Apple Working on “Groundbreaking” iOS 18 and iPadOS 18

Apple iPhones and iPads are set for a major intelligence boost in 2024. The company's engineering leaders aim to “wow” users by packing iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 with new artificial intelligence capabilities.

Dubbed “groundbreaking” internally, the annual software updates will focus on significantly advancing built-in smarts across Apple's mobile devices.

The ambitious effort intends to showcase the company's continued dominance after being caught off-guard by the explosion of AI chatbots recently.

Foremost, users can expect a radically improved Siri assistant on both iPhone and iPad. Apple is racing to match new conversational abilities demonstrated by the popular ChatGPT bot from OpenAI. Siri's responses in iOS 18 should feel more human-like thanks to integration with Apple's own large language model technologies.

Beyond Siri, system apps are also targets for fresh AI infusion. For example, Apple Messages may gain new suggestion capabilities that auto-complete sentences as users type messages. The feature would reduce typing drudgery.

Additionally, Apple Music looks to add AI-generated playlists tailored to listeners' personal tastes. Pages and Keynote productivity apps could employ writing aids to kickstart document creation. Even programming tool Xcode may utilize generative code to accelerate app development.

Finally, Apple will enable long-requested RCS messaging support between iPhones and Android phones. Going beyond today's SMS, the new standard allows better group chats, high-res photo sharing, read receipts, and more, unifying the texting experience.

Apple typically unveils significant upgrades like these during its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 then reach consumers alongside new iPhone and iPad models in September.

If Apple manages to successfully execute its ambitious vision, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 promise to transform iPhones and iPads into more helpful daily aids. Bolstered by amplified intelligence and connectivity, the new software could bring some of the most impactful user-facing upgrades in recent memory.

It's a pivotal opportunity for Apple to re-assert its superiority in personal computing. But living up to such game-changing promises remains a monumental engineering challenge – one with major implications for Apple's future should they achieve it.

By September, the company hopes millions of users will reap the benefits on entirely new levels of helpfulness from Siri, system apps, and inter-device communication. Savvy moves now set the stage for iPhones and iPads to showcase industry leadership for years ahead.

– Jim Miller