We are still approximately two and a half months away from the release of iOS 18 with all of its AI and non-AI features. Those who want to roll the dice can install iOS 18 beta 2 right now although it is unstable and it will lower your battery life. On the other hand, you will get some of the non-AI features now including the ability to customize app icons on the home screen, and RCS support if you have friends or family members (or even co-workers) who use an Android phone.
Not all of the iMessage-esque features available to RCS users (read receipt, typing indicators, high-resolution images) are working at the moment with iOS 18 beta 2. There is some weird bug that turns spaces, commas, and other characters into question marks when a message is sent from an iPhone user to an Android user via RCS. You can workaround this bug by including a special character in your messages such as an emoji or an ampersand (&).
Other software being developed for 2025 and its internal codename include macOS 16 (“Cheer”), watchOS 12 (“Nepali”), and visionOS 3 (“Discovery”). If you’re wondering why Apple is working on software that won’t be released until next year, the answer actually makes a lot of sense. Since the company is in the process of developing its updated hardware for next year, it needs the new software to run the devices in development. This is not an accelerated timeline for Apple and the company is following its usual schedule.
Besides releasing new iPhone handsets, Mac computers, and iPad tablets next year, Apple could introduce a lower-priced version of its Vision Pro spatial computer under the name Apple Vision. The Vision Pro starts at $3,499 which makes it a rather pricey device to buy especially since it doesn’t seem to have been developed to respond to any specific consumer need.