Apple has been launching new iPhones and major new software updates for its iPhones every year, however, the changes in iPhones and updates to iOS have been mostly incremental. Next year, Apple plans to change that at least in terms of software with iOS 18.
The report comes from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg where explains Apple’s situation in his Power On Newsletter. He reiterates how Apple’s senior management froze the development work on iOS 18 because the quality of initial versions weren’t up to the standard. “The break allowed Apple to debug the software and improve performance”, the newsletter read.
He further notes that next year’s iPhone 16 series hardware won’t have any major changes next year. As a result, Apple will be highly dependent on the software so it becomes the major driving force behind the sales of the new iPhones. In other words, Apple is planning to integrate some major new features in iOS 18 to make it “extra-impressive”.
Read More: Apple Music on Android gets updated with new widgets, SharePlay in Car, playlist cover and more
Apple plans to introduce generative AI features within the software beginning with iOS 18, which would further allow the company to catch up with its competitors, including Microsoft and Google. Both the companies have already been ahead than Apple in the AI race, thanks to their efforts in the space.
Google is banking on AI with its Pixel 8 series with many of the features such as the generative AI wallpaper maker, Magic Editor, etc., being majorly dependent on artificial intelligence.
Gurman further says that internally, the company’s senior management has described its upcoming operating systems (including iOS 18) as “ambitious and compelling,” with major new features and designs, in addition to security and performance improvements. However, Apple will have to work extensively on the stability of the software and how unique their features are.