iOS 18 release date and time: Here’s when you can get Apple’s iPhone software update

Get your iPhone ready: Apple’s new iOS 18 software update is coming on Monday.

The refreshed version of Apple’s mobile operating system offers a host of new features and improvements.

Overall, the update should give you more options to personalize your iPhone’s home screen and settings than ever before.

As usual, it will be available as a free download that you can install over the web. Here’s when you can download iOS 18, including the estimated UK and global release time.

We know iOS 18 is set to launch on iPhones today, but when will it be available for download?

iOS 18 lets you personalize your iPhone’s home screen with new app colors

Apple

In the absence of an official release date, we can try to estimate it based on Apple’s previous release schedules.

If history is any guide, iOS 18 will roll out globally today on the following dates:

6:00 PM in the UK
10:00 AM PST / 1:00 PM EST
7:00 p.m. in most European countries
22:30 in India
1:00 a.m. (September 17) in China and Singapore.

Apple has not yet confirmed the exact release date of iOS 18, so if you want it right away, we recommend keeping an eye on your iPhone settings.

What about Apple Intelligence?

Apple Intelligence is a completely new AI-based system that works across all platforms (Apple)

The headline feature Apple is touting in iOS 18 is a powerful new suite of generative AI tools called Apple Intelligence. These new tools can create weird and wonderful emojis on the fly, summarize and rewrite emails, prioritize notifications, and remove people and objects from photos.

There’s just one problem: Apple Intelligence won’t be available with iOS 18 when it launches later today. Instead, the new features will gradually roll out over the coming weeks and months as part of future updates, starting with iOS 18.1 in October.

Meanwhile, Generation Emoji (or Genmoji, as Apple calls it) may not arrive until iOS 18.2 in December. And you may have to wait until next spring to get the new and improved Siri, which features better natural language skills (bringing it closer to ChatGPT).

The new Visual Intelligence feature on the iPhone 16, which turns the phone’s camera into a visual search engine, is one of several AI features that won’t be available at launch.

Apple

Still, there are plenty of other non-AI features in iOS 18 that make the update worth getting. Here’s what you can expect:

Customizing icons and home screen

Ability to give app icons a solid color to match your home screen or your preferred shade.
Option to automatically switch icons to dark appearance in dark mode.
Place apps and widgets anywhere on your home screen, not just in a rigid grid.

Redesigned Control Center

Swipe through different pages of controls, including home, smart home, and media playback.
Third-party apps can create custom controls in the new Control Gallery.
Change the arrangement and size of control icons.
Replace the camera and flashlight icons on your lock screen with custom controls.

Lock screen personalization

Replace the flashlight/camera icons at the bottom with other app icons or controls.
Lock apps with Face ID to ensure your privacy when you hand your phone over to others.

Schedule a message to be sent later.
React with emojis using tapbacks.
Text formatting including bold, italics, and underline.
Animated text effects.
Send encrypted messages via satellite when there is no cellular signal.

Single view grid with most recent photos at the top.
Automatic organization into collections including travel, people, and pets.
New carousel view for featured/favorite photos.
Filter screenshots and browse them by month/year.

Get closer to cash and make payments between friends and family with the Wallet app.
Game mode for higher frame rates and better sound for AirPods on iPhone.

Which iPhones will support iOS 18?

iPhone 16 will be released on September 20 with iOS 18 pre-installed.

Apple

Apple has confirmed that iOS 18 can be downloaded on the following iPhone models:

iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhone 14 Plus
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro Max
iPhone 13
iPhone 13 mini
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 12
iPhone 12 mini
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone XS
iPhone XS Max
iPhone XR
iPhone SE (2nd generation or newer).

In addition to iOS 18, Apple also announced that new software updates will be available today (September 16) for iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and watchOS 11 should be available at the same time (from 6pm UK time).

This is a departure from Apple’s usual practice, as in previous years, Mac software updates typically arrived a week after the iPhone and iPad were launched.