iOS 18 Release Date Is This Month, But Is Your iPhone Compatible? Here Are the Compatible Devices and New Features

When the supposed iPhone 16 lineup is officially announced at Apple’s event in less than a week (here’s how to watch it), it will feature iOS 18, which Apple outlined in detail at its developer conference earlier this year. But if you’re not planning on upgrading to a newer iPhone model this year, you could be left with an operating system that Apple no longer supports.

Typically, every year, Apple removes a number of older iPhone models from its iOS compatibility list. Last year, for example, the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X were removed from the compatibility list. This meant that those iPhone owners couldn’t update to iOS 17, and were missing out on a number of notable features.

We’ll help you find out if your iPhone supports iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence. Not sure what’s coming in the new update? Here’s a roundup of the biggest announcements from WWDC, including an overview of iOS 18.

iPhones compatible with iOS 18

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

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

Is your iPhone compatible with Apple Intelligence?

While your older device still supports the latest iOS, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to try out the Apple Intelligence beta just yet. Unless you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max — the top-of-the-line models coming in 2023 — your iPhone isn’t eligible. It’s a safe bet that the new iPhone 16 models will be fully compatible with Apple Intelligence, but we’ll have to wait for official details during the September 9 event.

iOS 18 new features you can expect

While Apple Intelligence is by far the biggest update coming with iOS 18, its features will be rolled out more piecemeal over the coming months. And the more advanced features won’t be available on older iPhone models, aside from the iPhone 15 Pro series. But the rest of iOS 18’s features are coming to the phones listed above. These are just some of the highlights you can expect to see when you download Apple’s new software later this month.

Password app: Keep all of your login details safe in one place, including passwords and security alerts that you can access directly within the app. (This functionality currently lives in Settings, but moving it to a new app will make it easier to find and access.)

Improved Messages app: A new iMessages experience brings the option to bold, italicize, underline, and strikethrough your text. 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 new design, allowing you to create and pin your own collections within the app — think “wedding photos” or “trip to Aruba.” The current tabbed bottom is being ditched in favor of a grid layout. The revamped carousel view touted at WWDC was removed during the beta process.

Personalized home screen layout: You finally get the option to rearrange your apps. For example, you can leave the middle space open to display your home screen photo, and instead have your apps only take up the edge of the screen. You can also change the appearance of your apps by giving them a color, and by making them larger.

There are plenty more tweaks and improvements coming to keystone apps like Maps, Calendar, Safari, and more. Check out Cherlynn Low’s picks for the best hidden features of iOS 18 and Apple’s accompanying operating system updates, based on the beta builds released earlier this year.