Apple will release the iOS 18 update for iPhone XS and newer models on 16 September. Apple Intelligence won't be available, but the latest iOS version will bring some cool features.

Home screen customisation

iOS 18 offers customisation with Dark and Coloured options to recolour app icons. You can also set app icons to appear larger without text labels underneath them.

Redesigned Control Centre

Control Centre has been redesigned in iOS 18. Like the Home Screen, it's now more customisable and allows you to rearrange and resize controls across multiple pages. You can add more controls from the all-new control menu.

iMessage innovations

In iOS 18, iMessage gained several new features, including the ability to use any emoji as a Tapback response, new text effects like Shake and Pop, new formatting options like bold and italicise text, and RCS support for enhanced messaging with Android devices (carrier support is required).

Revamped Photos app

With iOS 18, Apple made the biggest design change ever to the Photos app. Not only has the welcome screen been reorganised, but new AI-powered features have been added, such as Clean Up, which removes unwanted objects from a photo.

Lock and hide all apps with Face IDiOS 18 lets you lock all apps, including Photos, with Face ID, Touch ID or iPhone passcode. You can also hide an app. Hidden apps are kept separately in a locked folder.

Lock and hide all apps with Face ID

iOS 18 allows you to lock all apps, including Photos, with Face ID, Touch ID or iPhone passcode. You can also hide an app. Hidden apps are kept separately in a locked folder.

Passwords app

iOS 18 brings Passwords, previously accessible from the Settings app via iCloud Keychain, as a separate app. The Passwords app stores not only passwords for all your online accounts, but also WiFi passwords, passkeys, and codes. You can also see your accounts with weak or leaked passwords separately under Security.

Game mode

iOS 18 brings Mac game mode to iPhones. According to Apple, game mode not only ensures you get the best frame rate by minimising background activity during gameplay, but also significantly reduces AirPods audio latency and provides a better gaming experience with wireless joysticks.

Hide distracting features (Safari)

The new ‘Hide Distractions’ option integrated into Safari can be used to hide certain website elements, such as newsletter sign-up forms and cookie permissions. Apple says the feature is not intended as an ad blocker. When you hide an advert, it will reappear if the content of the advert is refreshed.

Apple will give the iOS 18 update to iPhone XS and newer iPhones. iOS 18.1, which brings Apple Intelligence features, will come to iPhone 15 Pro and later models.