iOS 18.1 with Apple Intelligence release date is October 28, says report
A new report suggests that Apple's big AI upgrade for the iPhone will arrive a few days before Halloween
📅 Apple is rumored to release iOS 18.1 on October 28
🤖 The update will bring Apple Intelligence to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro
🐞 It’s taken this long to come out due to bugs and other system issues
🧞 Apple will release more AI features in the near future
Your iPhone 16 or iPhone 15 Pro is about to get a lot more powerful. Apple is expected to release iOS 18.1, the big update to iOS 18 that includes Apple Intelligence, on October 28, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter. The update has been in beta stages since the summer when iOS 18.0 was still being worked on, and now, it looks like we’re just a few weeks away from the public release of one of the biggest iOS upgrades we’ve ever seen.
And it’s about time. We just wrapped up some of our big iPhone 16 coverage, including our iPhone 16 Pro review and iPhone 16 Plus review, and we’re itching to test out Apple Intelligence to see whether you should buy these phones based on it.
📅 iOS 18.1 release date is late for a reason
There’s a reason why Apple hasn’t shipped iOS 18.1 just yet, even though the first iPhones “built for Apple Intelligence” are already on the market.
In early developer previews of the software, iOS 18.1 proved to be really buggy and unstable, often leading to app crashes and excessive battery drain. Apple has been working on the software and has fixed most of the major issues, but even with the latest version of the iOS 18.1 beta, it’s still rough around the edges.
Apple has taken the extra time since the iPhone 16 launch date to work on the update and iron out any rough patches, according to Gurman. The company has also been working to make sure its cloud servers could handle the hundreds of millions of AI requests they’d soon receive. While it’s still weird that the iPhone 16’s biggest new features weren’t ready at launch, at least they’ll start showing up soon.
🤖 Which Apple Intelligence features are first?
You won’t have access to everything Apple Intelligence is capable of on October 28. Instead, iOS 18.1 will include a handful of AI features like notification summaries, writing tools, Clean Up for removing objects in photos, and Memory Creation in the Photos app. The update will also include the new glowing Siri animation, but Siri will remain the same as it does today. The virtual assistant isn’t expected to get a meaningful update until next year with iOS 18.4, according to rumors. Meanwhile, ChatGPT integration isn’t expected until iOS 18.2 in December.
Apple Intelligence supported devices are limited to the iPhone 16 series, the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’s a bummer that the regular iPhone 15 or iPhone 14 Pro aren’t supported, but Apple seems more worried about pushing an upgrade cycle than anything else.