iOS 18 release date confirmed — Apple Intelligence is closer than you think

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(Image credit: Apple)

Apple has confirmed its massive iOS 18 update for iPhone, replete with Apple Intelligence, will debut September 16. 

Apple today unveiled its new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro alongside a new Apple Watch Series 10, new AirPods, and new health features for its existing models. In a press release, the company stated:

"iOS 18 will be available as a free software update on Monday, September 16." 

Apple Intelligence arrives

As you might expect, the headline feature of iOS 18 is the new Apple Intelligence suite of AI features. Apple Intelligence will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro, offering features like live transcribing, Writing Tools, generative image creation, and more. 

It also features new emergency features like Messages Via Satellite and Emergency SOS Live Video, as well as Roadside Assistance via Satellite. 

Apple Intelligence will debut as part of iOS 18.1 and beyond in October. The first rollouts will be U.S. English only, with localizations for English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. coming in December. There's support for Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish coming next year, too. 

As you might expect, the new iPhone 16 lineup is designed to take advantage of iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence with powerful new processors, the A18 and A18 Pro chips, housed in the 16 and 16 Pro respectively. Other notable features include image editing tools, and integration with ChatGPT. The iPhone 16 lineup includes a specific visual intelligence tool, which uses the new Camera Control button to help you find out information about objects and places with just one click. You can use it to pull up restaurant reviews, add an event to a calendar, or even find out the breed of a dog, using just your camera and AI. 

We're covering all the Apple iPhone 16 event announcements live as they happen. Don't miss all our iPhone 16iPhone 16 ProiPhone 16 Pro MaxApple Watch XApple Watch Ultra 3iOS 18 and watchOS 11 coverage so far.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9