Your iPhone may receive “one of the biggest iOS updates” this year

As usual, Apple will reveal new operating system versions for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch at WWDC in June. (An update for Vision Pro might also be forthcoming, but that’s a different topic.) Though it may seem a bit technical to device owners, this information is crucial for software developers who will be using it to create apps that take advantage of the new system features. With the exception that everything appears to be much more interesting this year.

Reporter Mark Gurman of Bloomberg touts the upcoming iOS 18 software upgrade for the iPhone as possibly the device’s biggest ever in the Q&A portion of his most recent newsletter.

“I have been informed that the recently released operating system is regarded by the company as one of the most significant iOS updates, if not the most significant, in the company’s history,” he stated.

It’s unclear right now what exactly that bigness will entail. Gurman kept this conversation short while promising to share additional details later. Thankfully, though, we already have a good idea of why iOS 18 will be a HUGE DEAL—or, to put it in Gurman’s words back in November, “ambitious and compelling.” The ability to send and receive RCS cross-platform messages is anticipated in iOS 18, which would significantly alter communication between Android and iPhone users.

Although Apple is only grudgingly taking this action, as we’ve already demonstrated, this benefits almost everyone else—including Apple enthusiasts.

Regarding the unfortunate Siri, for which we have repeatedly voiced our criticisms, the release of iOS 18 may mark the point at which it begins to bear some consequences. Although it might seem like the firm has been ignoring Siri for years, it has actually been working on a significant AI strategy push behind the scenes, which could result in enhanced Siri performance among other things. Specifically, generative AI has the potential to revolutionise the struggling voice assistant.