Apple dropped a big batch of medium-size software updates for nearly all of its products this afternoon. The iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, tvOS 18.4, and visionOS 2.4 updates are all currently available to download, and each adds a small handful of new features for their respective platforms.
A watchOS 11.4 update was also published briefly, but it’s currently unavailable.
For iPhones and iPads that support Apple Intelligence, the flagship feature in 18.4 is Priority Notifications, which attempts to separate time-sensitive or potentially important notifications from the rest of them so you can see them more easily. The update also brings along the handful of new Unicode 16.0 emoji, a separate app for managing a Vision Pro headset (similar to the companion app for the Apple Watch), and a grab bag of other fixes and minor enhancements.
The Mac picks up two major features in the Sequoia 15.4 update. Users of the Mail app now get the same (optional) automated inbox sorting that Apple introduced for iPhones and iPads in an earlier update, attempting to tame overgrown inboxes using Apple Intelligence language models.
The Mac is also getting a long-standing Quick Start setup feature from the Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad. On those devices, you can activate them and sign in to your Apple ID by holding another compatible Apple phone or tablet in close proximity. Macs running the 15.4 update finally support the same feature (though it won’t work Mac-to-Mac, since a rear-facing camera is a requirement).
Apple on Tuesday patched a critical zero-day vulnerability in virtually all iPhones and iPad models it supports and said it may have been exploited in “an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals” using older versions of iOS.
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-24201, resides in Webkit, the browser engine driving Safari and all other browsers developed for iPhones and iPads. Devices affected include the iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later. The vulnerability stems from a bug that wrote to out-of-bounds memory locations.
Supplementary fix
“Impact: Maliciously crafted web content may be able to break out of Web Content sandbox,” Apple wrote in a bare-bones advisory. “This is a supplementary fix for an attack that was blocked in iOS 17.2. (Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals on versions of iOS before iOS 17.2.)”
The advisory didn’t say if the vulnerability was discovered by one of its researchers or by someone outside the company. This attribution often provides clues about who carried out the attacks and who the attacks targeted. The advisory also didn’t say when the attacks began or how long they lasted.
The update brings the latest versions of both iOS and iPadOS to 18.3.2. Users facing the biggest threat are likely those who are targets of well-funded law enforcement agencies or nation-state spies. They should install the update immediately. While there’s no indication that the vulnerability is being opportunistically exploited against a broader set of users, it’s a good practice to install updates within 36 hours of becoming available.
As is custom, Apple rolled out software updates to all its platforms at once today. All users should now have access to the public releases of iOS 18.3, macOS Sequoia 15.3, watchOS 11.3, iPadOS 15.3, tvOS 15.3, and visionOS 2.3.
Also, as usual, the iOS update is the meatiest of the bunch. Most of the changes relate to Apple Intelligence, a suite of features built on deep learning models. The first Apple Intelligence features were introduced in iOS 18, with additional ones added in iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2
iOS 18.3 doesn’t add any significant new features to Apple Intelligence—instead, it tweaks what’s already there. Whereas Apple Intelligence was opt-in in previous OS versions, it is now on by default in iOS 18.3 on supported devices.
For the most part, that shouldn’t be a noticeable change for the majority of users, except for one thing: notification summaries. As we’ve reported, the feature that summarizes large batches of notifications using a large language model is hit-and-miss at best.
For most apps, not much has changed on that front, but Apple announced that with iOS 18.3, it’s temporarily disabling notification summaries for apps from the “News & Entertainment” category in light of criticisms by the BBC and others about how the feature was getting the substance of headlines wrong. The feature will still mess up summarizing your text messages and emails, though.
Apple says it has changed the presentation of summaries to make it clearer that they are distinct from other, non-AI generated summaries and that they are in beta and may be inaccurate.
Other updates include one to visual intelligence, a feature available on the most recent phones that gives you information on objects your camera is focused on. It can now identify more plants and animals, and you can create calendar events from flyers or posters seen in your viewfinder.
On Thursday, Apple released the first software updates for its devices since last month’s rollout of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.
Those who’ve been following along know that several key features that didn’t make it into the initial release of iOS 18 are expected in iOS 18.1, but that’s not the update we got on Thursday.
Rather, Apple pushed out a series of smaller updates that fixed several bugs but did not add new features. The updates are labeled iOS 18.0.1, iPadOS 18.0.1, visionOS 2.0.1, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1, and watchOS 11.0.1.
Arguably, the two most important fixes come in iPadOS 18.0.1 and iOS 18.0.1. The iPad update fixes an issue that bricked a small number of recently released iPads (those running Apple’s M4 chip). That problem caused Apple to quickly pull iPadOS 18 for those devices, so Thursday’s iPadOS 18.0.1 release is actually the first time most users of those devices will be able to run iPadOS 18.
On the iPhone side, Apple says it has addressed a bug that could sometimes cause the touchscreen to fail to register users’ fingers.
Enlarge/ Apple’s M3 Max-powered 16-inch MacBook Pro. New Pro laptops and some desktops could be on tap for later this fall.
Andrew Cunningham
Apple’s newest iPhones and Apple Watches don’t come out until later this week, but the rumor mill is already indicating that Apple is planning a product announcement for October to refresh some of the products that didn’t get a mention at the iPhone event. Apple scheduled its release calendar similarly last year, when it announced and released new iPhones in September and then launched the first wave of M3 Macs around Halloween.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman believes that the event will mainly focus on the first wave of Macs with M4 processors, following the standard M4’s introduction in the iPad Pro earlier this year. As he has reported previously, he expects new MacBook Pro models with the M4 and “pro-level M4 chip options,” presumably the M4 Pro and M4 Max. He also expects an M4 version of the 24-inch iMac.
But the most interesting of the new Macs will still be the redesigned Mac mini, which hasn’t gotten an M3 update at all and has been using the same basic external design since 2010. This Mac mini is said to be closer in size to the Apple TV than the current mini, but still uses an internal power supply so that owners won’t have to wrangle a power brick. At least some of the current device’s ports will be replaced by USB-C and/or Thunderbolt ports, something that MacRumors apparently confirmed earlier today when they found a reference to an “Apple silicon Mac mini (5 ports)” in an Apple software update (some of those ports are reportedly on the front of the device, a nice Mac Studio design upgrade that I’d like to see on a new Mac mini).
The “five port” descriptor does imply that there will be another model with either more or fewer ports—Apple used similar terminology to distinguish the two- and four-port versions of some MacBook Pro models in the Intel days. The current M2 Mac mini models have fewer ports than the models with the M2 Pro chip, because the more powerful processor also has more I/O capabilities—assuming we get one Mac mini with an M4 and an upgraded model with an M4 Pro, we’d expect the Pro version to have more ports.
Gurman says that other Mac models, including the Mac Studio, Mac Pro, and MacBook Air, will see M4-series updates throughout 2025. Of those, the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro have gone the longest without an update—they’re all still using M2-series chips.
Apple is also said to be planning some new lower-end iPads for the October event—not the first time that Macs and iPads have shared billing for one of these late-fall product announcements. The $349 iPad 10 and the iPad mini have both gone over a year without any kind of hardware update; it seems likely that they’ll both get newer chips, if not significantly updated designs.
Today is the official release date for the public versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15 Sequoia, and a scad of other Apple software updates, the foundation that Apple will use for Apple Intelligence and whatever other features it wants to add between now and next year’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. But for those who value stability and reliability over new features, you may not be excited to update to a new operating system with a version number ending in “0.”
For those of you who prefer to wait for a couple of bugfix updates before installing new stuff, Apple is also releasing security-only updates for a bunch of its (now) last-generation operating systems today. The iOS 17.7, iPadOS 17.7, and macOS 14.7 updates are either available now or should be shortly, along with a security update for 2022’s macOS 13 Ventura. An updated version of Safari 18 that runs on both macOS 13 and 14 should be available soon, though as of this writing is doesn’t appear to be available yet.
Apple has historically been pretty good about providing security updates to older macOS releases—you can expect them for about two years after the operating system is replaced by a newer version. But for iOS and iPadOS, the company used to stop updating older versions entirely after releasing a new one. This changed back in 2021, when Apple decided to start providing some security-only updates to older iOS versions to help people who were worried about installing an all-new potentially buggy OS upgrade.
Eventually, iOS and iPadOS users will need to install iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 to keep getting security updates. But for the handful of older iPads that can’t run iPadOS 18, Apple will usually keep supporting those specific devices with security updates for a year or two. Apple was still providing new security updates for 2022’s iOS 16 as recently as August, keeping older devices like the iPhone 8 and the first-generation iPad Pros reasonably secure even though they were incapable of running newer operating systems.
Apple has some minor updates for all its operating systems, and the releases include iOS 17.6, iPadOS 17.6, tvOS 17.6, watchOS 10.6, and macOS Sonoma 14.6.
Apple’s notes for these updates simply say they include bug fixes, security updates, or optimizations. However, there are a few hidden features.
macOS 14.6 reportedly enables multi-display support in clamshell mode on the M3 MacBook Pro, allowing users of that device to use two external displays at once. That was already possible on the M3 Pro and M3 Max variations. Apple had previously released a similar update to bring that functionality to the M3 MacBook Air.
iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 have added a feature called Catch Up, which is targeted at sports fans who use Apple’s TV app.
The feature allows users to watch a quick sequence of highlights that have been produced so far from an in-progress Major League Soccer game before joining the live feed.
That’s about it, though. These are minor updates, and they are likely the final ones other than security hotfixes until Apple begins rolling out its annual updates, such as iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia 15, later this fall.
Those updates are expected to include several new features, though the biggest—Apple Intelligence, a suite of generative AI features—will not arrive until iOS 18.1, which was just released as a developer beta for the first time.
iOS 17.6, iPadOS 17.6, tvOS 17.6, watchOS 10.6, and macOS Sonoma 14.6 are available to download and install on all supported devices now.
Apple’s next-generation operating systems are taking their next step toward release today: Apple is issuing the first public beta builds of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15 Sequoia, tvOS 18, and HomePod Software 18 today. Sign up for Apple’s public beta program with your Apple ID, and you’ll be able to select the public beta builds from Software Update in the Settings app.
We covered the highlights of most of these releases when they were announced during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, including more home screen customization in iOS and iPadOS, window tiling and iPhone mirroring in macOS,RCS text messaging support across all of Apple’s platforms, and more. But Apple still isn’t ready to show off a preview of its Apple Intelligence AI features, including the text and image generation features and a revamped Siri. Many of these features are still slated for “later this summer” and will presumably be available in some form in the final releases this fall.
Most devices that can run iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14 Sonoma will be able to update to the new versions, including owners of the last couple generations of Intel Macs. But a handful of older phones and tablets and the 2018 MacBook Air are being dropped by the new releases. The watchOS 11 update is also dropping the Series 4 and Series 5 models as well as the first-generation Apple Watch SE.
Apple is also not releasing a public beta build of VisionOS 2, the first major update to the Apple Vision Pro’s operating system. Users who want to try out new Vision Pro features ahead of time will still need to opt into the developer beta, at least for now.
Beta best practices
The first public betas are similar—if not identical—to the third developer beta builds that were released last week. Apple usually releases new developer betas of next-gen OS releases every two weeks, so we’d expect to see a fourth developer beta early next week and a second near-identical public beta build released shortly after.
Apple’s developer and public beta builds used to be more clearly delineated, with a $99-per-year developer account paywall put up between general users and the earliest, roughest preview builds. That changed last year when Apple made basic developer accounts (and beta software access) free for anyone who wanted to sign up.
Apple still issues separate developer/public beta builds, but these days it’s more of a statement about who the betas are ready for than an actual technical barrier. Developer betas are rougher and visibly unfinished, but developers likely have the extra patience and technical chops needed to deal with these issues; public betas are still unfinished and unstable, but you can at least expect most basic functionality to work fine.
Regardless of how stable these betas may or may not be, the standard warnings apply: Make a good backup of your device before updating in case you need to restore the older, more stable operating system, and don’t install beta software on mission-critical hardware that you absolutely need to work correctly in your day-to-day life. For iPhones and iPads that connect to iCloud, connecting the devices to a PC or Mac and performing a local backup (preferably an encrypted one) can be a more surefire way to make sure you keep a pre-upgrade backup around than relying on continuous iCloud backups.
On Monday, Apple announced it would be integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI assistant into upcoming versions of its iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems. It paves the way for future third-party AI model integrations, but given Google’s multi-billion-dollar deal with Apple for preferential web search, the OpenAI announcement inspired speculation about who is paying whom. According to a Bloomberg report published Wednesday, Apple considers ChatGPT’s placement on its devices as compensation enough.
“Apple isn’t paying OpenAI as part of the partnership,” writes Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, citing people familiar with the matter who wish to remain anonymous. “Instead, Apple believes pushing OpenAI’s brand and technology to hundreds of millions of its devices is of equal or greater value than monetary payments.”
The Bloomberg report states that neither company expects the agreement to generate meaningful revenue in the short term, and in fact, the partnership could burn extra money for OpenAI, because it pays Microsoft to host ChatGPT’s capabilities on its Azure cloud. However, OpenAI could benefit by converting free users to paid subscriptions, and Apple potentially benefits by providing easy, built-in access to ChatGPT during a time when its own in-house LLMs are still catching up.
And there’s another angle at play. Currently, OpenAI offers subscriptions (ChatGPT Plus, Enterprise, Team) that unlock additional features. If users subscribe to OpenAI through the ChatGPT app on an Apple device, the process will reportedly use Apple’s payment platform, which may give Apple a significant cut of the revenue. According to the report, Apple hopes to negotiate additional revenue-sharing deals with AI vendors in the future.
Why OpenAI
The rise of ChatGPT in the public eye over the past 18 months has made OpenAI a power player in the tech industry, allowing it to strike deals with publishers for AI training content—and ensure continued support from Microsoft in the form of investments that trade vital funding and compute for access to OpenAI’s large language model (LLM) technology like GPT-4.
Still, Apple’s choice of ChatGPT as Apple’s first external AI integration has led to widespread misunderstanding, especially since Apple buried the lede about its own in-house LLM technology that powers its new “Apple Intelligence” platform.
On Apple’s part, CEO Tim Cook told The Washington Post that it chose OpenAI as its first third-party AI partner because he thinks the company controls the leading LLM technology at the moment: “I think they’re a pioneer in the area, and today they have the best model,” he said. “We’re integrating with other people as well. But they’re first, and I think today it’s because they’re best.”
Apple’s choice also brings risk. OpenAI’s record isn’t spotless, racking up a string of public controversies over the past month that include an accusation from actress Scarlett Johansson that the company intentionally imitated her voice, resignations from a key scientist and safety personnel, the revelation of a restrictive NDA for ex-employees that prevented public criticism, and accusations against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman of “psychological abuse” related by a former member of the OpenAI board.
Meanwhile, critics of privacy issues related to gathering data for training AI models—including OpenAI foe Elon Musk, who took to X on Monday to spread misconceptions about how the ChatGPT integration might work—also worried that the Apple-OpenAI deal might expose personal data to the AI company, although both companies strongly deny that will be the case.
Looking ahead, Apple’s deal with OpenAI is not exclusive, and the company is already in talks to offer Google’s Gemini chatbot as an additional option later this year. Apple has also reportedly held talks with Anthropic (maker of Claude 3) as a potential chatbot partner, signaling its intention to provide users with a range of AI services, much like how the company offers various search engine options in Safari.
You’ll be able to write out expressions with the Apple Pencil and see them solved in real time.
Samuel Axon
CUPERTINO, Calif.—After going into detail about iOS 18, Apple took a few moments in its WWDC 2024 keynote to walk through some changes.
There are a few minor UI changes and new features across Apple’s first party apps. That includes a new floating tab bar. The bar expands into the side bar when you want to dig in, and you can customize the tab bar to include the specific things you want to interact with the most. Additionally, SharePlay allows easier screen sharing and remote control of another person’s iPad.
But the big news is that the Calculator app we’ve all used on the iPhone to the iPad, after years of the iPad having no first-party calculator app at all. The iPad Calculator app can do some things the iPhone version can’t do with the Apple Pencil; a feature called Math Notes can write out expressions like you would on a piece of paper, and the app will solve the expressions live as you scribble them—plus various other cool live-updating math features. (These new Math Notes features work in the Notes app, too.)
Apple didn’t use the word AI here, but this is surely driven by machine learning in some way. Doubly so for a new handwriting feature called Smart Script, which refines and improves your handwriting as you go, tweaking letters to make them more legible when you’re writing very quickly to take notes. It uses machine learning to analyze your handwriting, so these adjustments are meant to match your normal script. That means you can scribble as quickly and recklessly as you want during a conference or a day of classes, but ostensibly, it will be legible at the end of the day.
Not everyone’s a big Pencil user—for some of us, handwriting long ago took a back seat to typing—but Apple is aggressively selling these kinds of flashy features for those who want that experience.
The release date for iPadOS 18 hasn’t been announced yet, but it will likely arrive in September or October alongside iOS 18 and the new iPhone models that will probably be announced then.
Apple’s annual developer conference, WWDC, kicks off in Cupertino, California, next week. As always, it will start with a livestream keynote on Monday morning at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern. We’ll be in attendance reporting on the event, so let’s take a moment to take stock of what we expect to see next week.
But first, let’s note something we don’t think we’ll see: Due to some peculiarities about Apple’s upgrade cycles, as well as a push toward the M4, we’re not actually expecting any major hardware announcements at WWDC this year.
That’s OK, though, because it looks like it’s going to be a big one for software news. iOS has seen relatively modest updates in the past couple of years, but that’s about to change.
AI in the spotlight
Most of the rumors leading up to WWDC have been about Apple making plans to announce tons of generative AI features for its platforms. Part of that is because AI is the hot topic right now, so anything about that is bound to get some coverage. However, according to leaks reported on by Bloomberg, The Information, and others, it looks like Apple is going to make a conscious effort to reposition itself as a leader in AI.
Apple was already doing neat things with machine learning in iOS and elsewhere, like features that make image editing easier, smart recommendations, and more. But there have been major new developments in models lately that allow for many new options, as we’ve seen from others like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.
We don’t know many details about exactly what Apple will do here beyond it being a focus. The company has published several papers related to new large-language model chatbots, major Siri improvements, image generation, and more, but it’s hard to tell what will become user-facing features.
Possibilities include auto-generated summaries in apps like Mail, new ways to block ads or interact with websites in Safari, GitHub Copilot-like code editing assistance in Xcode, clip art generation for iWork documents, more conversational and larger-scope answers from Siri, new image editing features, expanded accessibility features, new transcription capabilities, and more.
Apple has reportedly been in talks with companies like OpenAI and Google (it even sounds like a deal has already been reached with OpenAI) about augmenting Siri and other parts of the iOS or macOS experience with an external AI chatbot. Apple has reportedly experimented with its own chatbot, but it’s unlikely that one would be far enough along to be a strong alternative to the likes of ChatGPT. At a minimum, expect Apple to partner with at least one company (probably OpenAI) as a provider for out-of-scope answers to queries asked of Siri or in Spotlight.
There have been rumblings that Apple could offer users a choice of multiple AI providers or launch an AI App Store, but we don’t know for sure how it will all take shape.
iOS and iPadOS 18
iOS 18 (and its close sibling, iPadOS 18) will roll out later this year alongside new iPhones, likely in September or October. But WWDC is the first time we’ll get a look at the major features Apple has planned.
Typically, Apple announces most new iOS features during the upcoming keynote, but it might save a couple that are are related to as-yet unannounced iPhone hardware for later.
The rumor mill this year points to an overhaul of both Control Center and Settings, plus the aforementioned inclusion of numerous new machine learning, LLM, or image generation features. One rumored example of how AI could be used in iOS described a new home screen that allows users to quickly recolor app icons to create a consistent color palette across their phone. Apple might even allow users to place icons wherever they want, addressing the irritating “wobble mode” home screen management that we’ve criticized in our iOS reviews for years.
Expect big new features for Messages, too, like new text effects and formatting options. There’s also a strong possibility that Apple will go into detail about RCS support in iOS. Generative AI could allow users to create custom emojis or stickers, too.
There were also a few rumors that Apple will make some visual changes to iOS, borrowing a bit from the visual language we saw in visionOS this spring.
Oh, and one more thing: iPadOS is finally getting a calculator app. We’re not sure why that took so long, but there it is.
Apple has released the latest updates for virtually all of its actively supported devices today. Most include a couple handfuls of security updates, some new features for Apple News+ subscribers, and something called Cross-Platform Tracking Protection for Bluetooth devices.
The iOS 17.5, iPadOS 17.5, macOS 4.5, watchOS 10.5, tvOS 17.5, and HomePod Software 17.5 updates are all available to download now.
Cross-Platform Tracking Protection notifications alert users “if a compatible Bluetooth tracker they do not own is moving with them, regardless of what operating system the device is paired with.” Apple has already implemented protections to prevent AirTag stalking, and Cross-Platform Tracking Protection implements some of those same safeguards for devices paired to non-Apple phones.
Apple News+ picks up a new word game called Quartiles, part of the wider trend of news organizations embracing games as growth drivers. Quartiles, Crossword, and Mini Crossword also track player stats and win streams, and the Today+ and News+ tabs will also load without an Internet connection.
Some of Apple’s older operating systems also received security-only updates to keep them current. The iOS 16.7.8 and iPadOS 16.7.8 updates are available for older iDevices that can’t update to iOS 17, and macOS Venture 13.6.7 and Monterey 12.7.5 support all Macs still running those OS versions regardless of whether they can install macOS Sonoma. There’s no update available for iOS or iPadOS 15.
These are likely to be the last major updates that Apple’s current operating systems receive before this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, where Apple usually unveils its next major operating systems for the fall. Once those updates—iOS 18, macOS 15, and others—are announced, updates for current versions usually shift focus to security updates and bugs rather than adding major new features. Apple’s updates this year are widely expected to focus on generative AI features, including some ChatGPT-powered features and a more capable Siri assistant.
