where.
Distraction Control in Safari
Apple added a new Distraction Control feature to Safari, which allows iPhone users to hide distracting elements from a webpage or article. Sign in windows, cookie preference popups, GDPR notices, newsletter signup banners, autoplay videos, and more can be hidden from sight.
Distraction Control is not an ad blocker and it will not hide dynamic elements on a page, such as ads. You can use the feature to temporarily hide them, but when an ad refreshes, it shows back up. It is meant for static page elements.
Distraction Control can be accessed from the Safari webpage settings. Tap on the settings and then choose the Hide Distracting Items option. From there, you can tap the element on the page that you want to hide. Distraction Control does not sync, and page elements must be hidden separately on each of your devices. You can reveal anything hidden by going into the settings and tapping on Show Hidden Items.
Home Screen Options
If you long press on the Home Screen and choose "Edit," there is a new "Edit Pages" option. With this setting, you can delete entire Home Screen pages, or hide them from view. This is the same interface you can get to by tapping on the three dots at the bottom of the display when in the Home Screen edit mode, it's just clearer with better labeling.
Dark Mode Icons
Apple changed some Dark Mode options, redesigning the Maps icon once again and updating the Find My icon. The Maps icon is now black, white, gray, and blue, with Apple eliminating the other colors, while Find My now has more obvious rings in different shades of green.
Dark Mode Search
When you search for an app using the search interface, the app icon now correctly shows up in Dark Mode when Dark Mode is turned on. Previously, search showed Light Mode icons.
Control Center
Apple has altered the design of some Control Center icons.
Several icons have larger graphics:
Voice Memo
Stopwatch
Airplane Mode
Home
Remote
Shortcuts Open App option
Calculator
Scan Code
Magnifier
Wallet
Tap to Cash
Assistive and Guided Access
Hearing, Live Captions, and Left-Right Stereo Balance
Switch Control, Voice Control, Full Keyboard Access, Assistive Touch, Apple Watch Mirroring, Control Nearby Devices, and Eye Tracking.
Almost all Vision Accessibility icons
And there are several design changes:
Orientation Lock is now a red lock with a pink arrow.
Screen Recording has a smaller inner dot and a thicker outer dot. When activated, the outer circle is a darker red, the inner circle is the same bright red.
Screen Mirroring has different sized rectangles with one darker and one lighter.
Cellular Data now has four signal bars instead of an antenna.
Orientation Lock now has a gray arrow instead of a white arrow.
Shortcuts now includes a black and white version of the Shortcuts icon.
The Low Power Mode toggle battery graphic shows less of a charge and the battery outline is now gray instead of white. When it's on, the battery level and outline both turn yellow.
The Live Speech toggle has a white keyboard and a gray sound wave instead of the opposite.
Headphone Accommodations now has an ear icon instead of a headphones icon.
The Vehicle Motion Cues toggle now has a car icon instead of just dots.
Smart Invert's colors have changed (white main, and gray star, instead of the opposite).
Apple has also removed the non-functional Bluetooth Power Toggle setting that popped up in the last beta.
More New Changes
Know of a new feature in iOS 18 beta 5 that we left out? Let us know in the comments below.
The paid agreement that Google has with Apple to be the default search engine on the iPhone and other Apple devices violates antitrust law, a federal judge ruled today (via Bloomberg).
Google has long paid Apple billions of dollars a year to be the default Safari search engine, and this relationship has been under scrutiny as Google battles antitrust allegations made by the United States Justice Department. The court today found in favor of the DoJ, and said that Google is indeed shutting out competition by paying smartphone makers for default status.
Google's agreements with Apple and other smartphone makers have a "significant effect" maintaining Google's search monopoly, keeping other search engines from competing and reinforcing Google's dominant position. Google has a search market share of around 95 percent on smartphones, in part due to the money that it pays.
In 2022, Google paid Apple $20 billion, an amount that incentivizes Apple to stick with the status quo. Apple does not provide opportunities to other search engines, nor does it develop its own search product due to the money that it receives from Google, according to the DoJ.
After considering testimony from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other companies, the court decided that Google has a search monopoly. "Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act," reads the ruling.
The court will need to decide on the next actions to take to address Google's anticompetitive practices, and injunctions could be forthcoming.
Google and Apple could in the future be barred from entering into search agreements, which will result in a revenue loss for both companies. Apple will not get billions for promoting Google Search, and Google will lose out on being the default option across billions of Apple devices.
In a statement provided to MacRumors, Google's president of global affairs Kent Walker said that Google will appeal the decision.
This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn't be allowed to make it easily available. We appreciate the Court's finding that Google is "the industry's highest quality search engine, which has earned Google the trust of hundreds of millions of daily users", that Google "has long been the best search engine, particularly on mobile devices", "has continued to innovate in search" and that "Apple and Mozilla occasionally assess Google's search quality relative to its rivals and find Google's to be superior." Given this, and that people are increasingly looking for information in more and more ways, we plan to appeal. As this process continues, we will remain focused on making products that people find helpful and easy to use.
With an appeal planned, the DoJ vs. Google antitrust lawsuit over search will likely take several more months to resolve.
Apple today surprised us with a new feature for Safari in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, with Distraction Control debuting in the latest betas. We thought we'd take a quick look at Distraction Control for those who have not yet been able to update, non-developers, or those who are on the iOS 18.1 beta track.
Distraction Control hides distracting webpage elements like those irritating popups that ask you to sign up for email lists or cookie/GDPR banners. It can be used to hide some autoplay videos too, but it is not an ad blocker. You can temporarily hide ads, but since it wasn't designed to block ads, ads show back up when the site refreshes.
You can basically use Distraction Control to hide any static element on a webpage, and you can get to the controls by going to the page menu in Safari. Just tap the Hide Distracting Items option and then tap whatever you want to hide on a page. Hidden items do not sync across devices, and you can restore anything hidden by tapping on the Show Hidden Items option.
With the betas, Apple also tweaked the Photos app, removing the carousel in response to user feedback.
What do you think of these changes? Let us know in the comments below.
When watching content through the Disney+ streaming service, Vision Pro users can now opt into a new Immersive Environment that launched today.
Available from National Geographic, the Immersive Environment features views of the Thingvellir National Park in Iceland. The new environment will allow Disney+ subscribers on Vision Pro to experience the rocky terrain of Thingvellir National Park on a snowy winter day, complete with interactive elements and sounds designed to make the space come to live.
The site was captured by a team of National Geographic photographers, and it can be set as a backdrop for watching Disney+ content underneath a nighttime aurora. The images for the Immersive Environment were captured using photogrammetry and gigapixel panoramas.
"Since its inception, National Geographic has been at the forefront of photography and has led the way in using groundbreaking technology to tell stories that inspire a deeper connection to the natural world," said David Miller, EVP, National Geographic. "Creating this immersive environment was a natural next step for us to take to build on that legacy and to continue enabling audiences to experience the beauty of our natural world and see places they may never go to otherwise."
Disney is one of the new companies that have developed unique Immersive Environments for Vision Pro wearers. When the headset launched, Disney+ offered several viewing options, including scenes from Star Wars, the Marvel Avengers Tower, and Pixar films.
Along with the new Immersive Environment, Disney+ is launching several new 3D movies for Vision Pro, including Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. These movies join other 3D movies such as The Little Mermaid, Frozen II, Coco, The Lion King, and more.
With the fifth betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, Apple is introducing a previously unannounced feature for Safari, Distraction Control.
As the name suggests, Distraction Control is designed to cut down on distracting elements from articles and webpages, such as sign in windows, cookie preference popups, newsletter signup banners, autoplay videos, and more.
Distraction Control can be used to hide static content on a page, but it is not an ad blocker and cannot be used to permanently hide ads. An ad can be temporarily hidden, but the feature was not designed for ads, and an ad will reappear when it refreshes. It was not created for elements on a webpage that regularly change.
To use Distraction Control, go to the Page Menu and select Hide Distracting Items. You can select an area on the page that you want to hide, and static content that you select will remain hidden. It is a good way to eliminate the pesky popovers that show up when browsing online stores, reading articles, and more. iPhone, iPad, and Mac users need to opt in to hiding elements on the page, and Apple says that nothing is hidden that is not proactively selected.
When hiding a cookie banner or GDPR popup with Distraction Control, the function is the same as closing a banner without submitting website preferences at all.
Your Distraction Control settings are on-device and will not sync from device to device, so you will need to hide website elements on each one of your devices. You can use the "Show Hidden Items" option by going to the Safari search field to instantly see all hidden elements on a webpage.
Distraction Control is available in the fifth iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia developer betas, and it should soon be available to public beta testers as well.
Distraction Control is just one of the new features that Apple is introducing in Safari, and it joins other options like the Highlights feature for quickly surfacing info you might want to see on a website, the redesigned Reader interface with table of contents and summaries, and the video viewer that removes distractions when watching a video on a webpage.
With iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, Apple is introducing a new design for the Photos app, which is designed to better surface high-quality images so that users are able to better relive their memories when browsing through the app. The Photos app changes have been in testing in the developer and public betas, and based on user feedback, Apple has decided to make some design updates.
To make for a simplified viewing experience, Apple removed the carousel. In earlier betas, there was an option to swipe left or right from the Photos view to see Collections, such as Featured images, videos, Favorites, and more, but these Collection elements are also available by scrolling down, so the carousel was a bit repetitive and could be confusing if you accidentally swiped and weren't sure how to get back to your main Library view.
All Photos has been revamped and it now displays more of the photos grid, and users who have multiple albums will see their albums higher up in the Photos app, eliminating the need to scroll almost to the bottom of the interface to get to the albums option.
Recently Saved content was tucked away in the Utilities album, but it is now integrated into the Recent Days collection.
Apple is keeping the unified Photos app redesign, but the updates should make it less confusing to navigate. The app will open to your grid view, where you can select to delete, edit, or share multiple images. There is a clear search interface for quickly finding photos, and you can view your Collections simply by scrolling down.
Apple creates default Collections such as Recent Days, People and Pets, Trips, Memories, Albums, Featured Photos, and Wallpaper suggestions, among others, but customizable collections are available. You can create a Collection from any of your albums, trips, or memories, or select a specific media type like videos or a specific person or pet.
There are also options to remove Collections and organize Collections in your preferred arrangement so what you want to see first is up at the top of the app.
The refreshed Photos app is available in the fifth developer betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, and the new look will also come to the next public betas.
Apple today seeded the fifth betas of upcoming iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming nearly two weeks after the release of the fourth betas.
Registered developers are able to opt into the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to the Software Update section, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option, and toggling on the iOS 18/iPadOS 18 Developer Beta setting. Note that an Apple ID associated with a developer account is required to download and install the beta. The iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 beta track is now separate from the iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 beta track, with the .1 betas adding support for Apple Intelligence on devices that are able to run the features.
iOS 18 introduces Apple Intelligence, a set of AI features that are built deeply into the operating system. Apple Intelligence won't be coming until later in the beta testing process, but it includes features for refining and editing writing, generating images and emoji, and most notably, improving Siri and search. Siri is gaining a better understanding of natural language, improved contextual awareness, and the personal assistant will integrate with ChatGPT to answer more complex queries.
Apple Intelligence features are limited to the iPhone 15 Pro models and iPads with an M-series chip, but there are a number of other features that are coming. Apple is allowing users to rearrange Home screen apps to have open spaces, plus there's a dark mode for app icons and tinting options.
The Control Center is customizable and third-party developers can add controls for their apps, with the Lock Screen Flashlight and Camera icons able to be replaced or removed. Messages is gaining Rich Communication Services support to improve conversations with Android users, the option to schedule texts to be sent later, new text effects, messages over satellite when there's no cellular, and the option to use any emoji for Tapback responses.
There's a dedicated Passwords app for logins, passkeys, Wi-Fi passwords, and verification codes, and there's now an option to lock and hide apps, which means they can't be opened without secondary Face ID or Touch ID authentication even when your phone is unlocked.
Safari has a highlights feature that summarizes articles and surfaces key information on websites, the Photos app interface has been overhauled, and there's a new Tap to Cash feature for privately and securely transferring money using Apple Cash. Other features include equation solving and voice memo transcription in Notes, a game mode for improving game performance, and an option to respond to Siri on AirPods with head gestures.
Apple will release iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 to the public this fall.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
