Apple Hopes AI-Infused iOS 18 Update Will Help Sell iPhone 16 Series Lacking Major Hardware Upgrades: Gurman

Apple reportedly delayed development of its 'critical' iOS 18 update in order to iron out bugs in the operating system's code.

Written by David Delima, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 13 November 2023 14:13 IST

Apple Hopes AI-Infused iOS 18 Update Will Help Sell iPhone 16 Series Lacking Major Hardware Upgrades: Gurman

Photo Credit: Apple

iOS 18 is expected to roll out to users on eligible iPhone models in the second half of 2024

Highlights

iOS 18 is expected to arrive next year alongside Apple's iPhone 16 series
Apple's iOS 18 update is expected to feature new AI-powered features
iOS 18 is said to help Apple convince users to upgrade to the iPhone 16

Apple's iOS 18 update — expected to arrive next year alongside the purported iPhone 16 series — is more 'critical' than usual, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his weekly newsletter, Gurman states that Apple's next major operating system update is expected to bring major improvements over iOS 17 and is expected to help the company sell its next generation of smartphones. Apple recently confirmed that the company is working on adding features powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to the iOS 18 update.

According to details shared by Gurman in his weekly Power On newsletter, Apple's iPhone 16 isn't expected to offer extensive hardware upgrades next year, which means that the iOS 18 update needs to be "extra impressive" to convince customers to upgrade to the successors to the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max models unveiled this year.

In order to ensure the code for the iOS 18 update is stable and bug-free, the company reportedly paused development recently, in an attempt to weed out issues that were previously undetected. Gurman says that the week-long pause in development has delayed the company's development towards the second milestone — adding that there are four such six-week milestones before Apple unveils its operating system updates every year at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

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One of the reasons why Apple will need its code to be bug free is because iOS 18 is expected to bring "major new features and designs" — after years of relatively iterative iOS version updates, Gurman says, citing Apple's senior management. it is currently unclear how many of these features will be available on previous iPhone models that are eligible to receive the update.

Apple's rivals have already announced AI-powered features that are either rolling out to users, or expected to roll out in the coming months — including Microsoft Copilot on Windows 11 and Google Assistant with Bard. Siri is expected to get a few AI-powered upgrades this year, powered by Apple's large language model (LLM). Other apps that will reportedly receive AI-backed upgrades include Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and Apple Music. We can expect to hear more about Apple's software updates in the coming months.

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iPhone 15

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Big upgrades over the 14
Excellent ergonomics, build quality
Very good all-round performance
Apple ecosystem benefits

Bad
Relatively slow charging
Expensive
Still a 60Hz display

Read detailed Apple iPhone 15 review

Display 6.10-inch

Processor Apple A16 Bionic

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 6GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

OS iOS 17

Resolution 1179x2556 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Apple iPhone 15 Plus

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.70-inch

Processor Apple A16 Bionic

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

OS iOS 17

Resolution 1290x2796 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Apple iPhone 15 Pro

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.10-inch

Processor Apple A17 Pro

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB

OS iOS 17

Resolution 1179x2556 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Excellent display
USB Type-C
AAA gaming
Excellent all-round performance
Good primary and telephoto camera
Customisable Action Button

Bad
Gets hot quickly when stressed
Slow wired charging
Expensive

Read detailed Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max review

Display 6.70-inch

Processor Apple A17 Pro

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 48-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB

OS iOS 17

Resolution 1290x2796 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

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Further reading: iOS 18, iOS features, Artificial Intelligence, Apple, AI features, iOS 18 update, iOS 18 features

David Delima

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As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More