Apple is set to reveal a whole host of features coming to iOS 18 at its WWDC 2024 later today – from an AI-enhanced Siri to a more customizable Control Center – but you might want to hold off from installing the first beta release of the software.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who has a good track record with Apple predictions, a lot of iOS 18 features have "come in really hot", and that means the early beta versions are likely to be "especially buggy".
My sense is that many of the features in the first iOS 18 beta have come in really hot and this first seed is going to be especially buggy. In fact, some are surprised the first betas are going out tomorrow. As I’ve said, the AI features will be a beta - even at launch in fall.June 10, 2024
If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, we're going to get an iOS 18 developer beta this week (available to anyone who registers for a free Apple developer account), a full public launch in September, and a public beta (open to anyone who wants to opt in) sometime in between.
While many users will be tempted to install the beta editions as soon as possible in order to get the new iOS 18 features, it might be worth holding off for a while – especially if you're thinking of installing the software on a primary device that you rely on every day.
Catching up
Gurman has previously said that some of the AI features in iOS 18 – which will apparently be collectively branded 'Apple Intelligence' – are going to come with beta labels attached, indicating that they're not the finished products but rather works in progress.
It would be a somewhat unusual move for Apple to release features before they're finished, but the company is under pressure from OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot, and Samsung and Google have also added plenty of AI tricks to their latest phones.
In a bid to not fall further behind those competitors, Apple is rumored to have signed a deal with OpenAI to provide some kind of ChatGPT integration in iOS 18. That suggests Siri isn't quite ready to be a fully fledged chatbot, though it's unlikely that Apple will want to rely on ChatGPT forever.
All will be revealed in a few hours, and of course we're covering WWDC 2024 live here on TechRadar. It gets underway at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST (which is 3am AEST on June 11 for those in Australia) – if you want to tune in check out our guide on how to watch WWDC 2024.
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