The Top New Features in Apple’s iOS 18 and iPadOS 18

Apple executives always picture caller hardware and bundle arsenic the “best” oregon “biggest” ever, but the transportation doesn’t usually unrecorded up to the hype (see past year's iPads). However, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 mightiness beryllium deserving of a fewer of those adjectives. The latest mentation of the operating strategy has the accustomed grade of year-over-year quality-of-life improvements, but Apple Intelligence steals the limelight.

This is Apple's implementation of artificial-intelligence-powered tasks that person been sweeping done the tech manufacture implicit the past fewer years. Even Siri got an overdue upgrade—the biggest since the dependable assistant’s debut 13 years ago. Here are each the caller iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 features, however to download the existent version, and what precisely you’ll acquisition with Apple Intelligence.

Updated March 2025: We've added caller details astir iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4.

Table of Contents

• Is Your iPhone oregon iPad Compatible?
• How to Install iOS 18
• New iOS/iPadOS 18 Version Updates
• What Is Apple Intelligence?
• Top iOS 18 Features
• Top iPadOS 18 Features

What Is Apple Intelligence?

Every large tech institution has been integrating artificial quality into its hardware and software, from Google to Samsung to Microsoft, and present it's Apple's turn. Apple Intelligence is the word you'll spot the institution propulsion astir implicit the adjacent fewer years, and it powers galore of the caller AI features successful its devices.

It's powered by Apple's ample connection models (partly trained done information from the nationalist web, according to Axios’ Ina Fried). It requires Apple silicon, the company's bespoke chips that person a hybrid architecture designed to tally AI tasks. Even though the devices Apple Intelligence runs connected are susceptible of the on-device processing needed to implicit AI tasks, sometimes the task is excessively large and needs to beryllium sent disconnected to the cloud. When a task requires much processing, it'll beryllium sent to a unafraid information halfway stacked with computers that besides tally Apple silicon. While this method of computing is typically little private, Apple claims that its Private Cloud Compute level focuses connected ensuring information privateness for each user. Only information applicable to your query is sent to these servers, and the information is lone utilized for your requests and ne'er stored.

Apple Intelligence Compatible Devices

Before you get excessively excited, Apple Intelligence is not disposable for each instrumentality that supports iOS 18. It's lone supported connected prime processors (and languages).

• iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max (A17 Pro)
• iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus (A18)
• iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max (A18 Pro)
• iPad Mini (A17 Pro)
• iPad Air (M1, M2, M3)
• iPad Pro (M1, M2, M4)
• MacBook Air (M1 and newer)
• MacBook Pro (M1 and newer)
• iMac (M1 and newer)
• Mac Mini (M1 and newer)
• Mac Studio (M1 Max and newer)
• Mac Pro (M2 Ultra)

What precisely is Apple Intelligence? Apple breaks down its cardinal capabilities into 3 buckets: Language, Images, and Action.

Apple Intelligence: Language

Throughout Apple's hardware and software, you'll find caller penning tools that gully connected the powerfulness of generative AI to assistance your writing. This includes Rewrite, which tin assistance alteration the code of your substance to dependable much affable oregon much nonrecreational (like successful an email), and Proofread, which much oregon little does what the sanction suggests. You tin besides summarize selected substance with a tap.

These text-based improvements spell beyond writing. It besides powers Priority notifications, which look astatine the apical of your notification database and summarize it truthful you get a much digestible summary astatine a glance. You tin crook the diagnostic connected by going to Settings > Notifications> Prioritize Notifications. Similarly, the Mail app offers Priority messages, which means important emails volition interval to the apical of your inbox. You tin besides get summaries of agelong emails, and a Smart Reply relation lets you rapidly respond to emails (even answers to aggregate questions posed successful an email), not dissimilar what's disposable successful Gmail.

For now, however, Apple has paused notification summaries for quality apps pursuing aggregate instances wherever the diagnostic failed to summarize articles accurately. Notifications summarized by Apple Intelligence volition present look arsenic italicized text.

In the Notes, Voice Memos, and Phone app, you tin deed the grounds fastener (yes, adjacent connected a call) to get an audio signaling with a transcript, and Apple Intelligence tin make a summary of that transcript. Apple says that successful states that necessitate two-party consent for recordings, the idiosyncratic connected the different extremity of the enactment volition beryllium made alert that the telephone is being recorded.

Finally, there's a caller Focus mode called Reduce Interruptions that tin recognize your idiosyncratic context, truthful portion it hides incoming worldly that could distract you, it knows capable astir what you've got going connected to let a substance from your babysitter to travel through.

Apple Intelligence: Images

The Apple Intelligence representation features mostly revolve astir generating caller images done artificial intelligence. Much of this happens successful Image Playground, an acquisition baked into different apps (though it besides exists arsenic a stand-alone app). You tin make images based connected a description, suggested concepts, and adjacent from radical successful your Photos library. You person power implicit the style, and it tin beryllium tweaked to lucifer whatever's happening successful the app you're utilizing it in. You tin besides take betwixt antithetic styles, including Illustration, Animation, and (most recently) Sketch, which gives images a much natural, hand-drawn look.

Genmoji conscionable mightiness beryllium the astir anticipated diagnostic retired of everything Apple has announced. It lets you make emojis straight from the keyboard with substance prompts. You tin besides propulsion a person's photograph from your Photos room to marque an emoji based connected their looks. You'll person to supply a statement first, but past you tin set the statement until it suits what you are going for.

Image Wand is different representation procreation strategy that works specifically successful the Notes app. With your digit oregon Apple Pencil, you tin ellipse a sketch to person Apple Intelligence make thing that looks much refined, but you tin besides ellipse an bare space, and it volition make an representation based connected the surrounding text. It's an casual mode to adhd much ocular assortment to your notes.

The Photos app is getting a fewer AI features. You tin marque a Memory Movie by entering a statement similar “All the desserts I ate during the summertime past year, acceptable to a popular song,” and Apple's AI volition find the close images and video, enactment them to a song, and trade a shareable movie retired of it. It'll besides beryllium easier to hunt for circumstantial photos—just picture what you privation and it'll find it, adjacent moments successful video clips (similar to Google's Ask Photos feature). Lastly, you tin erase unwanted objects successful the inheritance of your photos with the caller Clean Up instrumentality successful the photograph editor, precisely similar Magic Eraser connected Pixel phones and Samsung's Object Eraser.

Apple Intelligence: Action

The last portion of Apple Intelligence is arguably 1 that mightiness beryllium utilized the astir often, and it involves Siri. The adjunct has a caller look—when activated, the edges of the surface volition glow—and you tin present benignant your requests to Siri alternatively of utilizing your dependable (something you've been capable to bash with Google Assistant for respective years).