iOS 18 has over 250 new features and updates, says Apple

Apple has published what it says is a full list of the new and updated features coming in both iOS 18 and iPadOS 18.

Ahead of the release of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 on September 16, 2024, Apple has published two PDF documents listing all of the new features of both. The two documents also contain very many qualifications regarding when certain features are coming, and also which countries and territories they may be limited to.

The iPhone PDF is now part of Apple's "Yours. Truly." page summarizing the new OS. It's a 9,000-word, 22-page document that has around 250 entries.

Then the very similar length iPadOS 18 document — 20 pages, 8,000 words — is previewed on Apple's main page and available to download.

None of the features listed gets more than a cursory explanation.

For example, "SharePlay on more devices" says only that "Now it's easier for everyone to control the music together, whether you're listening on HomePod, Apple TV, or a Bluetooth speaker." There's no detail of how the feature is used or in this case whether there is any limitation on the devices it works with.

Among the features not widely previewed before is one regarding migration from an old iPhone to a new iPhone. In a paragraph headed "Cabled migration," Apple says that you can now "connect your current phone directly to your new iPhone with a USB-C or USB-C to Lightning cable to migrate your data more quickly."

Many of the features are to do with Apple Intelligence. As yet there does not appear to be a separate Apple Intelligence PDF, though, despite Apple giving the feature its own preview page.

For a guide to the most significant updates in iOS 18 — and what will wait until iOS 18.1 — see AppleInsider's own guide.

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5 Comments

tiredskills 40 comments · New User

About 2 months ago

But how many useful new features are there?

jovike 11 comments · 14 Years

We need a list of what is removed as well, like the camera roll access in the new Photos app.

The problem is that it's not possible to tell from reviews because they tend to list new features, and are often written by people who don't use that app in their workflow.

I think I will hold off from updating until users have reacted.

macgui 2456 comments · 17 Years

tiredskills said:

But how many useful new features are there?

Just because a feature isn't useful to you doesn't mean it isn't useful to anybody else.

StrangeDays 12959 comments · 8 Years

tiredskills said:

But how many useful new features are there?

Rather silly question because use is relative. Some features are useful to me, some are more useful to you. How on earth could you quantify that for every user?

StrangeDays said:

tiredskills said:

But how many useful new features are there?

Rather silly question because use is relative. Some features are useful to me, some are more useful to you. How on earth could you quantify that for every user?

Are you asking me how can you review a product?

A hint: If a product review just said "250 new features!" I'd think that was a pretty useless review. Not even as a preview, it's just a number that means nothing.