We're not going to get a first look at iOS 19 until the June Worldwide Developers Conference, but as work picks up on the operating system at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, rumors are starting to leak out. iOS 19 promises to be a major update, with some changes that we haven't seen Apple make for at least 10 years.
Overhauled Design
Apple is apparently planning to overhaul the design of all of its operating systems this year, including iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16. The goal is a more unified design language and feature set that makes the transition from iPhone to Mac and vice versa feel like less of a shock.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says this will be the biggest update Apple has made to the iPhone's design since iOS 7 was released in 2013, and it's not just cosmetic, either.
Apple is planning to overhaul icons, menus, apps, windows, system buttons, and more, while also tweaking navigation and control.
The new look is based on the Apple Vision Pro interface, which features a lot of translucency and a design feel that causes the operating system to kind of fade into the background to put content front and center.
We've heard rumors of what the updated design will do to the Camera app, and it will supposedly have a look that provides more screen space for photo previews with translucent pop-out menus that can be swiped through to select different camera modes.
Apple Intelligence
Apple is going to expand Apple Intelligence features to more of its built-in apps, but we haven't heard a lot of rumors about what's to come. Prior to when iOS 18 came out, it was suggested Apple could use Apple Intelligence for things like generating Apple Music playlists, so that's an example of what we could see.
Siri Updates
We do know about some of the Apple Intelligence features coming, and that's because Apple actually announced them for iOS 18 and then had to delay them.
Apple planned to add new Apple Intelligence features to Siri in iOS 18, making the personal assistant smarter and perhaps actually useful, but Siri changes are now being held until iOS 19 or an update to iOS 19.
We're waiting on personal context, onscreen awareness, and deeper app integration. Personal context will let Siri keep track of everything on your iPhone, from emails and files to photos and messages, helping you complete tasks and find content that you're looking for without. Siri will be able to do things like find a specific photo someone sent you, locate files, or even find information like your passport number if you've written it down in notes.
With onscreen awareness, Siri will be able to see what's on your screen and complete actions involving what you're looking at. If someone sends you an address, for example, you can tell Siri to add it to their contact card.
Deeper app integration, or App Intents, should make a notable difference in what Siri is capable of. Siri will be able to do more in and across apps, performing actions and completing tasks that are just not possible right now. Apple says Siri will be able to do things like move files from one app to another, complete multi-step tasks like editing a photo and sending it to someone, and more.
Apple is also working on a full LLM version of Siri that would be similar to chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini, but with the iOS 18 Siri features delayed, it's likely LLM Siri won't be coming until at least iOS 20.
A Staggered Rollout
With iOS 18, not all features were in the update that we got in September. Key Apple Intelligence functions were held back until iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2, and that's a trend we could see continue with iOS 19.
Apple is holding back features slated for iOS 19 until spring 2026, at least in part due to the work on Siri Apple Intelligence features that were supposed to come in iOS 18.
Compatibility
Rumors suggest that iOS 19 will be compatible with all of the devices that can run iOS 18, so if you have iOS 18 installed, you should in theory be able to run iOS 19. There are typically always features that require the processing power of a newer device, so it's quite possible that some new additions could be limited to the upcoming iPhone 17 models.
Release Date
iOS 19 will be previewed at WWDC in June, then beta tested for several months before launching in September alongside new iPhones.
Read More
For more on what's coming in iOS 19, make sure to check out our iOS 19 roundup. If you want to keep up with rumors, you should bookmark the page, because we update it every time a new rumor comes out.
