WWDC 2024 kicked off on Monday with a jam-packed keynote revealing iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and more, all fueled by upcoming Apple Intelligence technology.
We’ve highlighted the major announcements below, but be sure to check out our recap post that includes a video going over the highlights plus links to all of our coverage from the big day!
Apple Announces iOS 18 With Customizable Home Screen and Control Center and Much More
Apple this week announced iOS 18, which includes a wide range of new features and changes for the iPhone, including new customization options for the Home Screen and Control Center, a redesigned Photos app, the ability to use any emoji as a Tapback in the Messages app, an option to lock apps behind Face ID or Touch ID, and much more.
The tentpole feature of iOS 18 is Apple Intelligence, which is Apple’s new suite of generative AI features coming to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac later this year. Read on for more details about Apple Intelligence.
‘Apple Intelligence’ Unveiled for iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Apple Intelligence can summarize text and notifications, create custom emoji and images, and more. Siri is also getting smarter with Apple Intelligence, with richer language understanding and more per-app controls. Siri will also be able to access ChatGPT.
These new AI-powered features will be available on the iPhone 15 Pro or newer, or any Mac or iPad equipped with an M1 chip or newer. Apple Intelligence will be available when iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia are released to the public later this year, but the features will have a beta label at launch.
Apple Unveils macOS 15 Sequoia With iPhone Mirroring, Passwords App, More
macOS Sequoia is the name for this year’s major update to the Mac operating system!
Key new features beyond Apple Intelligence include the ability to mirror your iPhone onto your Mac, the same Passwords app coming to the iPhone with iOS 18, improved window tiling, and more.
macOS Sequoia is currently in beta, and it will be widely released later this year.
Apple Previews watchOS 11 With New Health and Workout Features
watchOS 11’s key new features and changes for the Apple Watch include the ability to pause your Activity rings without disrupting your award streak, a new Vitals app that provides overnight health metrics, Live Activities support in the Smart Stack, and more.
Like the other software updates unveiled at WWDC, watchOS 11 is currently in beta for developers and will be widely released later this year.
tvOS 18 Adds ‘InSight’ to Identify Actors and Songs in Apple TV+ Shows and More
While it did not receive too much attention at WWDC, tvOS 18 is coming to the Apple TV.
The software update includes a handful of new features and changes, including an “InSight” feature that can identify actors and songs in Apple TV+ shows, updates to the Enhance Dialogue feature and subtitles, additional screen savers, 21:9 video playback support for playing movies and shows on projectors, and more.
Apple Announces visionOS 2 With Ultra-Wide Mac Virtual Display, Travel Mode on Trains, and More
visionOS 2 is the first-ever major software update for Apple’s Vision Pro spatial computer, which launched in the U.S. earlier this year and will be available in eight more countries by mid-July.
visionOS 2 can turn existing 2D photos into spatial photos with machine learning, adds new hand gestures for frequently used features like Home View and Control Center, introduces a larger ultra-wide version of Mac Virtual Display, expands Travel Mode to trains, supports a physical mouse, and more.
MacRumors Newsletter
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we’ve covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!
Popular Stories
iOS 18 Adds These 5 New Features to CarPlay
Apple did not mention CarPlay during its WWDC keynote this week, but iOS 18 includes a handful of new features for the in-car software. Overall, there is not a whole lot new for CarPlay on iOS 18, with changes seemingly limited to the Messages and Settings apps so far. Below, we recap everything new for CarPlay on iOS 18. New for CarPlay on iOS 18 1. Contact Photos in Messages App…
iOS 18 Adds Pop-Out Bezel Animation When Pressing iPhone Buttons
Tuesday June 11, 2024 10:40 am PDT by Juli Clover
iOS 18 includes a small but interesting change for the buttons on the iPhone, adding more of a visual element when changing volume, activating the Action button, or locking the screen. When you press an iPhone button in iOS 18, the display bezel bulges outward slightly. This feature is available for the volume buttons, Action button and the power button, and it will also likely be used for…
Revealed: iOS 18 Works With These iPhone Models
iOS 18 will be compatible with the same iPhone models as iOS 17, according to a post on X today from a private account with a proven track record of sharing build numbers for upcoming iOS updates. iOS 18 will be compatible with the iPhone XR, and hence also the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max models with the same A12 Bionic chip, but older iPhone models will miss out. Here is the full…
First Look at Messages via Satellite in iOS 18
Thursday June 13, 2024 11:29 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Apple has been gradually expanding its suite of satellite connectivity features for iPhone, and iOS 18 brings a significant new one in the form of Messages via satellite. The feature allows users to send and receive iMessages and SMS texts, including emoji and Tapbacks, while out of range of cellular and Wi-Fi networks. CNET met up with Apple’s senior director of platform product marketing,…
Massive iPhone Upgrade Coming This Week But These Devices Will Miss Out
Apple is planning a major AI overhaul in iOS 18, with a feature set it is referring to as “Apple Intelligence.” However, these new features will not work on older iPhones, even if they do appear on the new operating system’s device compatibility list. Apple’s initial AI roadmap for iOS 18 is said to come in two parts: Basic AI features that will be processed on-device, and more advanced…
Your iPhone 15 Can Show the Time When It’s Out of Battery in iOS 18
Wednesday June 12, 2024 2:57 pm PDT by Juli Clover
The iPhone has had a Power Reserve function that holds back a small amount of battery life to allow features like Find My and NFC unlocking to work even when your device has died, and in iOS 18, Apple seems to be improving the feature further for the iPhone 15 models. As demonstrated on Reddit, when the battery on an iPhone running iOS 18 is exhausted, the phone can continue to show the time …
