iOS 18 will become the first generation of AI-native system? Apple is really rushing to install AI into the system, ushering in the biggest update in history

Original source: New Zhiyuan

Image source: Generated by Unbounded AI

According to well-known tech journalist Mark Gurman, Apple paused the development of new iOS 18 features to focus on fixing bugs.

The pause in feature development was an unusual event for Apple, albeit for only a week. This may be an indication of the importance that Apple attaches to the new iPhone system and its ambitions for the future.

According to Gurman, Apple internally described the update that iOS 18 brings as “ambitious and compelling.” iOS 18 will feature “major new features and designs” along with significant performance and security improvements.

In other words, the last big update of iOS was iOS 14, which added support for home screen widgets, and that was already in 2020.

After that, iOS 15, iOS 16, and iOS 17 can be said to be “uneventful”, and perhaps, iOS 18 will be the biggest version update in the history of Apple’s iOS system.

Gurman also said that Apple’s iOS 18 and macOS 15 development delays show that the company has been extra careful in a more critical year. Moreover, this “ambitious” version update is likely to bring us generative AI.

Yes, at the moment when large language models are surging, Apple users certainly hope that their Siri can evolve as soon as possible and become as smart as ChatGPT and become a real “intelligent assistant”.

Aside from the A-series processors, the hardware performance of iPhones doesn’t have much advantage at the moment.

And according to the news, the iPhone 16 series will not have major updates in terms of hardware, so in order for consumers to be willing to pay, iOS 18 really needs to bring enough selling points.

Pause for a week

At the end of last month, Apple’s head of software engineering, Craig Federighi, made a rare decision to freeze the company’s development of the next major software update because the quality of the initial version was not up to par. This outage allowed Apple to debug the software and improve performance.

Apple’s next-generation software, iOS 18 and other operating systems, will be available next year. This is even more important than usual, as Apple has to catch up with Google and OpenAI in generative AI, and iOS 18 is ready to bring such technology to the iPhone.

In light of this, Apple is proceeding cautiously. By pausing work on iOS 18 as well as iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11 and other next-generation operating systems, engineers can spend a week focusing on rooting out the glitch.

The last time Apple made such a move was in 2019, when the company overhauled its software programs. At the time, bugs and feature delays caused the new iPhone to still malfunction on the day of its release.

The year before, Federighi was forced to postpone several features of iOS 12 to iOS 13 due to quality issues.

This time, Apple paused as soon as iOS 18 and macOS 15 development reached key milestones.

Last month, Apple completed the first build of the update, including the biggest new features. Having reached the first milestone, M1, Apple decided to pause for a week before starting work on the next milestone, M2.

There are usually four milestones ahead of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Each milestone typically lasts six weeks, with four focused on adding features and two dedicated to bug fixes.

As of now, a week-long shutdown may not significantly delay the final release of the software.

The good news is that this shows that Apple is as serious about quality as ever. In 2019, Federighi adopted a policy that his department called The Pact: "We would never intentionally allow regressions in builds. When we find them, we fix them quickly. 」

In other words, if a company finds that adding a new feature breaks something else in the software (regression), it needs to fix the bug immediately. It’s clear that Apple has struggled to follow this guidance when developing iOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11, so it needs to be paused.

Apple also faces a tougher task when it comes to software in 2024. After a few years of “modest” updates to iOS, the next version of the iPhone and iPad software could be relatively groundbreaking.

Internally, Apple’s senior management describes its upcoming operating system as “ambitious and compelling”, with significant new features and designs in addition to security and performance improvements.

However, users will only appreciate these new features if they are effective, which means ensuring that the basic performance and quality of the software is rock solid.

Release Date & Compatible Models

Although iOS 17 is still a long way from being finished and the dust has settled, iOS 18 is coming. Apple’s next big thing, at least on the software front, is likely to be the announcement of the next generation of operating systems at the WWDC Developer Summit next June.

Generally speaking, the first developer beta of iOS 18 should be released shortly after Apple’s WWDC keynote, while the official version will land with the next iPhone (iPhone 16) next September.

In terms of compatibility, the iPhone 11 series and later versions will most likely support iOS 18.

While the iPhone X series is dangerous, it’s not uncommon for Apple to extend support for some older iPhones beyond the usual five-year period.

What’s more, Google’s recent commitment to seven years of software support for the Pixel 8 series would send ripples across the industry and force every other manufacturer to provide support for so long if Apple decides to do the same.

Expectations for new features

According to Mark Gurman, Apple’s iOS software team is planning to use data to enhance the AI capabilities of iOS 18. "The new features should improve the way Siri and Messages apps answer questions and autocomplete sentences, reflecting the latest changes in competing services. 」

And when it comes to apps, Apple is adding AI to many of its core apps, including music and productivity apps like Pages and Keynote.

And our little assistant, Siri, will be more deeply integrated with the Shortcuts automation tool.

Apple plans to integrate language models that will allow users of voice assistants to automate complex tasks in ways that are currently unattainable. For example, ask Siri to turn five recent photos into GIFs and send them to a friend with a single command.

It is also reported that Apple is currently investing heavily in AI servers and plans to build hundreds more in 2024 in preparation for the upcoming era of AI.

Apple is also investing heavily in training its own LLMs (large language models) that could be used to transform Siri into the “ultimate virtual assistant.”

A lot of things can and could change before iOS 18 is released to the public, but it is clear that Apple is betting on artificial intelligence.

Netizens hotly discussed

Some netizens said, please give Siri the respect she deserves.

确实，「She deserves better」。

“Will iOS 18 be the first major redesign since iOS 7?” It’s a bit of a big span, but it’s understandable.

But the above netizen said that iOS 17 has also added many new features, so don’t be so negative.

"Standby mode, iMessage improvements, and transcribing voicemails all make the user experience better, and these are just 3 examples. If Apple could improve Siri, add AI to the Photos app and make language translation easier… This will be a major upgrade. Smartphones have matured, so all we can expect is incremental change. 」

In addition, some netizens expressed their specific expectations for the new system:

New icons, Siri makeover, overall UI polishing, battery optimization, and stability.

As for whether netizens can get their wish, let’s wait and see.

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