Apple’s latest iPhone operating system, iOS 18, brings a host of new features and improvements to iPhones new and old. It’s Apple’s biggest software update of the year, and the company is expected to release it sometime on Monday, September 16, likely around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time/1:00 p.m. Eastern Time based on previous releases. Read on to learn if Apple’s upcoming mobile operating system will run on your specific iPhone model.
iOS 18 is compatible with the iPhone XR and therefore also with the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max models with the same A12 Bionic chip.
In other words, iOS 18 is compatible with the same iPhone models as iOS 17:
- iPhone15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone14
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone8
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
iPadOS 18 drops support for iPad models with the A10X Fusion chip, so iPadOS 18 is compatible with the following iPad models:
- iPad Pro: 2018 and later
- iPad Air: 2019 and later
- iPad mini: 2019 and later
- iPad: 2020 and later
Note that iOS 18 will be pre-installed on new iPhone 16 models when they launch on Friday, September 20. If you’re not sure which iPhone or iPad model you have, head to Settings -> General -> Aboutand you will find the model name listed there.
For a detailed overview of everything we expect from iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, check out our dedicated roundup by clicking the tag at the end of this article.
Apple Intelligence Features
While iOS 18 brings numerous improvements at launch, Apple has also announced several AI-powered features called Apple Intelligence that will be released in future updates.
These upcoming additions include an AI-powered writing assistant that can help you rewrite text in different styles, proofread your writing, and create summaries of longer content. A new Image Playground app lets you create and edit AI-generated images based on text descriptions or existing photos.
Siri is set to receive a significant upgrade and will be able to understand the personal context of your emails, messages and photos to provide more accurate and personalized responses. Additionally, Apple plans to introduce AI-powered features to the Photos app, including a “Clean” tool to remove unwanted elements from your images.
While the first set of these Apple Intelligence features won’t be available in the initial release of iOS 18, they should be available with the release of iOS 18.1 in October, and the rollout will continue in December and later with iOS 18.2.
It’s important to note that Apple Intelligence features have different device compatibility requirements than the initial release of iOS 18. For information on all devices that support Apple Intelligence, see our dedicated article on the topic.
