Recent Apple iPhones rumoured to receive one of their biggest software updates yet with iOS 18 release

Mark Gurman has offered up new details about the state of iOS 18. Writing in the latest edition of his weekly Power On newsletter, the Bloomberg editor asserts that iOS 18 could contain more changes than many recent major annual iOS updates. Supposedly, internal expectations go even further, with the prospect of expanding iOS with various AI features upgrading iOS 18 to one of the biggest iOS upgrades to date.

According to Gurman, Apple is developing iOS 18 under the codename 'Crystal'. Allegedly, one of the most notable changes being worked on is a new version of Siri, which is currently available to test internally as 'Apple GPT'. Previously thought of as Apple's first Large Language Model (LLM) public release, it is unclear the extent to which Siri will be capable of providing more flexible responses to questions like rival services can, such as ChatGPT. At any rate, an upgraded Siri is likely to coincide with the integration of superior microphone hardware within iPhone 16 series models.

Meanwhile, Apple is hoping to help developers in Xcode by including AI features that can automatically complete lines of code and find outstanding errors. Moreover, iOS 18 will ship with Rich Communication Services (RCS) support, a change the company announced in November 2023. Gurman adds that Apple eventually hopes to expand various apps like Keynote, Pages and Messages with generative AI functionality, the likes of which Google, Microsoft and Samsung have already debuted publicly. However, the analyst has not suggested that any of these will make their way into iOS 18 in time for a WWDC 2024 showcase in June and an autumn release.

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