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The release date of iOS 18 is September 16. Is your iPhone compatible? These are the new features and eligible devices

Apple's It's Glowtime event just wrapped up (see Everything Apple revealed at the iPhone 16 launch event for full details), and it unveiled the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, as well as the new Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4 devices. The phones come with iOS 18 already installed, so you don't need to upgrade when you buy them. Anyone else with an older iPhone can try out iOS 18 when it becomes available as a free download for most newer Apple phones on September 16. But not every iPhone will be able to run iOS 18, and even those that can won't have all the bells and whistles of Apple's new intelligence features.

This update layering is now nothing. Generally, every year some older iPhone models are removed from Apple's iOS eligibility list. Last year, for example, the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X were removed from the compatibility list. This meant that these iPhone owners could not update to iOS 17 and missed out on some important features.

We'll help you find out if your iPhone supports iOS 18 as well as Apple Intelligence. Not sure what the new update brings? Here's a summary of the most important announcements from WWDC, including an overview of iOS 18.

We have good news: If you had an eligible phone when you updated to iOS 17 last year, Apple says that device should still be compatible with iOS 18. That means you don't need to buy a new phone to try out most of the new software features.

In other words, if you have an iPhone from the 2017 model year or earlier (iPhone 8 or iPhone X), you won't be able to upgrade to the latest iOS, but your phone should still work – just without the latest and greatest features.

Even if your older device can still support the latest iOS, there's a chance you won't be able to try out the Apple Intelligence beta next month. Unless you own an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max – the top models of 2023 – or one of the new iPhone 16 models, your iPhone isn't eligible.

If your device is compatible with Apple Intelligence, you'll be able to try out some of these features starting in October, when they become available in subsequent updates to the newer iPhones.

Apple Intelligence will be available in English in the US in October. In December, it will be available in localized English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK. Additional language support, including Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish, will be available sometime next year, Apple says.

As previously reported, Apple Intelligence will not be entering EU countries anytime soon. The American tech giant remains locked in a dispute with European regulators over the enforcement details of the EU Digital Markets Act.

While Apple Intelligence is by far the biggest update to iOS 18, the features will be released more piecemeal over the next few months. And the expanded features won't be available on older iPhone models, with the exception of the iPhone 15 Pro series. But the rest of iOS 18 features will be available on the handsets listed above. Here are just a few of the highlights you can expect when you download Apple's new software later this month.

Passwords app: Store all your login information securely in one place, including passwords and security alerts that you can access directly in the app. (While this feature currently exists in Settings, moving it to a new app should make it easier to find and access.)

Improved messaging app: A new iMessages experience adds the ability to make your text bold, italic, underlined, and strikethrough. You can also add animations to your text messages. The update also brings RCS to iPhones to better support Android compatibility.

An organized photo library: The Photos app is getting a redesign so you can create and pin your own collections in the app – think “wedding photos” or “trip to Aruba.” The current tab bar is getting removed and a grid layout is being used instead. The updated carousel view that was teased at WWDC was removed during the beta process.

Personalized home screen layout: You finally have the ability to rearrange your apps. For example, you can leave the center panel open to display your home screen photo and instead have your apps displayed alone on the edge of the screen. You can also change the appearance of the apps by coloring them with any color you like and make the apps bigger.

There are plenty more tweaks and improvements to key apps like Maps, Calendar, Safari, and more. Check out Cherlynn Low's picks for the best hidden features in iOS 18 and the updates to Apple's sister operating system, based on the betas released earlier this year.

There is, and you can download it now—as long as you're willing to live with the glitches and challenges of beta software. If you haven't downloaded it by this point, we recommend you just wait for the original to be released in just under a week.

Update, September 9, 5:00 p.m. ET: Added details about the lack of availability of Apple Intelligence in EU countries.

Update, September 9, 3:37 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with the announced release dates for iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence.

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